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The 2024 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election was held on 29 May 2024 at a meeting of the Party Executive to ratify Gavin Robinson as DUP leader. [1]
Robinson had been serving as serving as interim leader since early April when Sir Jeffrey Donaldson resigned from the DUP after being charged with historical sexual offences. [2]
Gavin Robinson has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Belfast since the 2015 general election. [3] On 9 June 2023, he was elected as deputy leader of the DUP, defeating Jonathan Buckley who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann. [4]
On 29 March 2024, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson stepped down as leader of the party, having been charged with rape and historical sexual offences. Robinson was thus "unanimously" appointed as the interim DUP leader by Party Officers. [5]
The party sought to elect a permanent leader following the calling of the 2024 general election by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 22 May 2024. [6]
| Candidate | Born | Political office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Gavin Robinson | 22 November 1984 Belfast, Northern Ireland | Interim Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (since 2024) MP for East Belfast (since 2015) | Robinson is considered "politically close" to former leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, under whom he served as deputy leader. [7] |
| Candidate | Born | Political office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Sammy Wilson | 4 April 1952 Belfast, Northern Ireland | Democratic Unionist Party Chief Whip in the House of Commons (2019–2024) MP for East Antrim (since 2005) | Wilson is an outspoken critic of the party's Safeguarding the Union deal with the UK government, which restored devolution at Stormont. [8] |
Gavin Robinson was "unanimously" ratified as the party’s leader at a meeting of its ruling executive on 29 May 2024. [9]
| 2024 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Nominated by | |
| Gavin Robinson | Self-nominated | |
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson, who initially stepped in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and won five seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2024 election. The party has been mostly described as right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a British former politician, who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2021 to 2024, and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons from 2019 to 2024. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley from 1997 to 2024.
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2024 United Kingdom party leadership elections | ||
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