New DUP 'tell-all' podcast reveals insight into married life of leader Gavin Robinson and his 'better half' Lyndsay and how life changed since he became party leader
DUP leader Gavin Robinson’s wife Lyndsay does not hold back when she admits on ‘The Lions Roar’ YouTube podcast about the upset to their family dynamic when her husband became party leader after the shock resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson when he was charged with historic sex offences in March.
In 1997 Jeffrey Donaldson, inherited Jim Molyneaux’s seat in Lagan Valley, and held it until 2024 when he was charged with the historic sex offences. He denies all charges.
As the couple (Gavin Robinson and Lyndsay) publicly discuss if there has been a change in their family dynamic since he became leader earlier this year, Lyndsay says: “It will not surprise you when I say I think it's changed things a lot.
“I think just before Easter and probably a couple of days before’ things changed’, we had a conversation about where life was at and what we were going to be doing, and realising that there was an election coming up at some point this year,” said Lyndsay.
"But having sort of had almost nine years at Westminster, saying, look, we'll go forward for election again. Let's see what happens. But actually feeling quite secure in the life and the routine that we had built over those years.”
During the podcast the mother-of-one adds that after finding “the first few years really difficult with you away” (at Westminster) and her post-natal depression the couple had entered a “good place now”.
But then in March 2024 after the shock resignation of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson “life completely turned on its head” and “everything changed”.
Mrs Robinson added: “And I know that perhaps if we had, had a conversation about the leadership, you would have said that maybe it'll be something you aspire to further down the road.
"Further down the road, for me looked like five or 10 years down the road and not a few days down the road,” she added.
"And certainly it all came at us very quickly.
" And I feel like it has probably been a bigger change than even becoming an MP was, to be honest, because of the privilege it is, but also the huge responsibility that comes with it.
“So I feel like life has changed for me, for us, for us all, in ways that we didn't even have a chance to prepare for or maybe talk about.”
Talking through the changes Gavin said that “now, people stop more and that's fine.”
He added that he had to stop going to Asda to do a family shop because “I'm supposed to help you, and I just stand and chat with it's great because it's all local, and it's people we know, people in our community, but now that feels like that a bit more everywhere else as well”.
"So that is a change.”
Lyndsay also said she believed their family has had a “learning curve” of balancing politics and family life.
Gavin said: “ I have to realise that I have to prioritise family time and prioritise all those chores that I have to do, and that cooking and cleaning and all those other things, and it works very well.”
Laughing yet clarifying that Gavin doesn’t do cleaning, Lyndsay added: “I think we have learned over time, haven't we, over these last few years, we have to work at it to make it work well.”