TUV leader Jim Allister has said:
“With all the hype about a hung parliament, the need for full-time MPs is greater than ever. Turning up in Westminster on a Wednesday, after spending the first part of the week in Stormont won’t cut it in a parliament with tight votes.
“Yet, to date, such has been the practice of Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell and Alistair McDonell. In the case of the DUP MPs this is in spite of a solemn pledge in the DUP 2010 manifesto that all MPs, apart from the party leader, would end double jobbing “within weeks”. The voters of East Belfast dealt with Mr Robinson’s presumption, but Messrs Wilson and Campbell have carried on in defiance of their manifesto pledge. They need in this election to be held to account for their manifesto breach.”
Commenting the TUV candidate in East Antrim, Ruth Wilson, said:
“The voters of East Antrim are entitled to a full-time MP. Yet, despite his manifesto pledge Sammy Wilson has continued to double job. No surprise, then, that he missed two thirds of the votes in the last parliament. This is not good enough. East Antrim deserves better. Though his pledge of five years ago turned out not to be worth the paper it was written on, Sammy Wilson needs to come clean with the voters.”