The Ulster Unionist Party has selected Sam Nicholson as its candidate for Newry and Armagh in next May’s Assembly election.
Mr Nicholson is a former councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA said he was delighted by the selection.
“Sam served as a councillor and as Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, and he did it with a record of delivery and a reputation for representing everyone who came to him,” said Mr Burrows. “He is an architect and a businessman from a rural background, and he understands this constituency in all its parts, from our cities and towns to the countryside.
“Unionism is changing, and it needs to. What it requires now is smart, strategic leadership that thinks long term and puts country before party. People across Newry and Armagh want a unionism that is confident, that works with everyone, and that spends its energy on jobs, health, housing and the growth of our business and agriculture sectors rather than on old battles.
“That is the unionism the Ulster Unionist Party is building, and we are ready to lead it. But change does not happen on its own. If people in Newry and Armagh want a different kind of unionist politics, the way to get it is to vote for it, and to vote for Sam Nicholson.”
Mr Nicholson, meanwhile, said he was “proud” to have been selected in next May’s polls.
“As a councillor and as Deputy Lord Mayor, I represented everyone,” he said. “That is how I have always worked and it is how I intend to go on working. I am a businessman from a rural background, and I believe that gives me the experience to serve our cities, our towns and the countryside alike.
“As an architect I spend my working life planning properly, thinking long term and delivering what I said I would. That is the same approach unionism needs now, and it is what I will bring to Stormont.
“I have recently become a father, and that has sharpened why I am doing this. I want my child to grow up in a Northern Ireland that offers them a future here, with good jobs, good schools and a health service that works. I want that for every family in Newry and Armagh.
“I am passionate about this place where I live and work. I want to see our business and agriculture sectors given greater opportunity to grow, and I want people here to have a strong voice making that case.
“Above all, I want to help build a respectful, vibrant and confident Northern Ireland within the Union, looking positively to the future. That is the politics I believe in, and it is what I am asking people in Newry and Armagh to support.”
