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| Election results 2017: Who are the Democratic Unionist Party? | Election results 2017: Who are the Democratic Unionist Party? |
| (1 day later) | |
| The Democratic Unionists look set to be the powerbrokers in an election that intended to bring stability but has ended in a hung Parliament. | The Democratic Unionists look set to be the powerbrokers in an election that intended to bring stability but has ended in a hung Parliament. |
| Theresa May has said she will form a government with the support of the DUP, though it is not clear what kind of arrangement this will be. | Theresa May has said she will form a government with the support of the DUP, though it is not clear what kind of arrangement this will be. |
| Despite party leader Arlene Foster warning it would be difficult for the prime minister to stay in No 10, discussions are certainly going on behind the scenes. | Despite party leader Arlene Foster warning it would be difficult for the prime minister to stay in No 10, discussions are certainly going on behind the scenes. |
| The party has moved on to the political centre stage but most people will be in the dark about what it stands for. | The party has moved on to the political centre stage but most people will be in the dark about what it stands for. |
| The DUP website crashed on Friday morning after a surge of interest, and DUP was also one of the most searched terms on Google. | The DUP website crashed on Friday morning after a surge of interest, and DUP was also one of the most searched terms on Google. |
| Basically, they are pro-union (not Europe but UK), pro-Brexit and socially conservative. | Basically, they are pro-union (not Europe but UK), pro-Brexit and socially conservative. |
| The party is now the fifth largest in Parliament; its 36% share of the vote in Northern Ireland resulted in 10 MPs being returned to Westminster, but it wasn't always so popular. | |
| Hardline unionism | |
| It started as a one-man-band, with Rev Ian Paisley, a fundamentalist Protestant preacher, at its helm. He founded the party in 1971 in opposition to what he saw as the increasingly liberal approach of the Ulster Unionists; the party of the political establishment since the state was founded in 1921. | |
| All unionists want the link to Britain to be preserved but, for most of his political career, Ian Paisley didn't want that at the expense of sharing power with his political enemies, the nationalists who want a united Ireland. | |
| Ian Paisley and the DUP may have been a blockage to successive attempts to cobble together a power sharing agreement but he knew that simply by saying no he would make political gains. And so it was that by 2005 the Democratic Unionist Party, which started as the party of resistance to any hint of accommodation, displaced the ruling class of the Ulster Unionists as the party which could legitimately claim to speak for all of unionism. | |
| Power sharing with Sinn Fein followed in 2007 and, until recently, the DUP had a reputation for fiscal prudence and deft political strategising. | |
| When Ian Paisley became first minister in Stormont - Northern Ireland's seat of government - with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness acting as deputy first minister, the two of them got on so well that they were nicknamed the "chuckle brothers". But all of that seems like a distant memory. | |
| The party remained electorally dominant under its next leader Peter Robinson, but relations between nationalists and unionists in the country's fragile power-sharing executive began to cool. | |
| After Mr Robinson lost his Westminster seat in the 2010 general election, Mrs Foster took over as party leader in December 2015, and first minister in 2016. | |
| Her leadership has been sullied by controversy over the Renewable Heat Incentive Deal, which saw the power-sharing executive collapse in 2017, causing a snap election in Stormont. | |
| Northern Ireland is still without a government but the DUP has found itself in a position to influence political events across the entire United Kingdom, and that has led to scrutiny of some of the party's policies. | |
| Social issues | |
| The party may be less overtly religious than it was in the days when Rev Paisley was in charge, but on social issues it is still deeply conservative. It opposes same-sex marriage and is anti-abortion - abortion remains illegal in Northern Ireland, except in specific medical cases. | |
| DUP East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson, a devout climate change denier, was once Northern Ireland's environment minister. | DUP East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson, a devout climate change denier, was once Northern Ireland's environment minister. |
| Mervyn Storey, the party's former education spokesman, once called for creationism - the belief that human life did not evolve over millions of years but was created by God - to be taught alongside evolution in science classes. | Mervyn Storey, the party's former education spokesman, once called for creationism - the belief that human life did not evolve over millions of years but was created by God - to be taught alongside evolution in science classes. |
| He has also objected to an exhibition on evolution in the Ulster Museum and signs at the Giant's Causeway in his North Antrim constituency. | He has also objected to an exhibition on evolution in the Ulster Museum and signs at the Giant's Causeway in his North Antrim constituency. |
| Sir Elton John | Sir Elton John |
| Then there's the party's historical links to loyalist paramilitaries. | Then there's the party's historical links to loyalist paramilitaries. |
| During this general election campaign, the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly received the endorsement of the three biggest loyalist paramilitary organisations. | During this general election campaign, the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly received the endorsement of the three biggest loyalist paramilitary organisations. |
| Although the DUP said it did not accept their support, in her acceptance speech, Mrs Little-Pengelly thanked those who came out to vote for her, singling out several loyalist working class areas in Belfast. | Although the DUP said it did not accept their support, in her acceptance speech, Mrs Little-Pengelly thanked those who came out to vote for her, singling out several loyalist working class areas in Belfast. |
| In December, the DUP's Trevor Clarke was criticised by Sir Elton John after the politician admitted he did not know heterosexual people could contract HIV until a charity explained the facts to him. | In December, the DUP's Trevor Clarke was criticised by Sir Elton John after the politician admitted he did not know heterosexual people could contract HIV until a charity explained the facts to him. |
| The DUP was a wholehearted supporter of Brexit and got heavily involved in the Leave campaign. | The DUP was a wholehearted supporter of Brexit and got heavily involved in the Leave campaign. |
| After Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland becomes an EU frontier and the DUP is not in favour of a so-called hard border. This means no checkpoints or intrusive enforcement. | After Brexit, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland becomes an EU frontier and the DUP is not in favour of a so-called hard border. This means no checkpoints or intrusive enforcement. |
| So no hard border but in the round, the party's vision of Brexit is a fairly hard one - it was the most Eurosceptic party in the UK before the ascent of UKIP. | So no hard border but in the round, the party's vision of Brexit is a fairly hard one - it was the most Eurosceptic party in the UK before the ascent of UKIP. |
| The party also wants to leave the EU customs union - their manifesto says there should be "progress on new free trade deals with the rest of the world" - and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ensuring that in future British law is supreme. | The party also wants to leave the EU customs union - their manifesto says there should be "progress on new free trade deals with the rest of the world" - and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, ensuring that in future British law is supreme. |
| One red line is the idea of Northern Ireland being granted some sort of "special status" when Brexit comes to pass - the DUP will not stand for any arrangement that physically sets the region apart from anywhere else in the UK. | One red line is the idea of Northern Ireland being granted some sort of "special status" when Brexit comes to pass - the DUP will not stand for any arrangement that physically sets the region apart from anywhere else in the UK. |
| Its 2017 manifesto set out its position on Brexit and other issues, including: | Its 2017 manifesto set out its position on Brexit and other issues, including: |
| Its key slogan during the campaign turned out to be rather prescient: "A vote for the DUP team is a vote to send 'Team Northern Ireland' to Westminster. It is a team that has real influence". | Its key slogan during the campaign turned out to be rather prescient: "A vote for the DUP team is a vote to send 'Team Northern Ireland' to Westminster. It is a team that has real influence". |
| What part would the DUP play in a Tory minority government? | What part would the DUP play in a Tory minority government? |
| After a tumultuous night for the Conservatives, Prime Minister Theresa May has lost her majority in the House of Commons, and the mandate she was expecting from the British people. | After a tumultuous night for the Conservatives, Prime Minister Theresa May has lost her majority in the House of Commons, and the mandate she was expecting from the British people. |
| But with more seats than any other party, she has the first opportunity to form a government, but she needs to have an overall majority of 326 MPs to get legislation past the House of Commons. | But with more seats than any other party, she has the first opportunity to form a government, but she needs to have an overall majority of 326 MPs to get legislation past the House of Commons. |
| The DUP plays a key role in this as their increased Northern Ireland majority of 10 seats could get Mrs May's Queen's Speech through parliament. | The DUP plays a key role in this as their increased Northern Ireland majority of 10 seats could get Mrs May's Queen's Speech through parliament. |
| Ahead of the election, Northern Ireland's largest party made clear its preference was for a Conservative rather than Labour government. | Ahead of the election, Northern Ireland's largest party made clear its preference was for a Conservative rather than Labour government. |
| The DUP's most senior MPs, including its Westminster leader Nigel Dodds, have been consistently critical of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, particularly for his past links with Sinn Féin and his stance on security issues. | The DUP's most senior MPs, including its Westminster leader Nigel Dodds, have been consistently critical of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, particularly for his past links with Sinn Féin and his stance on security issues. |