The former Ulster Unionist MLA Pauline Armitage has announced she is leaving the UUP. Her announcement follows disagreements over party policy and the direction which the leadership has taken the party.
Mrs Armitage has said she will 'never, never, never' return to the UUP, but has ruled out joining the DUP.
She said the UUP was 'no longer a political party but a kind of club with jobs for the boys'.
Mrs Armitage has been a long-term critic of UUP leader, David Trimble.
She is to consider her political future over the summer and has indicated she may join Bob McCartney's UK Unionist Party later in the year.
Trimble welcomes RIR 'assurance'
Earlier, David Trimble welcomed an assurance by the British government that it has no plans to disband the three home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.
Mr Trimble discussed the issue with Britain's Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, in London last night.
This morning he said he was satisfied there were no plans to abolish the 3,000-strong force as part of the blueprint for restoring devolution to the North.
The anti-Agreement Ulster Unionist MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, has claimed the promise is ambiguous.
