The DUP warned that “anyone found to have shared the material will be prosecuted.” Gordon Lyons, the candidate for East Antrim, who also serves as the party’s election director, said it was an “outrageous attack” on Ms. Forsyth’s character. “Diane Forsyth has been the victim of a slanderous and malicious campaign to tarnish her reputation and an attempt to intimidate a young candidate as she tries to run for public office,” she said. “The latest half-hearted material that has been released is not only false but also outrageously offensive. This miserable material is instigated by an inherent half-hearted prejudice and is designed to undermine Diane’s character. It is a shame that political opponents, who can not compete with Diane’s intellect or political arguments, bow down to this level. “All South Down candidates should issue a clear statement condemning this outrageous and ongoing attack on Diane’s character. “None of our candidates will be intimidated or will stand meekly while his character is attacked by impersonal trolls. “The matter has been reported to the police, but separate legal action will be taken against anyone who distributes the material.” Contact PSNI for a hardware response. Responding to the news on Twitter, former Prime Minister and former DUP leader Arlene Foster wrote: “Just so embarrassing, but unfortunately not surprising.” Ms Forsyth, who resigned from the DUP last June, accusing her of “embarrassing sexism, old age and the underground of intimidation”, replaced Jim Wells as the party ‘s candidate after 27 years in Stormont, he said. Her father, counselor Glyn Hanna, also resigned, only to return to the corral under leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson. The mother of three applied for a seat in Westminster in 2017 and, although she had no previous political experience, performed well, increasing the DUP vote in South Down by 9.3%. He recently responded to Mr Wells’s claim that he did not have enough experience to represent the constituency. Mr Wells announced last month that he was stepping down from the DUP after 46 years with the party, following his public support for TUV South Down candidate Harry McKee over Ms Forsythe. Mr Wells went on to say that he was willing to consider joining the party led by Jim Allister and revealed during a live broadcast of the Belfast Telegraph election last week that TUV was showing him “more respect”. From his former party “in seven years”. The former DUP man claimed that Ms Forsythe had been “imposed and imposed” on the party’s South Down Union by her leadership in Belfast. On Monday night, Mr Wells reiterated that he believed Ms Forsythe was an “inappropriate” DUP candidate in South Down – but condemned the fake material. “There is no room for that, question people about their policies and experience, there is no need for anything beyond that,” he said. Mr Wells added: “The lady is capable, there is no doubt about it. She is a very capable but completely unsuitable candidate. “I can assure you, I do not do any of these things [social media]it has not come from me, it certainly has not come from any of the people who have resigned. “If it comes from younger people, I would say we do not need any of them, we just have to fight it based on our policies, our experience and our suitability and it does not qualify for any of them.” Speaking to News Letter last week, Ms Forsythe said she had secured the highest vote for the DUP in South Down in the 2017 general election. He also stressed that he would bring life experience to the Stormont Assembly if elected on May 5.
