On Friday, it emerged that three potential Conservative candidates - Sheila Davidson, Deirdre Nelson and Peter McCann - had withdrawn their names from the selection process.

A report in a Sunday newspaper said that senior members of the local Conservative Party wanted David Cameron to remove Mr Paterson because of his role in organising joint UUP-DUP-Tory talks last weekend, which they saw as the beginning of a "sectarian carve-up".

But yesterday a Conservative spokesman dismissed the claim by The Observer and said that Mr Paterson had David Cameron's "full support".

Another Conservative source told the News Letter that the claim was "absolute rubbish".

He said: "Owen brought the agreement with the Ulster Unionists much further than many thought possible and David thinks that he is doing a fine job."

Referring to claims that the trio withdrew because of anger at the weekend talks, he added: "The three nominees withdrew for their own reasons but they were wholly unrelated to the reasons speculated and more to do with frustration at the selection process."

There has been unhappiness among many Northern Ireland Conservatives that they were not informed of last weekend's secret talks in Hertfordshire.

Whether or not the conclave seriously discussed some sort of pact with the DUP - and the Conservatives deny that was its purpose - the idea that it did has gained traction over the last week.

Perhaps satisfied that such a belief unsettled Sinn Fein, the Conservatives have publicly been ambiguous in their choice of language when speaking about what transpired in Hatfield House, further straining relations within the local party.

Speaking on Saturday, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said that whoever the Conservatives put forward as potential candidates "is a matter for them" and insisted that the withdrawal of the three Conservatives had not harmed the electoral alliance.

Although they are not discussing their dissatisfaction with the Press, the three nominees are understood to believe that Shadow Secretary of State Owen Paterson has been "weak" in talks with Sir Reg, particularly as UUP candidate selection has dragged on for months.

But Mr Paterson and his supporters are understood to have retorted that at a time when Stormont teeters on the verge of collapse, both he and Sir Reg had more important issues to deal with than candidate selection.

It now appears highly likely that former Alliance member Ian Parsley will be a Conservative candidate - either in North Down if Lady Hermon does not stand for the UUP or elsewhere if she does - and Duncan Crossey will also be given a seat.

Other Conservative figures could also be introduced to the selection process to fill the void left by the three withdrawals.

See Sammy Wilson, page 15