12:51 EDT, 29 April 2021
LONDON (AP) - Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party is looking for a new leader following First Minister Arlene Foster s announcement that she will be standing down after nearly 5 1/2 years in the post.
Following weeks of pressure related to her handling of Brexit and her perceived softening on social issues such as abortion and LGBT rights, Foster said she would step down as leader of the party on May 28 and as first minister of Northern Ireland at the end of June.
Her successor, who will be the party s fourth leader, is set to be chosen in a ballot of the party s lawmakers in the U.K. Parliament in London as well as those in Northern Ireland s power-sharing assembly in Belfast.
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Northern Ireland is to have a new First Minister, and the DUP a new party leader; what is far from clear is how these roles will be filled, or who might fill them.
The DUP has had only three leaders in its 50-year history. Each of the three – Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster – have been crowned rather than elected: all were appointed unopposed.
The manner of Foster’s departure following a letter of no confidence signed by a majority of MLAs and MPs has thrown open the possibility of the DUP’s first leadership election. That said, the length of time before Foster leaves office – May 28th in the case of the party leadership, and the end of June as First Minister – gives plenty of opportunity for backroom discussions and for a consensus candidate to emerge wh
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