The party confirmed that Donaldson had had his DUP membership suspended pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.
He is due to appear at the courthouse in the border town of Newry in Northern Ireland on April 24, when further details of the charges against him are expected to be released.
Donaldson, MP for Lagan Valley in south-west Belfast since 1997, has spent recent months refusing to confirm whether he would seek re-election as an MP. Until now, he had been widely tipped to secure a Conservative nomination to the House of Lords and give Little-Pengelly, who had already been nominated to his Assembly seat, the chance to retain his Commons seat. of Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland’s two other major unionist parties have offered very different versions of this shock announcement.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie, who represents moderate pro-British opinion, said the circumstances of Donaldson’s arrest and charges “are concerning and in the public interest”, but “it This is now a criminal investigation and it would not be appropriate to comment.” further away.”
This has not stopped Jim Allister, the uncompromising leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, who is leading a movement anti-Donaldson campaign in the hope of increasing divisions within the DUP and forcing a further U-turn on power sharing.
Politices
