Mr David Burnside has dismissed a claim by the DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, that the party's chances of winning Thursday's South Antrim by-election were boosted after two Conservative MPs declared for the Rev William McCrea.
The right-wing Tory MPs, Mr Andrew Hunter and Mr David Wiltshire, both firmly opposed to the Belfast Agreement, yesterday called on voters to support Mr McCrea on Thursday. Mr Wiltshire, who canvassed with Mr McCrea yesterday, said at Stormont: "It is inevitable a victory by a pro-agreement party will be seized on by the British government and supporters of the agreement as an endorsement of the disastrous consequences of the so-called peace process. That is why, if I had a vote in South Antrim, I would use it to support the DUP."
And Mr Hunter, who is to canvass with Mr McCrea today, wrote a strong endorsement of the DUP candidate in yesterday's Belfast Telegraph. It followed on a similar pro-Burnisde article last week by the former Conservative minister, Lord Tebbit.
Mr Robinson said this was the first time a Tory MP had expressed support for the DUP in Westminster elections. As Mr Hunter said in his article there is a traditional link between the Conservative Party and the UUP.
Mr Robinson added that Mr Hunter's support for Mr McCrea was embarrassing for Mr Burnside because the UUP candidate included pictures of Mr Hunter in his election literature.
Mr Burnside, however, said he included Mr Hunter in his election literature because, in good faith, he had understood he supported his candidacy. "I spoke to Andrew Hunter recently on the walls of Derry and he wished me luck in the by-election," he said.
Mr Burnside said he was canvassing strongly but expressed concern about apathy among UUP voters. He was hoping for a high poll on Thursday.
Mr Jim Wilson, a UUP Assembly member for South Antrim, urged unionists to support Mr Burnside. He said Mr McCrea had only a 14 per cent attendance record at Westminster and accused him of "reckless behaviour" in the past in defence of the Union.
"While I am a committed pro-agreement advocate and would vote for the agreement again, I, too, share many of the concerns that David Burnside has already expressed throughout this by-election campaign," added Mr Wilson.
The SDLP candidate, Mr Donovan McClelland, meanwhile, said his Sinn Fein rival, the former IRA prisoner, Mr Martin Meehan, was "parachuted" into South Antrim. "He is well known in republican circles for his boasts regarding his paramilitary exploits. These exploits failed to get him selected as a candidate for West Belfast. Why have his `credentials' been ignored by his own people to the extent that he has been sent to South Antrim?["] he said.
Mr Meehan said he was from north Belfast, not west Belfast, and while he was not native to south Antrim he lived only 10 minutes from the constituency.
The SDLP and Sinn Fein leaders, Mr John Hume and Mr Gerry Adams, yesterday urged support for their respective candidates. Mr Hume said"I am urging all those voters in South Antrim, who have stood shoulder to shoulder with the SDLP during our campaign to bring peace and reconciliation to Ireland, to send a clear message to our friends and supporters in Europe and America that the SDLP is still the main political force setting and driving an agenda for growth, renewal and stability."
Mr Adams said Sinn Fein was hoping to strengthen the party's base in South Antrim.
