Statement by TUV Lagan Valley spokesperson Lorna Smyth:
“Just a week ago the people of Lagan Valley went to the polls. One of the candidates was Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who has represented the area at Westminster for a quarter of a century. This obviously gave the DUP a significant electoral advantage over their opponents last week. Unsurprisingly the DUP leader topped the poll, obtaining almost one in four of all the votes cast. Now we learn that Sir Jeffrey will never take his seat in Stormont and instead Emma Little-Pengelly, someone who no one in Lagan Valley has ever voted for, will take his Assembly seat.
“This happening so soon after the DUP co-opted Paul Rankin into Edwin Poots’ seat in Lagan Valley will leave many questioning the DUP’s approach to the area. Just how committed is anyone in the DUP to representing Lagan Valley in the Assembly?
“Assembly seats should be earned by obtaining the trust of electors at the polls. They are not the play things of political parties.”