A deal has been reached to form the most significant electoral pact between the two Unionist parties in Northern Ireland in three decades.

The Democratic Unionist and Ulster Unionist parties have agreed to put forward a single candidate in some marginal seats, instead of splitting the vote.

Single candidates will be running in East Belfast, Fermanagh & South Tyrone, North Belfast, and Newry & Armagh.

The aim is to boost the number of Unionist MPs in the House of Commons.

DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson said, "this is the most comprehensive electoral agreement between our two parties in the last 29 years. Indeed, it is the product of discussions lasting six months."

Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Mike Nesbitt, said that "I acknowledge there will be those who feel disappointed that no understanding was possible in South Belfast. The key now is to get the pro-Union vote out on the 7th of May, not just in South Belfast but across Northern Ireland.”

Responding to the news, Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy said, "the coming together of the two main unionist parties, the DUP and the UUP, in an election pact on a narrow sectarian and conservative agenda is a challenge to progressive politics."