Former DUP health minister Jim Wells has blamed the party’s ballot box bloodbath on the sexual abuse allegations against former leader Jeffrey Donaldson.
His damning criticism came as Donaldson, who denies the 18 charges against him, was spotted dining out near his sprawling Co Down home, which sources say he is planning to sell to fund a permanent move to London.
Blaming the ‘Donaldson factor’ on destroying the DUP at the Westminster polls Mr Wells, who stood unsuccessfully for the TUV in South Down, said: “It was a night of shocks. There were a lot of tight results, but it was a very bad day for the DUP all over.
“The Lagan Valley issue is very specific, and Jeffrey going to court the day before polling would have brought it to mind.
“In normal circumstances, Jeffrey Donaldson would have won that easily. He had a big personal vote, had held the seat for 27 years and would have won it at a canter.
“Obviously, the circumstances (of his case) didn’t help, but also there was a trend
elsewhere, and it would be wrong to say it had a particular impact just on Lagan Valley.”
Former DUP MLA Jim Wells
The constituency was the Westminster seat that Jeffrey Donaldson held for 27 years before his shock resignation earlier this year, having been charged with multiple historic child sexual abuse crimes.
It is now in the hands of Alliance after Sorcha Eastwood recorded a stunning victory there over the DUP’s Jonathan Buckley in the early hours of Friday morning.
In an election hammering, the once-dominant DUP lost two other Westminster seats — almost half their previous total — including the shock defeat of Ian Paisley in North Antrim at the hands of TUV leader Jim Allister, and Paul Girvan, who was defeated by Robin Swann in South Antrim.
Ian Paisley at the count centre
The party also saw its overall vote plummet from 244,127 to 172,058, just shy of a 30 per cent loss and an 8.5 per cent drop in vote share from 2019.
The dramatic fall was also in part down to thousands of loyalists transferring their support from the DUP to the hardline TUV, or not bothering to vote at all.
Several loyalist sources told Sunday Life the only constituencies in which they backed the DUP in any numbers were East Belfast and Lagan Valley, and that was only “to keep Alliance out”.
They blamed the DUP’s decision to restore the Assembly without the removal of the Irish Sea economic border, which they branded the ‘Donaldson Deal’, as the reason why they deserted the party in their droves.
North Antrim MP Jim Allister making his victory speech with Ian Paisley in the background
Like Jim Wells, loyalists also believe Jeffrey Donaldson being charged with sex crimes led to “thousands” switching their support to the TUV.
Donaldson was seen in public for the first time in weeks last Wednesday, on the eve of the general election, when he appeared at Newry Magistrates Court, charged with 18 child sexual abuse crimes which he denies.
But Sunday Life has learned that he was spotted on at least two earlier occasions having lunch with friends at the same pub bistro not far from his plush home in Dromore.
It is this which has led to increased speculation that Donaldson is planning to sell the impressive property on the Dublinhill Road.
DUP sources believe this is to fund a permanent move to London, where the now retired politician has been living since his shock arrest in March.
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The rape accused ex-MP has taken in more than £2m in publicly paid salaries in a political career stretching back four decades that ended abruptly with his arrest last March.
“Jeffrey was recently seen having lunch with a group of friends in the same upmarket pub on two occasions,” a DUP insider told Sunday Life.
“He wasn’t recognisable at first because he has grown a beard, but it was him alright, and he was back again a few weeks later.
“Senior figures in the party have been told that he is planning to sell his house and move permanently to London to get away from all the drama here, so it’s likely that is why he was home.”
Donaldson appeared at Newry Magistrates Court last Wednesday to be sent for trial on the historic sex offence allegations.
A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for the case against the 61-year-old and his co-accused wife Eleanor Donaldson (58), who also denies any wrongdoing, to proceed to the next stage in the judicial process.
Both defendants confirmed their names and dates of birth, before the charges were read to them.
Eleanor Donaldson
A prosecuting lawyer said there was a prima facie case to answer, with neither defendant’s counsel offering any contrary submissions.
After being asked if he was aware of the charges against him and whether he wished to say anything in relation to them, Jeffrey Donaldson answered: “No, not at this stage.”
In answer to the same question, Mrs Donaldson simply answered “no”.
Judge King said he was satisfied there was a prima facie case to answer.
At his first appearance in court in April, Donaldson faced 11 charges brought by police.
The evidence file was later reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service, and Jeffrey Donaldson now faces 18 charges in total.
He is accused of one count of rape, four of gross indecency and 13 of indecent assault. The charges span a period between 1985 and 2008.
Eleanor Donaldson faces five charges of aiding and abetting in connection with the alleged offences.
There are two alleged victims in both cases.
Judge King granted continuing bail on the same terms as already agreed, before setting a date of September 10 for the defendants to be arraigned at Newry Crown Court.
by heresmewhaa
4 comments
Yeah blame Donaldson, easy scapegoat the dirty prick but there’s more wrong with the DUP than him
In Lagan Valley yeah I’d agree with that. Added to that Alliance overall share is down overall since 2019, had Jeffrey ran Sorcha wouldn’t have got in.
Bullshit, they did this to themselves. In fact I think Jeffery’s predicament had very little to do with it, they are just completely out of touch with voters. This was always on the cards.
They lost to moderate unionists, extreme unionists and a non aligned candidate.
They lost because people realized that they did a very poor job of critically understanding that Brexit would create major problems, the Donaldson accusations, the lack of ideas or workarounds, and absolutely no vision other than to say no and collapse stormont.
Everything above is about a major lack of leadership. If they can’t think in new directions they’re done.