Robinson to shuffle MPs out of the Executive and annouces the end of Double Jobbing..
The striking thing about Peter Robinson’s welcome of the ‘putative’ PM (Gordon is gone now, in every sense that matters), was the statesman-like tone. (Bridges must be built! – ed). There has also been the promise of an end to the double jobbing betweem MLAs and MP jobs. Last summer, given the instability caused by Sinn Fein’s 154 lost days, he was reluctant to consider pushing it on his party colleagues. But the last 14 days have changed everything. Party sources say the change has been under consideration for months, but tonight in Bangor Robinson has announced a reshuffle of his Executive members so that the only MP left (presumably), will be the First Minister himself:
The practice of MPs also being Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive was never intended to be a long term arrangement but a necessary step to allow the institutions to bed down securely and to allow the next cadre of leadership to develop. I indicated, last June, when I appointed Ministers who were MPs that I would carry out a reshuffle in early autumn.I believe that solid foundations have been laid and we have reached the period when the baton can pass to the next cohort.
Therefore tonight I want to announce that having taken the views of my Parliamentary colleagues it is my intention to announce changes to our Executive and Assembly team before the summer recess so that no more than one of my seven parliamentary colleagues who presently hold either a Ministerial position or Committee Chairmanship will continue to do so. This move is being done with their full agreement. The new team of Ministers and Committee Chairs will be briefed over the summer and be in place before the beginning of the Autumn term.
This is a necessary prelude to the ending of double jobbing. Several months ago I indicated that we would be phasing out dual mandates – I reinforced that message two weeks ago to a group of reporters and journalists. Tonight, I want to say more.
I have absolutely no doubt that at a time when the future of the Assembly was uncertain and when experienced leadership was required, it made sense for some of the representatives from the main parties to be both MPs and MLAs. It was essential to ensure the Assembly was established in the first place and it has allowed the Assembly to settle in. Just as important it has allowed other Assembly Members to develop. But again that was a short term expedient not a long term measure.
It is simply not possible to sustain and fully perform multiple roles whether they involve other elected positions or indeed interests outside Parliament. While at least for a time serving in more than one elected body could be justified on the basis of political stability, no such justification exists for those who seek to pursue interests outside of the House of Commons which are unrelated to the work of an elected representative. It would clearly be the height of hypocrisy to have one rule for one and not the other. The workload is too great and there are not enough hours in the day to do multiple jobs without health and other consequences.
It is not for me to decide whether colleagues choose Westminster or the Assembly. We will each announce our own decisions in the coming months after we consult with our constituency associations.
I am making these announcements tonight so that we are clear about the importance and priority I place on ensuring the success of the political process and delivering for the people of Northern Ireland. I expect other parties will want to set out their intentions to move in a similar direction.
Shrewd move by Robbo. Speculation will be fever pitched abou who the new ministerial faces will be. Simon Hamilton’s time may have come?
Life might get easier for McGimpsey as Iris will no longer be chair of health committee
Dear Mr. Cameron
Please can we be your friends now, we promise we’ll not say any more bad things about you.
Love and Kisses
Peter R.
p.s. any chance I can keep my lunch vouchers?
But seriously….
About time our first minister started showing some leadership, even if it is in response to a direct warning from DC
The DUP forced into a hasty and major reshuffle by the UUP. Fancy that!
so michael if Jim Nic gets £1000 for each trip to brussels how much did his last 10 trips cost?
Michael,
Don’t get too excited.
Looks a bit like how Cameron trumped Brown by looking decisive during the recent allowances debate. Here it seems to me that Robbo has stolen a march on Empey. After the UU/Tory project is in trouble in North Down and Sir Reg looks anything but decisive.
Does he really think this is going to save him? It will not be long before “Paddy Power” is offering odds on who the new leader of the DUP is going to be.
Robinson and Dodds retain the dual roles.
Campbell, Wilson and Iris dropped. I assume Donaldson too.
Is that right?
This gives Robbo an opportunity to actually strengthen his base. Elevation of some lesser known DUP MLAs will give them an even stronger profile and will go down well with local party associations. Good move
Did Jeffrey Donaldson sign up for backbench obscurity?
??
Do you receive a wage from the DUP?
Michael,
Jeffrey might well end his Westminister job if a position like Finance Minister came up for grabs.
Calculatiion might be that Poots could beat McCrea in Lagan Valley.?
Dodds, leader in Commons?
Since UCUNF Westminster candidates would enter a London government while DUP ones wouldn’t, wouldn’t this separation be good for the UCUNF?
If Basil McCrea became MP for Lagan Valley he could work in a Tory government, while Jeffrey Donaldson would bave to be a backbencher.
Very unlikely that McCrea can become MP for Lagan Valley. Has stiil to prove himself there and I think with Jeffreys support Poots could win
“#
so michael if Jim Nic gets £1000 for each trip to brussels how much did his last 10 trips cost?
Posted by ?? on May 21, 2009 @ 08:34 PM
”
?? has been rattling on about this all fucking day.
How much did Paisley’s trips to Brussels cost in expenses.
And if the vitrious Diane gets in (on her own merits of course), how much will it cost to send her over?
This could signal that a deal in Fermanagh ST and South Belfast is off the cards. Arlene has been a succeful minister and a deal might result in her being MP for FST.
There are those who will wish to emphasise that Mr. Robinson is taking the lead and others who will emphasise that he is following it.
Whichever way you cut it, this is one small step on the road towards normal politics in Northern Ireland. It is a victory for democracy.
Double jobbing may be on the way out, at least on the Unionist side. Pressure will now be on the SDLP and to a lesser extent, Sinn Fein to change their practices.
Sinn Fein’s excuse not to attend at Parliament is that they will not take the Oath.
I hasten to say that I do not regard myself as disloyal to the Queen. However, I would like to see the Oath changed removing the name of the Queen from it. Representing your constituency is what is important. I believe a new oath should include a promise to represent the constituency inside and outside Parliament and uphold the rules of Parliament.
I am not saying this purely to get the Shinners on Board but a nice by-product of that would be that they would be put under a lot of pressure if they did not take up the oath after such a reform.
sideline Dodds before Diane slips up and reduce the profile of his other leadership contenders
a case of Peter jumping before he was pushed
“While at least for a time serving in more than one elected body could be justified on the basis of political stability, no such justification exists for those who seek to pursue interests outside of the House of Commons which are unrelated to the work of an elected representative”
So no more second hand car dealerships then
Alan
Cameron made it clear today that we we would stand a candidate in every constituancy.
No deals available.
And no deal should be done because democracy is not about ‘stop themmuns’ it’s about ‘vote for the best candidate’.
“Robinson to shuffle MPs out of the Executive and annouces the end of Double Jobbing..”
Actually Mick David Cameron announced the end of double jobbing and Peter said yes sir.
“Robinson to shuffle MPs out of the Executive and annouces the end of Double Jobbing..”
Actually Mick David Cameron announced the end of double jobbing and Peter said yes sir.
Seymour
You’d need to check SF’s exact reason for not sitting – as far as I understand it there is more to it than the Oath. Sitting in the Westminster is seen as an acknowledgement of the legitimacy of British rule in NI. Now while many will argue that sitting in Stormont is no different as it is a British devolved assembly, and the ministers there are ministers of the crown, it suits SF to make a distinction between Stormont and Westminster.
Any SF types here who can give a correct and authoritative comment on this rather than my hazy understandings?
Yes that was the implication. But the lack of decision making re North Down by UUP muddies the water
Alan56
No it could not. We’ve been over this before.
Alan
There is no possible mis-interpretation, Cameron has said that there will be a CU candidate standing for EVERY seat.
Who will stand as a CU candidate has yet to be announced.
SM,
I believe you are right and I would love to see that flushed out.
What odds Jim Wells is the Environment Minister and Silly Simon is Finance Minister? oh and a return for Arlene Foster??
I mean a return to the limelight for Arlene. Finance and possibly put Silly Simon as a Junior Minister.
What about Paisley Jr?
I’m sure Seymour would like to see jr get DOE
Apparently the press had no notice of a major speech by Robinson until the Belfast Telegraph published Cameron’s commitment to legislate.
Robbo jumps when Cameron speaks
Apparently the press had no notice of a major speech by Robinson until the Belfast Telegraph published Cameron’s commitment to legislate.
……….
except cameron hasnt committed to anything:
“+However, if we cannot persuade other parties to work with us and bring double-jobbing to an end by mutual agreement, a future Conservative Government would consider introducing legislation to prohibit dual mandates. “
Whatever the motivation this is a welcome step. I think it’s clear to a lot of people that new blood and ideas are needed across the board in NI politics. I think Robinson may be in effect trying to create 2 DUP’s, the old guard, Iris, Sammy, Campbell etc will become the Westminster party while the “Young Turks” such as Hamilton will come to the fore at Stormont. It will be interesting to see what way Donaldson goes as clearly Poots will likely take the opposite route. It could also serve to nullify the “Time for Change” argument that UCUNF is putting forward as the DUP would be able to show that it had changed from it’s original form.
?? Yawn Cameron said ‘sort yerself out or I’ll sort you out’ and Robbo scurried and scrabbled a speech together and reversed DUP policy
Alan
‘Yes that was the implication. But the lack of decision making re North Down by UUP muddies the water’
You think that if Cameron says there will be a Conservative candidate in North Down that UUP indecision muddies the water?
What is this cr*p about Cameron saying no double jobbing and Robinson jumping. Robinson told the press on Monday 11th May that he was phasing out double jobbing. Robbo says jump and Cameron follows. Now let us see Cameron sort out the double jobbing in his own party with all those directors and barristers. What a hypocrite.
Torys arent just double jobbing one of them has 10 jobs! they are in the pocket of big buisness. of course that doesnt worry PBDC.
Cant wait til Nic polls below Alban…and anyone with private tory polls will tell you thats the way its looking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The DUP are still promoting Edwin “4000 year old earth” Poots as a possible minister again? Albeit in the toytown assembly.
The DUP believe the Earth is 4000 years old, I hope this is promoted in the UK wide media so the rest of the UK can see a party that makes the BNP look liberal. Oh and add in the Robinsons view on Homosexuality and Papa Docs view on the popish antichrist for good measure.
Morons.
I have to agree with insider as post 11. Robinson came out and said that there would be an end to dual mandates last week. This isn’t the first time the DUP have announced their intentions on this issue.
And as well as that, how many jobs does William Hague have again???
Wait a second – the Conservatives have been on about ending multiple mandates for a long time, and certainly many months before 11th May 2009! It is complete twaddle to say that the DUP came up with that one – they saw the weather changing and smartly moved to follow.
And as for Conservatives MPs have 10 jobs that is also nonsense – being a non-executive director of a company is a very part time commitment (typically a small number of days/year). Now given that parliamentary democracy assumes that an MP has sufficient spare capacity to become a minister, its fair to say that those who are not ministers can reasonably have time to do some small part-time work. That is of course totally different to being an MLA & MP simultaneously, where both jobs are intended to be full-time.
That the DUP employees on here can’t make that distinction perhaps says more about their experience of business than anything else.
SM
Not all the jobs, are non-exec directorships and you know that.
I am not saying that the Tories haven’t mentioned this before ever. However, people are on here are saying that Robinsons statement was only in response to Cameron’s earlier, which is also not true as Robinson raised the issue independently last week. I never insinuated that Cameron was following Robinson, merely that given the evidence of last week Robinson is not following Cameron by his statement tonight.
Regards,
SM is right. The Conservatives have wanted an end to Double jobbing for a long time. It is actually written into the Memorandum of Understanding with the UUP last November that if an elected representatvie standing for parliament gets elected as an MP, he must resign his previous seat.
A few weeks ago, DUP members were defending double jobbing saying that it cost the taxpayer less because their salaries were lower for the second office. See for example these comments by Sammy Wilson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7963640.stm
I believe the main reason why Robinson felt the pressure to end double jobbing is the concept is too closely linked with MPs expenses in the minds of voters.
The DUP know that a combination of the TUV, Robinson’s expenses, a mediocre candidate and voters moving back to the CU’s will shred their EU vote by 25% or more.
They are in panic mode and their knee jerk reactions are typical of a party that is desperately trying to do anything to preserve their vote. The problem is it won’t work voters aren’t stupid and recognise panic when they see it.
The DUP reached their zenith in the last election and the CU’s reached their nadir. We will see a drift of DUP activists to the CU’s (and TUV) over the next few years in the same way the reverse happened in the last 10 years when the UUP declined.
I think the 21st May 2009 will come to be recognised as the day politics changed in NI with a combination of Cameron’s visit and Robinson’s genuflexion to his authority.
frustrated, let go of your dick for a second. You still haven’t addressed the issue of the UDA helping out with Nicholson’s campaign, Sylvia’s resignation from the party, and the departure of the chappie from North Down. Doesn’t look like the making of a comeback to me. Do you want to put money on Nicholson’s first preference vote as a proportion of the turnout being higher than 2004 ?
On the general point, it struck me that eliminating double-jobbing is actually a way for the DUP to maximise their income. Presently, anyone who is an MP as well as an MLA does not collect two full salaries. By separating this out, the cost to the taxpayer will, in fact, increase. The income to the political parties will also increase, since the parties generally have an arrangement whereby each elected rep pays a proportion of their salary into the party.
“The striking thing about Peter Robinson’s welcome”
Mick, I was also struck by by Peter’s reference to his own status:
“The Tory leader David Cameron is today in Ulster. He is a putative Prime Minister and as Northern Ireland’s First Minister I warmly welcome him to this part of the United Kingdom”
Some may quibble about his use of Ulster but was he putting down a marker to David that Peter isn’t going to be pushed around in this small corner by a UK PM?
Frustrated Democrat
DUP to loose 25% to CU are you joking I think the CU are in serious trouble
A) UUP Councillor being expelled
B) UDA puting up their posters
C) Hermon in revolt
D) Time for Change slogan with the same on candidate
Great vote winner for CU
After events causing some bumps this was a pretty smooth move. There was going to be a ministerial re-shuffle anyway. From what I could see the main political news story online yesterday evening and in the paper’s this morning seems to be Robinson’s announcements rather than the Cameron Direct event. So it’d appear it managed to address an issue the public were concerned about and reduce the coverage (and thus boost) of the Cameron visit.
As for the CD event basic things mismanaged. Cameron should have been out in the streets glad handing people with Nicholson not visiting a factory. The venue should have had wifi. They should also have held it on a Friday to maximise coverage.
BP and SM
Point of information
Robinson first stated an intention to address double jobbing in September 2008 in an interview with Mick Fealty for total politics magazine.
mick. i could hardly believe what i was seeing on ‘let’s talk’ last night as moderator carruthers gave the dup, in the person of campbell, an easy ride. the producers are clearly spooked by dup threats not to take part in panel shows. they’ve even kept allister off the panel for the euro election debate.
fortunately, durkan and mcgimpsey were able to expose the double-speak in revealing that robinson vetoed bills to end the double jobbing, campbell, only last week seeking to justify it as cheaper than single mandate. the audience were in open contempt of campbell, which really irked him. the programme was a disgrace.
SM, you’re bang on the money, SF will not take their seats regardless.
“but a nice by-product of that would be that they would be put under a lot of pressure if they did not take up the oath after such a reform.”
pressure from who Seymour, their supporters?
Robbo has looked at the rune’s (his polling) he has worked out Diane is in trouble. The “swish family” has stung and “we gotta beat the Sinn fenians” isn’t cutting it.
The next prime minister has rolled up and told him and his joint first minister – both your parties are going to be called to heel when I beat Gordon next year, and hard man Robbo has has jumped!
The only question left is; how high is Robbo prepared to jump? This decision just proves Robbo in no longer in control of the agenda. NI has moved on and he’s playing catch up