Mr Brooks said,
“In many councils, unionism will be the largest block but because of splits and divisions, Sinn Fein could lead more Councils if this opinion poll is accurate.
When the votes were counted last May and unionist seats were lost to non-unionists, people realised that splitting the unionist vote had gifted victory to Sinn Fein. We must not repeat the same mistake. Instead of dividing unionism, we must be moving forward together and building unionism.
On the doors, many recognise the need to unite behind the DUP and we can see that Sinn Fein lead is narrowing in some polls but when the votes are counted, let’s not have that regret of splitting the vote again.
Let’s unite and send a clear message to London and Brussels that unionism wants Northern Ireland to move forward together with arrangements that can be supported by unionists as well as nationalists. Let’s strengthen the DUP’s hand in negotiations so we can get the foundations right and build a stable and sustainable government in Northern Ireland.”