Lost seats ‘should be a wake-up call’
Pro-Union seats at Stormont were lost because of divisions within unionism, the DUP leader told the conference.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that the outcome of May’s election “must act as a wake-up call to unionists across Northern Ireland”.
Sir Jeffrey said: “It is vital that lessons are learned in its aftermath and before we return to the polls. Unionism won 44% of the seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
“And as unionists, we must be honest with one another; it wasn’t nationalists or others who caused the loss of several pro-Union seats at the election.
“That was the direct result of a splintered unionism where seats were lost in Strangford, in North Antrim and East Antrim.”
Sir Jeffrey added: “Each of those constituencies had four unionist quotas yet what happened was only three unionists were elected. This is not sustainable if we want to win elections.
“It is no good talking about the theory that you cannot split the vote in a PR election when the real-world evidence shows the pro-Union representation is weakened because of those splinters and divisions within the pro-Union family.”
Sir Jeffrey said that a “cohesive unionism” requires co-operation from everyone who wants to strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
“Everywhere I go, I get one consistent message from unionists, they want us to work together.”
The DUP leader continued: “Whilst some are content to manufacture arguments with fellow unionists, I am not.
“I have more in common with my unionist brothers and sisters than that which divides us.”