General Election: UUP say they have not agreed to stand aside for DUP's Phillip Brett in North Belfast

There is little prospect of unionists winning back either seat from Sinn Fein with a split vote. The TUV will announce whether it will contest the seat tomorrow when all its candidates are announced.

Asked if the party would stand aside for DUP candidate Phillip Brett in North Belfast – won in the last general election by Sinn Fein’s John Finucane – the UUP said it had no agreements with other parties, but left the possibility open.

A spokesperson said: “In January this year, the Ulster Unionist Party announced our Fermanagh and South Tyrone Westminster candidate. In Diana Armstrong Fermanagh and South Tyrone has a candidate that can unite the constituency, can stand on strong principles and a proven foundation of hard work.

“We refused to be forced by others when we were called on to remove our candidate. We have not requested that any party stand aside for our candidates and we have not agreed to stand aside for any other party.

“Our selection process is ongoing, the snap election creates challenges that we are working to address”.

Last night, new DUP leader Gavin Robinson told the party’s executive in Lisburn that he had met separately with Doug Beattie, Jim Allister and Alex Easton “to discuss how we can best work together in the interests of the Union”.

Mr Robinson said: “We have our different views and different attitudes on the best tactics to employ but for my part I recognise that Doug, Jim and Alex are all genuine fellow unionists who believe as passionately in the Union as I do.

“The Democratic Unionist Party not only talks the talk of unionist co-operation but also has demonstrated at previous General Elections in particular that we have been prepared to sacrifice our party interest in the best interests of Northern Ireland’s cause within the Union.

“In truth the DUP is the largest unionist party in North Down and Fermanagh South Tyrone having outpolled other parties in both the Assembly and local Government elections in 2022 and 2023.

“We recognise that in the interests of working collectively to secure Pro-Union Members of Parliament we want to lead by example and as the leaders of Unionism we are unilaterally announcing the following:

“In North Down we will not field a Democratic Unionist and we endorse Alex Easton, who is in our view a candidate with a strong and dedicated zeal for North Down, and who has a track record of being best placed to unite pro-union voters in the cause of winning in North Down.

“In Fermanagh/South Tyrone whilst again we are the first choice of unionist voters in the area, we have not fielded a candidate at a General Election since 2005.

“We previously supported the non-party aligned campaign of Rodney Connor and we supported, campaigned and helped elect Tom Elliot in 2015 and supported his re-election campaign in 2017 and subsequent attempt in 2019.

“It is our strong view that the best chance of maximising the election of a Pro-Union candidate to give Parliamentary representation to the most westerly constituency in the United Kingdom would have been through a process of agreement between the unionist parties. For our part we were engaged in such a process last year.

“However, the Ulster Unionist Party selected Erne North Councillor Diana Armstrong as their candidate and they have made clear that they do not intend to withdraw their candidate from the election.

“On that basis and in the interests of trying to win the seat for a Unionist candidate we have decided not to field a DUP candidate for this election only and we would encourage all Unionists in the constituency to set aside internal unionist debate and vote for the Ulster Unionist candidate in the interests of returning a Pro-Union Member of Parliament”.