David Trimble: Future in the Lords?

David Trimble has blamed the government and republicans for his party's collapse in the general election.

The Ulster Unionist Party chief resigned after he lost his own seat along with all but one of the party's other constituencies.

Trimble, who is widely tipped to be made a peer, predicted stalemate in the peace process with the DUP unable to "close the deal".  

"The most important thing that happened in my ten years as leader was the Belfast Agreement, and I want to make it absolutely clear that I have no regrets at all about involving ourselves in that negotiation or about the outcome.

"Of course where you have a negotiation and you have an agreement there will be details of it that you might want to be slightly different, but I have no regrets about the strategic decision or the approach, or about the fundamentals of the agreement.

"I'm quite sure that the future development of