After deposing outgoing Northern Irish first minister Arlene Foster in a brutal coup, all eyes have been on Edwin Poots. In the three weeks since his election as the DUP’s leader, the party has been embroiled in controversy. Resignations, infighting and, in recent days, the removal of every Foster loyalist from the Northern Ireland Executive paint a messy picture. A change of leadership was supposed to unite the party. Instead, the DUP seems more divided than ever.
When Foster resigns on 14 June she won’t be replaced by Poots. He doesn’t want the position. Instead, the next first minister is expected to be Paul Givan, a Poots loyalist and a staunch conservative. At 39, he could be the youngest first minister in Northern Ireland’s history.
Givan, Poots and Foster are all bound together by a long thread. It runs through the Renewable Heating Incentive scandal (RHI), to Brexit, to now. Givan’s elevation says everything about the DUP and the path the party has chosen to go down. His appointment could spell trouble, not only for the DUP, but for progressives and Northern Ireland as well.
