61-year-old Sir Jeffrey and his wife Eleanor, four years his junior, were arrested and charged on Thursday. He is suspected of rape, his wife is accused of a supporting role in this sexual offense. The couple, who have two daughters, will appear in court on April 24. They strongly deny the charges. Pending the trial, this former insurance agent has resigned as leader of the DUP, but he will remain as an MP for the time being. Sir Jeffrey is Northern Ireland’s longest-serving MP.
The police remain silent about the precise nature of the allegations. In the run-up to the trial, there is, as usual, a media silence so as not to influence the jury. The fall of this doyen of Northern Irish politics comes as a shock and could have major consequences for political stability. Last year, Sir Jeffrey painstakingly ensured that his pro-British party was prepared to share power for the first time in history under the leadership of a Prime Minister of the Catholic Sinn Fein, Michelle O’Neill.
There is dissatisfaction within the DUP about the party’s direction. According to the hardliners, there should never have been a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, a maritime border that was concocted by the British government and the EU during the Brexit negotiations. Playing second fiddle to a Republican party, Sinn Fein, which strives for Irish unification, is also a sensitive issue within unionist circles. Backed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Donaldson had received the approval of the party board at the beginning of this year.
The Troubles
Donaldson has a long track record. He started his political career with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which for many years was the main party of Northern Ireland’s unionists. On behalf of the UUP, he was part of the peace negotiations in 1998 that would lead to the Good Friday Agreement. This peace also had great personal significance. Donaldson, who had served in the British Army as a corporal, lost two cousins during The Troubles, the civil war that raged in Northern Ireland for three decades.
After the peace agreement, the UUP was overshadowed by the more radical DUP, the party of the well-known pastor Ian Paisley. In early 2004, Donaldson defected to the DUP, including Arlene Foster. The latter was leader of the DUP between 2015 and 2021. After her resignation due to a political scandal, Edwin Poots was put in charge, but that only lasted a month. With Donaldson, a major leader seemed to have taken office in 2021. Now the party has to look for a leader again. The experienced Gavin Robinson will do the honors for the time being.
Radical unionists hope that the fall of Donaldson will benefit their struggle. Jim Allister, leader of the radical Traditional Unionist Voice, said unionists must now say goodbye to ‘Donaldson’s idiotic decision to accept a maritime border and agree to EU law’. Northern Ireland still has one foot in the EU. This recently became apparent when it was announced that an EU ban on shampoo bottles in hotels will apply in Northern Ireland, but not in the rest of the United Kingdom. The unionists fear that the British motherland will drift further and further away.
Tags: Shock Northern Irish politics DUP leader resigns rape accusation
