UK: Northern Ireland Holds Local Elections as DUP Looks to Boost Efforts in Obtaining Concessions on Post-Brexit Trade Deal

Northern Ireland is set to hold its local elections for council positions this week. The elections come as the Democratic Unionist Party is looking to use the elections as an opportunity to boost its calls for concessions in the new post-Brexit trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Northern Ireland is set to hold its elections for local council positions on Thursday, with the DUP viewing the upcoming race as an opportunity to get more concessions from the British government over the revised post-Brexit trade deal, also known as the Windsor Framework. The polls so far have suggested that the DUP may trail behind Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, much like the elections for the devolved government last year. The DUP is hoping to avoid losing more votes to other unionist parties and the growing Alliance Party.

“Unionists have a clear choice. They can strengthen our position as we seek to finish the job of restoring Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom or unionism can divide and splinter,” said DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson in remarks to supporters last week.

The DUP has said it does not plan to end its 15-month-long boycott of the region’s devolved power-sharing government in protest to the provisions in the trade deal, which was established to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland. The DUP said it would not stop its boycott unless the British government passes laws that would protect the region’s ability to trade freely with the rest of the UK and more flexibility in the deal with the EU to ease trade checks.

London has said it will be introducing legislation that would ensure the protection of the Northern Ireland/UK trade, but it remains to be determined what the legislation would include and what was needed to satisfy the DUP. It also remains to be seen whether the potential bill could be compatible with the new post-Brexit trade deal.

On Tuesday, the British government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rejected the criticism of some eurosceptic politicians that Brexit failed. This follows comments by former lawmaker Nigel Farage, who said the Conservative government has mismanaged the UK’s departure from the EU

Photo: Kenneth Allen / Wikimedia Commons (CC by 2.0)