Give the DUP a chance

A political party barely known outside Northern Ireland now holds the balance of power in Parliament. Nobody saw it coming, but then that’s the new catchphrase in politics. So who are the DUP? And do they deserve the pillorying that has been coming their way since the general election catapulted them into the spotlight?

I have been watching the party up close for decades. Yet while the DUP isn’t always a pretty sight to behold, the party is much more complicated than the hysterical stereotyping makes out. It’s true that the DUP has its roots in uncompromising unionism and religion. And for many years it was little more than a one-man’s fan club: the political extension of Ian Paisley’s hardline Free Presbyterian Church. But the party isn’t just comprised of a denomination representing a small proportion of Northern Ireland Protestants; and the DUP’s path to centre stage was won through a combination of events, luck, political upheaval, strategy, low cunning, ruthless opportunism and pragmatism. Flexibility is also a key feature of the party’s success – and the ability of the DUP’s politicians to sound right-wing in the morning and left-wing in the afternoon, depending on the issues, has helped the party secure success at the ballot box.

This shift towards the centre ground happened largely as a result of Peter Robinson, Paisley’s long-term deputy and eventual successor, and his ability to steer the party well beyond its traditional base.