91Èȱ¬

Jim Rodgers has been made a scapegoat for the UUP's poor performance in the local government elections, a Belfast councillor who lost his seat has said.

Mr Rodgers had the whip withdrawn over an election leaflet saying the Alliance Party had a record of "voting with the Provisional IRA's political wing" .

He will also face an internal disciplinary panel.

David Browne, who was a councillor for more than 25 years, said the treatment of Mr Rodgers was "disgraceful".

"There were many reasons why we lost seats," Mr Browne told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"In my particular area, the working class didn't come out and the middle class did come out and that's why I lost my seat."

The UUP lost several high-profile councillors in the election, dropping 13 seats overall from 2014 and in particular, losing five councillors in Belfast.

Several UUP candidates who did not get elected linked the fall-out from the leaflet to the party's performance.

Losing the whip means Mr Rodgers has effectively been removed from the party, until the disciplinary panel decides an outcome.

The leaflet had accused Alliance councillors in Belfast of being "closely aligned with Sinn Féin".

"I think it's disgraceful that Jim Rodgers is being disciplined over this, because anybody who wants to look at the voting record of Alliance in Belfast City Council, they will see how many times the Alliance Party have voted with Sinn Féin," Mr Browne said.

He added that as Ulster Unionist group leader on the council he had seen the leaflet and had "OK'd it".

He said it had not been discussed with him when he was canvassing.

"I can say with my hand on my heart, not one single person mentioned it to me," he said.

"I think Jim's being used as a scapegoat. It's because we didn't get a good vote."

He also said said it was "amazing" and "unbelievable" that Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann had made the announcement of the whip withdrawal on the radio without talking to those behind the pamphlet.

Alliance leader Naomi Long said on Tuesday she had talked to Mr Swann at the election count and he had apologised for the leaflet.

"I respect the fact that Robin has apologised. I'm accepting the apology and moving on," she said.

"If at any time Jim wants to apologise I have no doubt whatsoever that that apology would be well received.

"But he hasn't, he has defended his position and has said the leaflet was justified."

Speaking on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme on Monday, Mr Swann, the UUP leader, said: "The message, and we said it clear when the leaflet was first brought to my attention, I said it was language that we would not use, that I would not use and it did not help the overall interests of the Ulster Unionist Party."