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The incoming DUP leader has vowed to unite unionism and defeat the Northern Ireland Protocol.<\/p>\nThe incoming DUP leader has vowed to unite unionism and defeat the Northern Ireland Protocol.<\/p>\n
Edwin Poots, who recently recovered from cancer surgery, defeated the DUP\u2019s Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson in the battle to replace Arlene Foster, who announced her resignation last month.<\/p>\n
The Lagan Valley MLA won by a razor-thin 19 votes to 17 in the poll carried out within the party\u2019s 36-strong electoral college.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the media at Stormont, Mr Poots said he will meet Secretary of State Brandon Lewis in Belfast next week over Brexit\u2019s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.<\/p>\n
He also said he intends to be in London later in the week to continue those discussions with the Government.<\/p>\n
Mr Poots urged fellow unionists to work with him to oppose the protocol, which has placed new economic barriers between the North and Britain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say this very clearly, I will be a leader in unionism who\u2019ll be reaching out to other leaders in unionism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see unionism working together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Northern Ireland Protocol is proving to be a massive challenge for us and if we are to fight this to ensure that everybody in Northern Ireland is not worse off as a consequence of the protocol, then it\u2019s for us to do that together.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I want to ensure that that is the case, that we don\u2019t have the unionist bickering that we\u2019ve had in the past, and I will encourage all unionists to work with me to deliver an end which ensures we set the foundations in this (year) 2021 for another 100 years of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Mr Poots in a tweet.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople across the UK are best served when we work together, & I look forward to working with him, @BrandonLewis & the wider Executive as we build back stronger for the people of Northern Ireland,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin also extended his congratulations, and said his door is always open.<\/p>\n
It was the first contested leadership vote in the DUP\u2019s 50-year history.<\/p>\n
Mr Poots has made clear that he would break with DUP tradition and not appoint himself as first minister if elected party leader.<\/p>\n
Wanting to focus \u201c100%\u201d on the leadership, he is set to appoint a party colleague to the role at the head of the power-sharing administration at Stormont.<\/p>\n
In his acceptance speech, Mr Poots, who has held four ministerial portfolios at Stormont in a long political career, pledged that the DUP would be the \u201cauthentic voice\u201d for unionism under his leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an immense honor and pleasure to stand here today in this position, it is not a position that I expected to be in some weeks ago,\u201d he said in an address at party headquarters in east Belfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, things can change quite radically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Poots added: \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a positive relationship right across Northern Ireland with my party colleagues and indeed with people from other parties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Poots praised the \u201cresilience\u201d of Northern Ireland people through many difficult decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that resilience that we are going to go forward (with) and make Northern Ireland a good place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father was a founder member of the DUP some 50 years ago, and I joined after the death of the Reverend Robert Bradford MP in 1981 and throughout all of that period this party has been the authentic voice of unionism and will continue to be the authentic voice of unionism under my leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Foster was ousted after an internal heave by party colleagues unhappy with her leadership and will step down from that role on May 28, and as Stormont First Minister at the end of June.<\/p>\n
Mr Poots will be leader designate until Mrs Foster formally stands down.<\/p>\n
His election will now go to the party executive for ratification.<\/p>\n
The DUP politicians eligible to vote comprised the party\u2019s eight MPs and 28 Assembly members.<\/p>\n
The voting by way of secret ballot took place at the party headquarters through Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the vote, Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and his constituency colleague Mr Poots made final pitches for support in a virtual hustings event on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
North Belfast MLA Paula Bradley was also elected the party\u2019s new deputy leader on Friday.<\/p>\n
She defeated Derry MP Gregory Campbell by 18 votes to 16.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Mr Poots said he wanted to prioritize job creation and improving educational attainment in disadvantaged areas.<\/p>\n
He said he wanted to tackle the problems within the North’s health service and address the spiraling treatment waiting lists.<\/p>\n
After his narrow defeat, Donaldson said he had no regrets about standing in the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we sought to do was to offer the party a choice and I have no regrets about putting my name forward to give the party a clear choice in the decision they had to make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they have made their choice and I respect that and now the party must consider what that means for our way forward, what it means for the Union that we all cherish and what it means for Northern Ireland, this place that is my home, a place that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newly elected DUP deputy leader Ms Bradley said she would at times be a \u201ccritical friend\u201d to Mr Poots.<\/p>\n
She succeeds Lord Dodds in the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a great honor to serve this great party as deputy leader, I will do so to the very best of my ability, I will give it my all,\u201d said Ms Bradley.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will support our leader in any way I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may be a critical friend at times to our leader, but what more could you expect from me other than that.\u201d<\/p>\n