Alex Easton MLA is to announce that he will stand in the general election, as first reported by the County Down Spectator.
The Spectator understands that he will announce his candidacy at a press conference next Tuesday evening.
Easton was first elected in 2003 as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician but resigned from the party in 2021, and has sat as an independent unionist since.
Farry will hope to keep his seat in North Down with an almost 3,000 majority. In January, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) announced that army veteran Tim Collins would stand for them in North Down.
Doug Beattie, leader of the UUP, this week distanced himself from remarks made by his candidate and admitted that he is not the ‘best-qualified candidate’.
It is not yet known whether the DUP and TUV will field any candidates in North Down. With two unionist candidates in North Down, the vote will inevitably be split, which could result in Alliance holding the seat. This is bound to be in the minds of the other parties, who would surely rather have a unionist in the seat.
