From Conservapedia The Democratic Unionist Party is the largest political party in Northern Ireland. Arlene Foster is the party leader and First Minister of the devolved Northern Ireland government.[1]
The DUP was founded in 1971 by Protestant minister Ian Paisley.[2] It had its roots in the Protestant Unionist Party.[3] The party strongly opposed Roman Catholicism, and it strongly supported UK unionism (as opposed to Irish nationalism) and social conservative policies.[3][4]
In 2010, the Labour Party unsuccessfully tried to agree to a governing alliance with the DUP, even though the Labour Party criticized the Conservative Party when they did the same thing seven years later.[5]
After Theresa May's Conservative Party lost its majority in the House of Commons, resulting in a hung parliament,[6] she chose to begin talks with the DUP to form a coalition government.[7] In the same election, the DUP gained 10 seats, a record for the party.[2] Because of its increased notability after the election and its conservative, right-wing positions, the DUP quickly became very well-known and unpopular among leftists.[8] The DUP's leader in 2017 was Arlene Foster.[9] The two parties signed the agreement[10] on June 26, 2017.[11][12][13]
The DUP had an influential role in the Brexit talks between the UK and EU.[14]
The DUP is politically right-wing, socially conservative, and stands for maintenance of the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Due to its conservative positions, much fake news has been circulated about the DUP and the party's positions.[3]
On social issues, the DUP opposes abortion and same-sex "marriage".[15][16] It has repeatedly blocked attempts to legalize homosexual "marriage" in Northern Ireland.[16] The DUP supports the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.K.[17] It does not accept climate change as absolute fact.[3][16][17] Numerous young Earth creationists are counted among the senior membership of the DUP, and some have called for the teaching of creation alongside evolution in schools.[15][16][17]
The DUP is a Euroskeptic party. Regarding Brexit, it strongly supported Brexit during the referendum campaign,[3][18] and was the only major Northern Ireland party to do so.[16] However, it supports a "soft Brexit" due to its opposition to a "hard border" with Ireland.[15][19] Some DUP members closely aligned themselves with conservative pro-Brexit activist and former UKIP president Nigel Farage on the issue.[3]
The DUP supports an increase in public spending.[17] It supports reducing the corporate tax from 19% to 12.5%, which is much lower than that advocated by the Conservative Party.[15]
Categories: [Northern Ireland Political Parties] [Conservative Political Parties] [Euroskepticism]
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