ELECTION NEWS: McGRADY WILL STAND

Gordon Brown hasn't made his mind up on when the election is going to be, though David Cameron has been doing his utmost to call the Prime Minister's bluff. Yesterday he dared Mr Brown to call it, I suspect however he rather hopes Gordon will wait.

Locally the parties have just started to prepare. The SDLP's Margaret Ritchie was widely tipped to replace Eddie McGrady as the parties nominee for the South Down seat. But for whatever reason the SDLP have decided to stick with Mr McGrady. It means they will almost certainly see off Sinn Fein's Catriona Ruane and take the South Down seat, but the move might be unwise in the longer term.

Negotiations between the UUP and DUP are still ongoing. But I understand that the offer on the table from the DUP will be to give the UUP's Tom Elliott a free run in Fermanagh, South Tyrone in exchange for the UUP giving them a free run with Jimmy Spratt in South Belfast. I'll cover myself by saying that this could all change - especially if Michael McGimpsey hears about it!

Note: A UUP source says that no talks have taken place between them and the DUP yet. However a DUP source says this will be the deal on the table - only time will tell.