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THE DUP WILL take the unprecedented step today of electing a new leader.
The move is quite literally unprecedented because the person who becomes the fourth leader in the party’s 50-year history will be the first to be elected.
Ian Paisley Sr. was the founder and first leader of the party, with successors Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster essentially taking over after they faced no opposition.
Foster’s departure has led to much debate about the future direction of the largest party in unionism, with two men vying to take over: Edwin Poots MLA and Jeffrey Donaldson MP.
The choice between Poots and Donaldson will be made by party members elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and House of Commons (MPs).
That means 28 MLAs and eight MPs, making an electorate of 36. The vote will take place by way of a secret ballot.
The whole process is being overseen by DUP party chair and House of Lords Peer Maurice Morrow.
The online meeting is set to begin at 11am when each candidate will be given 10 minutes to speak. An online voting system will then allow the members to cast their ballots with an announcement expected at about 5pm.
Outlining the process last week, Morrow said the winner will then be ratified by a meeting of the DUP’s Central Executive Committee.
“The Party Officers intend to make arrangements for a full meeting of the Central Executive Committee to ratify and thereby complete the election process as quickly as possible,” Morrow said.
The issues
There have been no public leadership hustings as part of the contest but both candidates have circulated a manifesto to their voting colleagues of what they hope to achieve.
Generally speaking, Donaldson’s pitch is being seen as the more moderate of the two candidates, with the belief that electing him may appeal more to voters who may be considering defecting to the UUP or perhaps the Alliance Party.
Poots is hitching his bid to more traditional and hardline unionist voters.
In a statement confirming his leadership bid, Donaldson said he wants to “build a shared future for Northern Ireland where everyone, regardless of their background, has a part to play”.
His manifesto says he would shake-up DUP party rules and to allow for more inclusive decision-making on policies.
Donaldson has pledged to consult on the potential of having two deputy leaders going forward – one based at Stormont and the other at Westminster.
If elected, he says he will embark on a “listening tour” of Northern Ireland during the summer to enable the party to reconnect with members and voters.
Donaldson has said he will develop a proactive communications strategy to build the party base and connect with “core concerns of voters”. This would be particularly focused on social media, the document states.
On the opposing side, Poots has vowed to establish a “unionist convention” to maximise support for the pro-Union position and unionist representation in next year’s Assembly elections.
Poots says he would set up a pro-Union think tank involving academics and business figures and also a pro-Union foundation to support projects designed to strengthen the Union.
He said he would also work to build international outreach to explain the unionist cause in London, Brussels and North America.
Poots has also said he would split the roles of party leader and Stormont first minister, with the same person not being allowed to hold both roles.
This would mean he would not be NI First Minister, would not have to work as closely with the Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister and could give him a freer hand to focus on the party grassroots
As he is not an MLA, Donaldson would also have to select someone else to be First Minister unless he stepped down as an MP and was co-opted into the Assembly.
Yesterday, Donaldson told those voting that he “intends to fight the next Assembly election” and that he would “take on the role of First Minister as I believe that our people not only want a leader of unionism, they want a leader for Northern Ireland.”
Before Donaldson entered the race, Poots’ campaign manager had claimed that his candidate had already been assured of the support to win.
Paul Frew tweeted that “Edwin has received endorsements from a majority of the electoral college including MLAs and MPs”.
The tweet was either an effort to influence voters before Donaldson threw his hat into the ring, or it was a genuine statement of where the race was two weeks ago.
The bookies see it differently, with Donaldson a healthy favourite over Poots.
This, however, may be more reflective of wider name recognition as clearly those setting odds have little insight into the minds of DUP representatives.
Yesterday, the race was given a jolt when an unnamed member of Donaldson’s team told BBC’s Stephen Nolan programme that Donaldson would consider cutting off North-South co-operation and collapsing the Stormont Assembly if unionist issues with the Northern Ireland protocol were not addressed.
Both candidates have placed opposition to the protocol as a key point as part of their pledge.
Nationalists and the Alliance Party have described such a threat to bring down Stormont as “childish” and “foolish” but the fact that Donaldson did not say it publicly gives the candidate a degree of deniability over both the threat and whether he would follow through with it.
Tweeting yesterday, Belfast News Letter journalist Sam McBride suggested that such a threat can be classified as “spin” but may suggest that Donaldson’s team is worried.
“He has been running as the more moderate candidate, able to appeal to voters leaving the DUP to Alliance – if he was cruising to victory, I doubt he’d want to be going down this route, even on a deniable basis,” McBride said.
- With reporting by Press Association
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Phew, always feel guilt.. Not a sociopath.. Nice 1
Isn’t guilt a feeling just like hate is.
How can hate be felt so?
I’m confused, I’m going out to find a puppy to scowl at.
I agree. she “hated” her dad, but cant “love”? I call shenanigans! :p
With a sociopath hate isn’t actually the same emotion as what we consider hate.
For a sociopath relationships are about what they can take from it. It’s like they’re extremely selfish. They’re good at feigning emotions, because they have watched and learned from others throughout their whole lives – but sometimes their approach will be a little off kilter because they lack the depth of understanding because they do not feel them properly – their brains do not function in the same way.
So for the author of the book, her hating her father could simply be that she didn’t enjoy the way he treated her – there isn’t enough in the article to say why. But she may term something quite minor as hate, the same way she would term something major – such as abuse in the same way.
There’s a difference between being a b*tch and a psychopath, I should know as I’ve had one in my life, they have to be the centre of attention at all cost even by telling wildly outlandish lies. They are also bullies and your only as useful to them as an audience and as someone to massage their egos! There is only one way to deal with them and that’s cut them out of your life altogether, it might be drastic but the more they are around the more damage they cause!
I had the unfortunate experience of having one for a boss, a real nasty piece of work, he really got a kick out of seeing people reduced to tears by his control & he really exerted his power over his subirdinate
Subordinates. Its not nice to see grown adults reduced to tears & in fear from these types of bullies, & nice as pie to his superiors who thought the sun shined out of his arse. The work environment was unbearable & toxic, what with his bullying & then the little lick arses running after him all the time. He tried to move in on me, I told him to go f*uck himself, of course that gave him the ammo he needed to wield his mighty authority over me which resulted in me being sacked, which was fine with me.
Ah, a sadist as well. Push him down a flight of stairs and see if he reacts emotionally (Question #4). If he does, he’s just a sadist. If he doesn’t, then he’s probably a sociopath.
….. And you should run.
The good ole Catholic guilt takes care of that
The people who made you feel guilty are sociopaths. :-)
Guilt. The most powerful emotion in this country just piping the joint seconds of low self worth and shame. Thanks Church and colonial regime.
9/10 ain’t bad
Think of a politician. Then read the questions again. You’ll be surprised.
Isn’t it true that a higher proportion of politicians and businessmen are sociopaths/psychopaths? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it means they can focus on the bigger picture rather than basing their policies on every sob story they hear.
Strange Killian but you might be right. I have worked for some ‘A’ types and I have to say they are very effective at their work. However their failings are often cataclysmic.
Absolutely, they can of course be very aggressive and manipulating but, forgive the cheesiness, they can work on the side of the angels.
Actually killian you’re both right and wrong. A very high percentage of directors and higher managerial staff are what would describe to be sociopaths or psychopaths. However they are not goo for company business as they are not pragmatic and able to see through the bull etc but are self serving and self driven. They aim to achieve their own personal goals and take undue risks with the business and staff relations.
Many American company’s have observed this and are attempting to weed out the existing sociopathic personality types amongst a their executive staff and more companies are employing psychologists in interviewing managerial staff not to weed out the weak but to identify and block the sociopaths.
A lot of former politicians and high stake businessmen/women who we know of being involved in crazy deals to further their own personal positions would display classic sociopathic traits including a complete lack of remorse or as we call it ‘a neck like a jockeys bollocks’
Very interesting ieoinu. My comments were just based on stuff I have heard but I don’t really know that much about it so I bow to your superior knowledge.
ieoinu. Your point is well made. And in general I agree. However it is not entirely correct that US companies are seeking to weed these people out. At least not all of them. Certain professions such as Law, Security, politics, are very much objective driven. Often an A type is ideal at least in the short term. In my experience they tend to be high achieving for at least 2 to 3 years before succumbing to the accumulation of their negative behaviour. But by that time they have served their purpose and are quietly ‘removed’. Still, I think its a bad business philosophy. Interesting all the same.
I agree, it very interesting as I think we can all identify someone that fits the criteria. Is it nature or nurture though? Are you born with a lack of empathy and self serving motivation or is it something you can acquire from gaining reward for surpassing your peers.
Ieoniu I think it might be a bit of both, a narcissistic parent, and life experiences from a very early age determine whether an individual is going to a psychopath, studies have shown that if you catch it early enough you may be able to change a child’s psychopathic behavior! The reason I say both is because some psychopaths are born into perfectly loving homes but still turn out this way and others learn from narcissistic or psychopathic parents themselves, there is usually a split in the parental relationship from a young age in the later example and some form of abuse, those kids also seem to be sexually active from a very early age and have ferocious tempers.
So thats 99.9% of Irish politicans then??
Sounds like the board of Anglo (I know, I am really sorry for bringing it up on this thread) but the taking huge risks that are self serving, no foresight, no compassion for the hardship inflicted upon others.. Following the release of the tapes it may be a safe presumption..
“criminally vindictive types whose only motivation is to take advantage of weaker people”
That accounts for 90% of the population.
Sounds more like our government.
Well, one thing sociopaths and psychopaths crave is power. Leadership roles are what they think they are here for, so it’s not unusual to have sociopaths run for office..
How good the population are at spotting them determines whether or not they get elected..
sounds just like my da, bloody knew something wasn’t right with him all these years
My ex through and through.freaked,eek!
what a bunch of silly questions
Im a sociopath. What next. Do I get a prize?
Jesus, I worked for a few of these freeks, wish I’d known and I’d have blown their fking heads off !
What about just asking “are you a sociopath”?
These are also ten questions which determine whether you are a teenager or not.
This is precisely why sociopathic personality disorder, antisocial behaviour disorder and psychopathy are not diagnosed until after 18, sometimes not until the 20s.
The only reason this would be ignored is if the child or teen seems to derive pleasure from harming animals or other people.
Three outa ten ain’t bad!
have your say