The Alliance Party is not a "cold house" for unionists, its Belfast city leader has insisted after a colleague defected to the UUP.
Councillor Nuala McAllister said she was "saddened" by Carole Howard's departure and "disappointed" over first learning of it in the media.
She questioned whether Ms Howard was "always suited to the Alliance Party" as her comments since quitting suggested the "driving force behind her politics was the constitutional question".
