Grey Man

Tom Elliott has defeated Basil McCrea by a significant margin.  While Basil may have won the media war but it is obvious he lost the internal war with Bobballs perhaps providing the explanation of why.  Where will he take the party is unclear with his interviews. This morning he talked in broad generalities and a few co-opted Basil cliches. He certainly didn't define during the campaign where he would take the UUP.

This failure to define will be jumped upon by the media with the Belfast Telegraph already dubbing him the grey man.  The Ulster Unionist Party need to be wary of the tale of Iain Duncan Smith's time as Tory leader.  The media didn't get the candidate they had wanted Ken Clarke and they set about proving to the Tories the error of their decision.    

However, signs of unity aren't great with East Belfast Parliamentary Candidate Trevor Ringland threatening to quit the party if Tom Elliott does not reverse his position on GAA matches (he even invoked what would God do argument) and he and Ken Maginnis are trading vicious barbs as I type on the Nolan show.