{"id":5184,"date":"2017-06-15T11:45:35","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T09:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/?p=5184"},"modified":"2017-06-15T11:45:35","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T09:45:35","slug":"democratic-unionist-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/electoral-research\/democratic-unionist-party","title":{"rendered":"UK Government &#8211; Who are the Democratic Unionist Party?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The dust hasn\u2019t settled after last Thursday\u2019s unexpected hung Parliament in the snap UK general election. Theresa May\u2019s decision to call the election while ahead by over 20 points in the polls has spectacularly backfired, forcing the Conservatives into a frantic search for parliamentary allies willing to support them in forming a minority government. At this stage the most likely partner appears to be the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland. Here we give you a rundown of who the DUP are and what they stand for.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Under the UK constitution, in the event of a hung parliament, the party with the highest number of seats in the Commons is granted the first opportunity to form a government. Theresa May\u2019s Conservatives, <a href=\"https:\/\/ig.ft.com\/election-results-2017\/?mhq5j=e1\" target=\"_blank\">having won<\/a> 318 of 650 seats, are the largest party and therefore have this right. \u00a0They now need to find a party which will hold the balance of power in Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Options<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Requiring the support of a further 8 MPs to command a working majority, the following minor parties could theoretically fill that gap:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Scottish National Party (SNP) &#8211; 35 seats<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Liberal Democrats &#8211; 12 seats<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) &#8211; 10 seats<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">However, the first two of these options won\u2019t happen. Both the SNP and Lib Dems have vastly different views on Brexit than Theresa May\u2019s vision of a \u201chard Brexit\u201d. The SNP have demanded a softer Brexit alternative for Scotland, who voted decisively to remain within the EU last year. Furthermore, the SNP&#8217;s ultimate goal of Scottish independence is diametrically opposed to the Conservative&#8217;s preservation of the Union. The Lib Dems go even further regarding Brexit, calling for a second referendum on the final deal which would also include an option to remain within the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Democratic Unionist Party<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">That leaves Theresa May with the Northern Irish DUP, with whom she\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-2017-40217141\" target=\"_blank\">already announced<\/a> the Conservatives will govern. On the EU issue, the DUP aligns with the Conservatives in its pro-Brexit stance. They campaigned heavily to leave the EU and desire a harder Brexit which brings the UK out of the single market and customs union. Like the Conservatives, they don\u2019t want to see a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On social issues, however, the DUP sits <a href=\"http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/politics\/dup-manifesto-2017-summary-what-does-it-say-policies-tories-conservatives-government-a7781716.html\" target=\"_blank\">further to the right<\/a> than the Conservatives. They have routinely vetoed same-sex marriage in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Moreover, their support for the region\u2019s abortion ban is the only thing keeping it in place. This support remained unmoved despite a Belfast court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2015\/nov\/30\/northern-ireland-law-on-abortion-ruled-as-incompatible-with-human-rights\" target=\"_blank\">recently declaring<\/a> it incompatible with international human rights law.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Critics of the DUP in Government<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One major criticism of the Conservative-DUP alliance is its effect on the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland. After years of sectarian violence between Republicans and Unionists, Catholics and Protestants, the UK government risks losing its impartiality in this process, having previously positioned itself at a neutral peace-broker in the region. With the recent breakdown of the NI Assembly earlier in the year, the Conservatives risk inflaming sectarian tensions further by allying themselves with one of the two sides in Westminster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Brexit negotiations are due to commence next week. Judging by the current state of affairs it\u2019s hard to imagine May\u2019s \u201cstrong and stable government\u201d mantra materializing.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The dust hasn\u2019t settled after last Thursday\u2019s unexpected hung Parliament in the snap UK general election. Theresa May\u2019s decision to call the election while ahead by over 20 points in the polls has spectacularly backfired, forcing the Conservatives into a frantic search for parliamentary allies willing to support them in forming a minority government. At [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":5189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","ub_ctt_via":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[893],"tags":[1537,1517,1539,1169],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Democratic-Unionist-Party.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Charles Harding","author_link":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/author\/c-harding"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UK Government - Who are the Democratic Unionist Party?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Democratic Unionist Party is increasingly likely to hold the balance of power in a Conservative minority government. 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