A second candidate has emerged to challenge David Trimble's leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party.

On Wednesday, Portadown businessman Robert Oliver announced that he would put his name forward to replace the embattled Upper Bann MP at a meeting on 27 March.

"The Ulster Unionist Party, if it is to have any sort of future, needs change and it needs it now," he said.

"We cannot allow things to continue any further in this direction, and that is why I will be asking those at our AGM on Saturday to help me bring the party back from the edge of the political abyss."

His announcement follows that of Coleraine management consultant David Hoey who last week insisted that, if he were to beat Trimble in the vote, he would stand aside for a new leadership team.

Under party rules, Trimble must seek endorsement of his leadership on an annual basis, but this year he faces a particular challenge.

Last November, the UUP lost their place as the largest party to the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party, leading to a number of high profile defections, including Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson, and calls from rebel Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside for a change of leadership.

The last challenge Trimble faced was in March 2000, when his challenger and fellow MP, the Rev Martin Smyth, secured 43 per cent of the vote.