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.
West Tyrone is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Órfhlaith Begley,a member of Sinn Féin,who has represented the constituency since the 2018 by-election.
Mid Ulster is a parliamentary constituency in the UK House of Commons. The current MP is Cathal Mallaghan,of Sinn Féin,who was first elected at the 2024 election.
Donemana is a village in County Tyrone,Northern Ireland. It is 7 miles or 11 kilometres north-east of Strabane,on the banks of the Burn Dennett and at the foothills of the Sperrins. In 2001,it was the largest of the thirteen villages in the former Strabane District Council area and it had a population of 586 in the Census that year.
Samuel Wilson is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Chief Whip of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Commons since 2019. Wilson has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Antrim since 2005.
Oliver Gibson was a Northern Irish politician who was a founding member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and served as a DUP councillor for West Tyrone. He also served as an MLA for West Tyrone in the first session of the Assembly.
Thomas Beatty Elliott,Baron Elliott of Ballinamallard,is a Northern Irish unionist politician and farmer. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2010 to 2012,and was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2022 until 2024,having previously served from 2003 to 2015. Elliott was Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2015 to 2017 and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2024.
Jim Wells is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was Minister of Health,Social Services and Public Safety from 2014 to 2015. He additionally served on an interim basis as deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly between 2006 and 2007.
Derek Robert Hussey is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician,serving as a Derry and Strabane Councillor for the Derg DEA since 2020,having previously served between 2014 and 2019. Hussey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to 2007.
Columba Barry McElduff is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the West Tyrone UK parliament constituency. He was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Northern Ireland Assembly from its creation in 1998 until his election as MP in 2017. He resigned his seat on 16 January 2018 after publishing a video of himself balancing a Kingsmill loaf on his head,on the date of the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre.
Ian McCrea is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 2007 to 2016.
Allan Bresland is a retired Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was a Derry and Strabane Councillor for the Sperrin DEA from 2014 to 2023. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 2007 to 2011.
Paul Jonathan Givan is a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),he has served as Minister of Education since 3 February 2024. Givan has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 2010.
Ross Hussey is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 2011 to 2017.
Margaret Elizabeth Rosemary Barton is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and former schoolteacher who has been a Fermanagh and Omagh Councillor for the Erne North DEA since October 2024,having previously represented the area from 2014 to 2016. Barton was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2016 to 2022. She lost her seat in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election,and was succeeded by The Lord Elliot of Ballinamallard.
Keith Buchanan is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster since 2016. He serves as the party's Chief Whip in the Northern Ireland Assembly as well as its spokesperson for Cultural Development and Loyal Order and Groups Engagement.
Jemma Dolan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician,serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2017.
Catherine Kelly MLA is a Sinn Féin politician from Loughmacrory,County Tyrone,who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly for the West Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly June 2017 until her resignation in October 2020.
A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of West Tyrone on 3 May 2018,following the resignation of Barry McElduff,who had been the Member of Parliament (MP) since 2017. McElduff had become embroiled in a social media controversy which had resulted in his suspension from Sinn Féin on 8 January. He announced his resignation on 15 January 2018.
Deborah Erskine is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland. She was elected as a councillor for Erne North in the 2019 Fermanagh and Omagh District Council election,and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 11 October 2021. Erskine is the DUP Spokesperson for Promoting the Union with Young People and New Communities.
