Can Tom Elliott lead the Ulster Unionists? That’s the question commentators in Northern Ireland are asking, after the party suffered yet another reverse at the polls. Elliott was elected leader on a landslide in September and he is already under pressure, seemingly powerless to arrest the decline of the once dominant force in Northern Irish politics. He is visibly rattled, as the clip above proves. It was probably a reaction in the heat of the moment, but one that should alarm for those Tories who still seek an alliance with the UUP.*
It was hoped that the scale of Elliott’s victory would unite the fractious party. But the divisions that characterised Sir Reg Empey’s leadership have intensified under Elliott. The factions are many and various. Elliott stands on the party’s traditional protestant wing: Elliot makes
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