Diane Forsythe 'by far the best candidate' for DUP in South Down - Sammy Wilson

ONE of the DUP Party Officers who selected Ballymartin woman Diane Forsythe as the party's South Down candidate for the upcoming Assembly election said the 38-year-old was "by far the best candidate".

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson was among the panel who nominated Mrs Forsythe and said there will be no change in the party's candidate regardless of what happens at next week's meeting of the party executive to ratify the nomination.

The nomination of the DUP candidate for South Down has been mired in controversy for months and took its latest turn last week when long-serving MLA Jim Wells was deselected.

Short-lived former DUP leader and current Lagan Valley MLA and Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots then threw his hat in the ring for South Down.

However, he was beaten to the nomination by Mrs Forsythe at a selection meeting last Friday night.

Mr Poots had earlier claimed Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had “encouraged” him to stand in the seat last week and said he agreed to “take a political risk” to help the party.

Responding to Mr Poots' claim, Mr Wilson said it was "disappointing that Edwin has not accepted the decision".

He added that the former party leader was welcome to contest the seat he currently holds or move into a number of constituencies other than South Down.

Mr Wilson said: “As a Party Officer, I was amongst those who interviewed both candidates seeking the DUP nomination for South Down. Diane was by far the best candidate. Her track record speaks for itself. She obtained the largest ever DUP vote in South Down when she contested the 2017 Westminster election.

"All across the constituency, her selection has been positively received. As someone who is well connected locally and is passionate about her home area, we were delighted to endorse a candidate of Diane’s calibre. Diane is both the Party Officers' and the Party Leader’s choice for South Down. Even her political opponents have admitted that she is the best candidate the DUP could have put forward.

"It is disappointing that Edwin has not accepted the decision, especially because he has a seat of his own which he is free to contest and there are other vacant places available which he could have chosen and is still free to choose if he so wished.

"Any Executive challenge would not result in Edwin replacing Diane as the candidate in South Down. The matter would simply be deferred to those Officers and the Leader, who have already expressed their view on who is the best candidate.”