In February 2022, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to DUP protests against the Northern Ireland Protocol.[6] Donaldson was once again elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2022 Assembly election, but he subsequently chose to remain as a Westminster MP, with Emma Little-Pengelly instead taking his seat.[7] Donaldson opposed the Windsor Framework announced by the Sunak government in February 2023 and, for 22 months, Donaldson refused to nominate a deputy First Minister to restore Stormont.[8] In February 2024, the Northern Ireland Executive was restored after a deal was agreed by Donaldson with Sunak's government.[9][10]
In March 2024, he stepped down as leader of the DUP, having been charged with rape and historical sexual offences, triggering a leadership election.[11][12][13] The party also suspended his membership.[14][15] Donaldson said that he would strenuously contest the criminal charges.[11] In May 2024, Donaldson's solicitor confirmed that he was not intending to stand for re-election at the 2024 general election.[16]
From 1982 to 1984, he was the constituency agent for the UUP MP Enoch Powell,[17] managing Powell's successful re-election campaigns in 1983 and 1986.[19] He then worked as personal assistant to the UUP leader James Molyneaux until Molyneaux retired from politics in 1997.[3]
Entering politics
In October 1985, at the age of 22, following the death of Raymond McCullough, Donaldson was elected with a large majority in a by-election to the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent South Down.[23] In April 1986, Donaldson took part in a unionist demonstration attempting to blockade a conference of the Ulster Teachers' Union held in Newcastle, County Down, in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement.[23] Demonstrators blocked teachers' cars and scuffled with the police; at one point protestors broke through police lines and attacked Education Minister Brian Mawhinney's car with flag poles. After further violence, arrests were made. Donaldson told reporters afterward: "What we're saying to Brian Mawhinney here today is that he may think that he is an Ulsterman but the people of Ulster want no part of a man who has betrayed the people of Ulster." Mawhinney labelled the protestors "thugs".[23] In June that year, after Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, ordered the dissolution the Assembly, Donaldson was one of 21 unionist representatives who refused to leave the chamber at Stormont and was eventually physically removed from the building by the RUC.[24]
In 1996, he was first-placed candidate on the UUP list for the Northern Ireland Forum elections, virtually guaranteeing him a seat. Donaldson, by that time serving as Assistant Grand Master of the Orange Order, was a prominent figure in the ongoing Drumcree conflict over a yearly loyalist parade in the town of Portadown. He justified unionist demonstrators cutting off Belfast International Airport by saying, "in a democracy people have the right to protest and unfortunately some people get inconvenienced."[25] That led to his selection, in January 1997, as a candidate for the Westminster Parliament, and he was elected at the 1997 general election as the MP for the Lagan Valley constituency, succeeding James Molyneaux. At that time, he was tipped as a potential future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.[26][27]
Donaldson stated in Richard English's book, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, that because of a "deep sense of injustice that I felt had been perpetrated against my people and specifically against my family", he joined both the UDR and the UUP at the age of 18 to oppose the IRA both militarily and politically.[28]
Role in the peace process
In 1998, Donaldson was in the UUP's negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement.[29] However, on the morning the day the agreement was concluded on 10 April 1998, Donaldson walked out of the delegation.[30] He rejected some of the arrangements, notably the lack of a link between Sinn Féin's admittance to government and IRA decommissioning.[30]
Dissent from the UUP
Donaldson engineered several party council meetings in protest against David Trimble's policies. The council, however, backed Trimble's leadership, and on 23 June 2003, along with fellow MPs David Burnside and Martin Smyth, Donaldson resigned the Ulster Unionist whip at Westminster.[31] The MPs remained party members and in November 2003 Assembly election Donaldson was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the UUP as an MLA for Lagan Valley.[32]
Following the success of the rival DUP in the same Assembly election of 2003, Donaldson reiterated his call for Trimble's immediate resignation,[33] but the party continued to back Trimble. On 18 December 2003 Donaldson, Norah Beare MLA and Arlene Foster announced their resignation from the UUP,[34] and on 5 January 2004 they announced that they had joined the DUP.[30][35]
In July 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Donaldson had repaid £555 claimed for pay-to-view films in overnight hotel stays. In total, Donaldson submitted claim forms, including receipts, for 68 pay-to-view movies. The newspaper claimed "hotel sources confirmed that films he put on his expenses during 2004 and 2005 were in the highest price category offered to guests, covering the latest blockbusters and adult movies", although no evidence was offered and Donaldson issued an official statement denying watching any content of an adult or pornographic nature.[37]
On 3 May 2021, exactly 100 years after Northern Ireland was effectively established,[41] Donaldson declared his candidacy for the leadership of the DUP to replace Arlene Foster.[4] He lost the subsequent leadership election to Edwin Poots MLA, by 19 votes to 17.[42]
Poots resigned after only 21 days as leader, having faced an internal revolt against his decision to proceed without delay to nominate Paul Givan as First Minister, after Sinn Féin had reached an agreement with the Westminster government about an Irish Language Act.[43] The Belfast Telegraph described the events as "one of the most tumultuous days in the DUP's 50-year history".[44]
On 21 June, Donaldson declared his candidacy for the leadership of the DUP to replace Poots,[21] pledging to make the Northern Ireland Protocol his main priority.[45] He was the sole candidate.[3][46] The party's electoral college endorsed him as leader-designate and he was confirmed in the post by the party's ruling executive on 30 June.[5]
In July 2021, Donaldson said in a UTV interview that he intended to resign his seat as a Westminster MP and become Northern Ireland First Minister before the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, but also said that he did not yet know precisely how he would bring that about.[47]
In August 2021, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, appointed Donaldson as the UK's trade envoy to Cameroon, in addition to his role as the trade envoy to Egypt.[48]
It was announced on 24 August 2021, that Donaldson was planning to stand as a candidate for Lagan Valley in the Assembly election the following year if he was not co-opted to a vacant seat in the time leading up to the election.[49] Plans were drawn up to temporarily re-allow "double jobbing", which would have allowed Donaldson to be in the Assembly and remain an MP. However, these plans were dropped, so, if Donaldson were to become a member of the Assembly, he would cease to be an MP, triggering a by-election.[50] Donaldson was elected to the Assembly in the May 2022 election, but declined to take up his seat, with the party instead co-opting Emma Little-Pengelly. Donaldson said he would not take up his Assembly seat until the situation over the Northern Ireland Protocol was resolved.[51]
On 29 March 2024, Donaldson resigned as DUP leader after being charged with rape and other historical sexual allegations, which he said he would "strenuously contest".[52][11] Due to the ongoing case, John McBurney, Donaldson's solicitor, confirmed in May 2024 that Donaldson would not be contesting the July 2024 general election.[53][54]
Views
Donaldson opposed the Good Friday Agreement.[55] He supported Brexit, but called for the Northern Ireland Protocol agreement between the UK and the EU in December 2020, which establishes a customs and regulatory border in the Irish Sea separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain, to be reformed or revoked.[55][56] Despite his earlier rejection of the Good Friday Agreement, he stated in January 2021 that the Protocol "actually undermines the Good Friday agreement".[57]
In March 2019, Donaldson was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.[59][60] He opposes same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, legalised by the British Government in December 2019.[55]
Personal life
On 26 June 1987, Donaldson married Eleanor Cousins, with whom he has two daughters.[61][62]
Speaking of his national identity, Donaldson says that he is "Irish and British, Northern Irish and British, and British." He noted that he was a member of the Irish Presbyterian church, which is organised on an all-Ireland basis. He described his national identity as geographically Irish, but also as being "part of a wider group of nations that is British". He believes that there is no contradiction in identifying as Irish, Northern Irish and British.[1]
Sexual offence allegations
Arrest and charge
On 28 March 2024, Donaldson was arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and charged with rape and a number of other sexual offences.[11] His wife also faced aiding-and-abetting charges related to the same matter.[63] The following day he stood down as leader of the DUP. The Orange Order[64] and the DUP suspended his memberships in March 2024 pending the outcome of the judicial process, as required by their rules.[11][15][14] Donaldson said that he would contest the charges.[11][12]
As Donaldson and his wife are co-defendants they were initially bailed to separate properties, and thus she returned to their marital home in Dromore while he flew to London to reside in a flat in Greenwich.[65] In response to what it deemed "unhelpful speculation" by some members of the public and media outlets (in regards to his legal issues being used to influence his decision to restore the Executive in January 2024), the PSNI released a statement clarifying that they first received a complaint that resulted in Donaldson's arrest in early March 2024.[66] On 7 April 2024, the Irish Independent newspaper reported that allegations had been made to police as early as January 2024.[67]
Donaldson is charged with 11 offences relating to two complainants. They are: one count of rape allegedly committed between 1985 and 1991, one count of gross indecency towards a child allegedly committed in 2005 or 2006, and nine counts of indecent assault against a female, allegedly committed between 1985 and 2006.[68][69] His wife Eleanor is charged with two counts of cruelty to a person under 16 years old, one count of aiding and abetting rape, and one count of aiding and abetting indecent assault on a female. Her charges also relate to two complainants and are alleged to have occurred between 1985 and 2004.[68][69]
Pre Trial proceedings
On 24 April, Donaldson and his wife appeared before Newry Magistrates' Court to confirm that they understood the charges against them. They were given bail of £350 each and the no-contact was lifted.[70]
On 3 July 2024, Donaldson and his wife again appeared before Newry Magistrates' Court, where prosecution lawyers asserted that there was a prima facie case to answer and both defendants had failed to offer any contrary submissions. Donaldson and his wife then confirmed they understood the charges against them and both declined to make any verbal or written statements in relation to the charges. The court heard that Jeffrey Donaldson was now accused of 18 charges in total (increased from 11 charges): one charge of rape, four of gross indecency and 13 charges of indecent assault. His wife's charges were also increased from four to five, specifically that she aided and abetted her husband in connection with the allegations he faced. Both defendants were then released on continuing bail to be arraigned on 10 September 2024 at Newry Crown Court.[71][72]
On 10 September 2024, Donaldson and his wife both entered not guilty pleas to all charges during an arraignment hearing at Newry Crown Court.[73] Their joint trial was set for 24 March 2025 and was expected to last for two weeks.[74]
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
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↑ "Paul Givan to stay on as first minister 'until later this year'". The Irish News. Belfast. 6 July 2021. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021. Paul Givan is set to remain as First Minister for the summer when Sir Jeffrey Donaldson announces changes later within his party at the Stormont Assembly. Sir Jeffrey intends to stand down from his Westminster seat in Lagan Valley and take a place at Stormont. In a UTV interview on Monday evening, he said he hoped to do so "later this year" and take up the position of first minister before the next assembly election. However, he said he did not know yet exactly how he would make this happen.
↑ "Vincent Kearney on X". X. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024. 1/2 Solicitor for former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson confirms he will not seek re-election as MP for Lagan Valley, but not resigning with immediate effect. John McBurney told @rtenews - "I can indicate that it is not Jeffrey's intention of course to stand for re-election…
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