'No cull' of UUP MLAs, says party leader

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has said there is "no planned cull" of its assembly members amid claims that senior figures could face deselection.

Jon Burrows said candidates for next year's Northern Ireland Assembly election would be chosen "fairly and transparently" and he would not be "intervening" in the decisions of constituency associations.

The UUP has faced questions in recent weeks over the future of former leader Doug Beattie and several other sitting members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

Burrows said there had been "endless speculation in the media about personality issues".

He told the BBC's The View programme: "I am not trying to get rid of MLAs. There is no planned cull."

Earlier this month it emerged Beattie was not expected to be chosen as the UUP's candidate for Upper Bann.

The constituency association has since decided to run two candidates instead of one, with a selection meeting expected to be held in June.

Burrows said he was "not going to arbitrarily start picking and choosing candidates and overriding an association".

"I have a role at the very end around ratification. It would prejudice my role if I start intervening in that way."

He added: "What I've said is I'm going to follow the rules. I'm going to make sure that I deal with it fairly and transparently and in accordance with our values and our rules."

The UUP leader, who took on the role earlier this year, warned that focus on "tittle tattle" would "turn people off politics".

"I am not trying to get rid of MLAs. There is no planned cull," he said.

"There is media speculation about a selection in Upper Bann which hasn't even begun."

It had also been reported another of the party's nine MLAs, Alan Chambers, had been told not to put his name forward when his North Down constituency association meets to select their candidate.

"I've said to Alan you're as entitled as anyone else to apply for the job for reselection," Burrows said.

He added the "process should be fair, open and transparent, and if anyone else wants to apply for that job, that is their right under our rules".

Burrows also said he was unaware of "any risk to Andy Allen's seat" in relation to the party's East Belfast MLA.

"All my MLAs are valued. They have the opportunity to go for reselection, I hope they do and I want to grow the Ulster Unionist Party," he added.

Burrows denied being "on the back foot" as a result of internal party issues, saying that he was "on the front foot".

"There is endless speculation in the media about personality issues," he said.

"I think it is pretty poor that is the amount of focus that we are now having, whenever actually we have an opportunity to talk about what in Northern Ireland needs to happen," he said.

"That's why there is disenchantment and people want change. I've come into politics to offer change."

Earlier this week, Craigavon councillor Kate Evans, who works in Beattie's constituency office, said she had quit the UUP.

In a post on Facebook she said the "strain of internal party politics has taken a significant toll on my mental well-being".

She will now sit on Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council as an independent.

Burrows said it was "very disappointing" and that he had offered to meet with Evans.

"I value everyone's role in the Ulster Unionist Party," he added.

You can watch The View on BBC One NI at 22:40 or on BBC iPlayer.