Rodney Connor

In 2000, Connor was appointed as Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council. In 2005, his appointment was ruled unlawful due to the appearance of sectarian discrimination. Nine Unionist councillors were fined £40,000, which was paid by FDC. Connor himself was not found responsible.[2] He continued to be employed by FDC until he stood down in 2010.[3]

Connor stood as the Unionist "Unity" candidate for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 2010 Westminster election. He had the backing of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force electoral alliance between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative Party.

Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Tom Elliott, said he was withdrawing his candidacy because he believed Mr Connor was the ideal choice.[4] He lost to the incumbent, Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew by four votes,[4] having unsuccessfully challenged the result in the Election Court.

As a result of efforts towards Unionist unity, the DUP stated that it would not stand in North Down, where the incumbent Member was the Unionist Sylvia Hermon, who had recently quit the UUP[5] and was then an independent unionist candidate for that constituency.[6]

For a while the main sticking points to a total agreement appeared to be the Ulster Unionists' electoral link with the Conservatives and David Cameron's insistence that any agreed Unionist candidate must take the Conservative whip in the House of Commons if elected, while the DUP insisted that it would not endorse anyone standing under the Ulster Unionist and Conservative banner. A compromise solution was offered by Rodney Connor, in that he would stand as an independent unionist who said he would take the Conservative whip and vote with them on national issues but would vote independently on issues relating to Northern Ireland.[7] In the event, Connor lost the election to Gildernew by four votes: 21,304 to 21,300.[8]