Jeffrey Donaldson scandal: 'How did such a man become the leader and 'pin-up boy' of the DUP?' - Jim Allister

But DUP leader Gavin Robinson said information was not reported to the party.

Since Donaldson’s conviction for a string of child sex offences, other allegations have been made by former senior figures in the party about behaviours which although not illegal could have compromised the former DUP leader.

Mr Robinson has said has “it is clear” there are former and current DUP members who had information about his conduct and did not share it with the party.

He said some current and former members had information which “was not reported through our appropriate channels” and therefore the party could “do nothing formally”.

Former MP Ian Paisley has claimed a young woman came forward to say she had been “exploited” by Donaldson – a claim he passed on to former DUP leader Edwin Poots.

Mr Poots has said “we observed at all times the wishes of the young woman”.

The DUP has denied any knowledge of the claims, saying it was “shocked to learn of these alleged incidents”.

A spokesperson previously told the BBC that “at no time did the party receive any complaints internally or externally about inappropriate and/or criminal behaviour” by Donaldson.

A BBC ‘Spotlight’ programme on Friday reported a number of allegations about Donaldson’s conduct, including heavy drinking and claims he attended a gay sex venue in London in 2006. The same year he had publicly described homosexuality as “sinful” in the eyes of Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Other allegations emerged about his personal conduct, which senior figures in the party were aware of. Mr Paisley, then the DUP MP for North Antrim, had described a woman as a “victim” in a text message to a politician outside the party during a leadership contest between Donaldson and Mr Poots in 2021.

“She wasn't a teenager but she was a young woman,” Mr Paisley told the BBC.

“And she said 'Jeffrey Donaldson exploited me, that man used me and I want you to do everything in your power to make sure he is not the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party'.

“The woman wasn't talking to me on some minor issue. This was deeply upsetting,” he said.

Mr Paisley also described an incident in which Donaldson had allegedly sat on the lap of a female DUP MLA on a trip to the United States and tried to kiss her, something he said was not criminal but “unacceptable”. The programme reported the MLA said she was so disgusted she left.

“I saw Jeffrey blindingly drunk, trying to kiss her in a hotel. I saw this with my own eyes, I said ‘get that man out of here before he does himself any more damage’.

“Was it criminal? No. Was it unacceptable? Yeah. There's many people behave like that are certainly not paedophiles,” Mr Paisley said.

Speaking in Stormont yesterday morning, TUV leader Jim Allister questioned how Donaldson had ever become leader of his party, given the claims that are now being made about him.

He also set out his knowledge about the case involving the young woman described as a “victim” by Mr Paisley.

“Was there an inquiry? Was Jeffrey Donaldson questioned? Was there any pursuit of what that meant for safeguarding policy?” the North Antrim MP said.

“If a former MP, if a former party leader, had information, what did they do about it?” he said.

Mr Allister added: “And the fundamental is this. How did a man against whom there had been such an allegation, and in respect of whom many now speak of his risky lifestyle, how did such a man become the leader of the DUP? Become the pin-up boy of the DUP?”

He highlighted a DUP party election broadcast by the party which had only featured Jeffrey Donaldson.

“It was a solo composition of the pin-up boy Jeffrey Donaldson trading his lies to the public about the Irish Sea border. And here's the real political rub: if a party knowingly, consciously, was prepared to nod to the lies of Jeffrey Donaldson over the Irish Sea border being gone – what else did they close their eyes to? That's the searching question,” Mr Allister said.