THE DUP's new leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been rocked by the resignation of a Stormont MLA.
Alex Easton’s statement announcing his decision to leave the party after 21 years comes on Donaldson's first full day in the leadership role.
The North Down MLA, who will now sit as an independent, cited a lack of “respect, discipline or decency” within the DUP as one of the reasons he is quitting the party.
His move comes after two months of unprecedented internal turmoil for the party.
Bitter divisions within the party have been laid bare after successive revolts deposed former leader Arlene Foster and then her successor Edwin Poots (below), who quit after just 21 days in the job.
Poots’ demise came only weeks after he narrowly defeated Donaldson in the leadership contest to succeed Foster.
Easton announced his resignation in a statement reported by the Co Down Spectator and Belfast Telegraph this morning. Several party councillors have also quit the DUP in recent weeks.
“It is with great sadness and hurt that I find myself doing one of the hardest things in my life and resigning from the DUP,” said Easton.
“I have had to stand back and watch as colleagues tear themselves apart, brief against other colleagues and run to the media in order to hurt each other on a daily basis. There is no respect, discipline or decency, I have just had enough.
“This is not something that I want to be a part of as a Unionist – it is not Alex Easton. No matter who people supported during the recent leadership contest, I find elements from both sides are equally to blame for recent events, and it continues.”
After formally being ratified as leader by members of the DUP executive on Wednesday night Donaldson vowed to unite the party after several weeks of turbulence.
Donaldson also said he expected Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “right the wrong” of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
READ MORE: PROFILE: Who is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the new DUP leader?
The party’s 130-strong executive met at the La Mon Hotel to approve his appointment yesterday.
Donaldson, the party’s 58-year-old Westminster leader, was the only candidate to put his name forward for the DUP leadership after the dramatic resignation of Poots earlier this month.
The new leader has made clear his intent to return from Westminster to assume the first minister’s job at Stormont.
However, the timeline for that move remains unclear. He would have to trigger a parliamentary by-election in Lagan Valley in order to re-enter the Assembly and it is unclear whether he would want to prompt such a contest in the near future, given the DUP’s recent poor poll ratings.
Donaldson is due to make his first keynote speech as party leader at a Belfast hotel this morning.
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