The Ulster Unionist Party was accused of being in disarray last night after making an agreement about next year’s European election with a small hardline unionist party — and then insisting it was not an electoral pact.

Party leader Sir Reg Empey and senior party colleagues met MEP Jim Allister, who will be seeking to retain for his recently formed Traditional Unionist Voice the seat he won when a member of the DUP.

He quit the DUP over its decision to go into government with Sinn Fein.

Northern Ireland returns three MEPs, traditionally one UUP member, one DUP member and one nationalist, but at the last election Sinn Fein

wrested the seat from the SDLP.

In what appeared to be a clear bid to stop the DUP getting back the seat Mr Allister took with him when he walked away, Sir Reg and Mr Allister announced an agreement to recommend unionist supporters use the transfer of votes between unionist candidates in what will be the PR election.

In a joint statement, the two parties said: “With the European election, as the next scheduled election, coming up in June, we agreed on the priority of retaining two unionist representatives in Europe.

“This should be the overriding priority of all unionists in respect of this election. Such is only attainable by full utilisation of transfers between the unionist candidates.

“Thus, we agreed to recommend such a voting strategy to all unionist voters.”

But Sir Reg insisted it was not a pact, he had been misunderstood and he would be having talks with the DUP as well about maximising the unionist vote.

“The Ulster Unionist Party has not agreed an electoral or political pact with the TUV,” he said.

The Alliance Party Assembly member Dr Stephen Farry said Sir Reg’s party was all over the place. “Some days they seem to want to reinvent the party as a moderate, constructive movement. On other days they seem intent in reinforcing the most reactionary and backwoods voices in this society,” he said.