Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:

"I wish to answer the pernicious falsehood, being peddled by anti-TUV factions, that my party contributed in any way to the failure to win back Fermanagh & South Tyrone.

"The facts are crystal clear:

1. TUV was the only unionist party not to stand in any of the marginal seats, precisely because we did not want to aid any republican/nationalist victories.
2. I was the first Unionist leader to call for a non-party unity candidate in Fermanagh & South Tyrone, and that at a time when others were still jockeying their egos into position.
3. I publicly called for all Unionists to vote for Mr Connor and I know that TUV supporters did so.

"So, the attempt to blame TUV for the loss in Fermanagh & South Tyrone, by those who themselves sustain IRA/Sinn Fein at the very heart and top of government, is as bogus as it is dishonest."