By Julie Waters
A VETERAN councillor is set to enter the Ulster Unionist Party’s North Down Assembly electoral race vowing that ‘I will not stand aside’.
Alderman Mark Brooks, a councillor for Bangor East and Donaghadee, has revealed he was previously asked to step aside before three separate elections in the past decade by former party leaders Mike Nesbitt and Doug Beattie.
However, the well respected councillor has made it clear that when it comes to next year’s Assembly elections, he will not be withdrawing his bid for selection for a fourth time.
Mr Brooks said he decided to declare his electoral intentions amidst growing speculation that Ards peninsula councillor Pete Wray could be selected as the UUP’s North Down candidate in the assembly elections.
As a member of the North Down UUP association and a North Down councillor, Mr Brooks said he disagrees with a councillor from ‘another part of the borough being brought in’ to represent North Down.
Said Mr Brooks: “My problem is if they are going to select a new candidate for North Down then it should be someone from North Down.”
The councillor’s announcement comes just weeks after the sitting North Down MLA Alan Chambers issued a defiant message that he would continue to represent the people of North Down.
In speaking out, Mr Chambers addressed speculation that like former UUP leader Doug Beattie, he was facing the prospect of being deselected by his constituency association after a decade of service.
Mr Brooks recalled the previous occasions he had been asked to step aside: “In the 2016 and 2017 Assembly elections the association selected me to run for MLA. At that time they brought in Alan Chambers, and I don’t have a problem with Alan Chambers.
“The leader [Mike Nesbitt] asked me to step aside in 2016 and 2017. I argued the point that I felt that Alan Chambers and myself could win two seats, but the leader felt I could potentially upset the vote management.”
After deciding not to put his name forward for the 2023 Assembly election, Mr Brooks said he was keen to run as the North Down UUP candidate in the 2024 Westminster election.
However he said he was asked again if he would withdraw his name from the selection process, to make way for high profile candidate Colonel Tim Collins.
“There has never been any negativity, I was happy to do that. But that is three times my name has been on the list and three times I have been asked to step aside,” the alderman said.
Mr Brooks highlighted his successful electoral track record – in the 2023 council elections he topped the Ards and North Down local authority poll, securing 1,972 first preference votes.
“I am the most successful Ulster Unionist councillor in North Down and probably across Northern Ireland regarding my vote. Not only have I topped the poll but I also get the most votes of any unionist,” he said.
Mr Brooks stressed that the people of North Down would be best served by someone from the area including the current MLA Alan Chambers.
“If they [the association] did select Alan Chambers over myself and Pete Wray I would not have a problem with that.
“My problem is if they are going to select a new candidate for North Down then it should be someone from North Down.”
Said Mr Brooks: “Why would you bring in somebody from another part of the borough?
“Everybody in the borough, in Bangor East and Donaghadee knows Mark Brooks and they know the work I do on the ground.”
