Sir Jeffrey Donaldson: Youngest person elected to Stormont - longest serving MP

His resignation as party leader came after explosive revelations he had been charged with historic sex offences.

Born in Kilkeel in Co Down, he is a member of the Orange Order and served in the UDR. He joined the UUP at a young age and in 1985, aged 22, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, becoming the youngest person to win a seat at Stormont.

The potential end of his political career - which saw him appointed as a Westminster Privy Councillor and a UK trade envoy - comes after almost a 40-year run; he is the longest serving MP in Northern Ireland.

His exit as DUP leader comes 26 years after he dramatically walked out of NI peace talks on Good Friday 1998, over the issue of releasing terrorist prisoners. A member of the UUP talks team, he went on to join the DUP, Arlene Foster making the switch with him.

Last year, he said he harboured “no regrets” about the decision, adding: “What I have done is dedicate my career and my political involvement in the last 25 years to fixing the bits that haven’t worked, to getting solutions to the bits that weren’t properly addressed in 1998, and I continue in that endeavour.”

His leadership of the party began after an internal revolt against Edwin Poots, which saw resign after only 21 days in office, in 2021. Sir Jeffrey stepped up after being elected unopposed by a majority of DUP MPs and MLAs.

He has now been suspended from the DUP, pending the outcome of the prosecution, but remains MP for Lagan Valley.

If he resigns it will trigger a by-election, but ownership of the seat will soon be up for grabs regardless as a general election is expected in the next few months.

His sudden resignation occurred weeks after he led the DUP back to powersharing at Stormont, after securing a deal with the Tory government to mitigate the impact of the NI Protocol on the province. The DUP had pulled out of Stormont in 2022, saying the Protocol was undermining the union in political, economic and constitutional terms.