Jeffrey Donaldson is only into the job of DUP leader for a few hours and already his unruly colleagues are giving him trouble. Alex Easton said he will stand as an independent in the next election. He said:
“I’ve given 21 years of my life to the DUP, sometimes to the detriment of my health & well-being. It has been extremely lonely at times for me, & few have cared how I have felt.”
I have had to stand back and watch as colleagues tear themselves apart… there is no respect, discipline or decency I have just had enough.
“This is not something that I want to be a part of as a unionist and it is not Alex Easton.
“I am at the end of my tether with U-turns and reaction politics.”
Exclusive: Fresh DUP crisis as MLA Alex Easton quits accusing party of having no ‘respect, discipline or decency’ https://t.co/Wcw5LEHFwF pic.twitter.com/TNGJcvg4Qz
— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) July 1, 2021
According to Wikipedia this leaves the DUP with 26 MLAs the same as SF. For those wondering, if the DUP lose another MLA this does not mean SF take the First Minister position, it seems it is decided at the start of the term of Government after the last election. It is very likely that SF will be the largest party after the next Stormont election and my money is on Conor Murphy becoming the first SF First Minister.
As we all know the First Minister and Deputy First Minister have the same powers so the sensible option would be to just rename them joint First Minister.
“Stormont” by D-Stanley is licensed under CC BY
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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