UPPER Bann MLA Samuel Gardiner has claimed the DUP will now 'begin to pay the price for conning the people.'
Mr Gardiner has congratulated the UUP's Carol Black on her by-election win..
"I am delighted that Carol Black has won the seat and I wish her well on Banbridge District Council," he said.
"It was a good result for unionism and it will hopefully bri
ng an end to the triumphalism and arrogance of the DUP.
"People need to take note that the Ulster Unionist Party still represents a sizeable section of Unionism. The DUP would like to have written Ulster Unionism off but that has not happened and it will not happen because at the end of the day the Ulster Unionist Party will always appeal to a far broader range of people than the DUP," he added.
"The Ulster Unionist party has never conned the people. It always did what it said it would do. The DUP, however, went to the people saying one thing and then did another. Their defeat in Dromore is the beginning of the price they will pay for that.
"The DUP is interested in nothing but power, office and the trappings of office.
"In the period when they were the lead party of unionism their behaviour has been characterised by self-interest and the pursuit of power.
"It is one thing to work with Sinn Fein because they have a democratic mandate, it is another to chuckle with them."
