Ahead of the European Election on Thursday, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Sir Reg Empey and Leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron have issued the following joint statement.

"Change is needed across the United Kingdom.

Gordon Brown's Government has taken the UK to the brink of bankruptcy, and now we have a Parliament that has lost the trust of the people.

Public confidence in our institutions and in our politicians is at rock bottom.

David Cameron said last week that "big change and a new politics is exactly what people can expect from a new Conservative government…with people in control of the things that matter to them, a country where the political system is open and trustworthy and where power is distributed from the political elite to the man and woman in the street."

We want the people of Northern Ireland to be part of this process of change and new politics. As citizens of the United Kingdom they should have the same political and Parliamentary standards as their fellow citizens in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Ulster Unionist Party and Conservative Party, standing together as 'Conservatives and Unionists,' have already taken the first important step towards change and new politics. We have jointly endorsed Jim Nicholson as our candidate for the European Parliament.

Jim is the most experienced of all of the candidates. The change that he and we believe in is a change built upon experience, the lessons learned from that experience and a positive vision and agenda for the future.

A vote for Jim is a vote for a candidate who will have the full force of a national party behind him in the European Parliament and at Westminster

It is a vote for an inclusive, embracing unionism; a unionism which seeks to attract the broadest possible swathe of opinion across Northern Ireland.

Most importantly, a vote for Jim is a vote to give Northern Ireland a national voice on the issues that we all worry about - crime, the economy and our public services. Make your voice heard."