Don’t follow their (now ex) leader… or farewell Edwin Poots, we hardly knew you…

That’s some mess Edwin Poots has managed to find himself in after just a few short weeks as leader of the DUP. And perhaps most problematically his cunning wheeze of not taking the office of First Minister seems to have left him in a real bind – after all, no-one much likes the look of someone attempting to insulate themselves from the reality of having to take unpalatable decisions which is what having his very good friend MLA Paul Givan installed as the FM seems to do.

Addendum. Not that it changes this post much but…as noted by NFB and reported by RTÉ:

Edwin Poots has resigned as DUP leader after an internal revolt over the restoration of the Stormont Assembly.

It comes just three weeks after he was confirmed as Arlene Foster’s successor.

In a statement this evening, Mr Poots said: “I have asked the Party Chairman to commence an electoral process within the party to allow for a new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party to be elected.

“The Party has asked me to remain in post until my successor is elected.

“This has been a difficult period for the party and the country and I have conveyed to the chairman my determination to do everything I can to ensure both unionism and Northern Ireland is able to move forward to a stronger place.”

What was it Arlene Foster was tweeting earlier about having a really nice day?

 

 

 

 

 

And while it’s one thing for people external to the DUP to be throwing brickbats, it’s a little different when the criticism is coming from within the party, even amongst erstwhile supporters of Poots. Indeed worse again when the criticism becomes manifest as shown in the following:

Elected party members have strongly criticised a decision by the British government to promise to introduce Irish language legislation.

A majority of DUP Assembly members and MPs opposed nominating a First Minister.

They voted against Edwin Poots’ decision to reconstitute the power-sharing Executive with Sinn Féin in an internal meeting just minutes before the process for nominating Stormont’s leaders began downstairs in the chamber of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

And worse again… 

After leaving the meeting, Mr Poots nominated Mr Givan as First Minister while Sinn Féin renominated Michelle O’Neill as deputy First Minister at a specially convened Assembly sitting.

The DUP’s ruling party officer team is to meet in Belfast later to discuss today’s developments and Mr Poots’ position as leader, just three weeks after he was confirmed as Arlene Foster’s successor.

And remember, all this comes on foot of Sinn Féin gaining an assurance from the (irony of ironies) British government to implement an Irish language Act should the Assembly (and the DUP) not support one. Actually, given that that was the obvious way to cut the Gordian knot one has to wonder at all the tooing and froing between the parties about this. Or why Poots didn’t level with his own crew that ultimately that would be the likely outcome. 

But then, as per the NI Protocol, being frank about material reality, seems to be somewhat alien to the party. Or even to accept that they aren’t the only players in this particular game:

Many DUP politicians had warned against a government intervention on a devolved issues and are furious that Mr Poots was still prepared to enter a new coalition on that basis.

The question is, what would they do otherwise? Stay outside of the Executive and then have exactly the same outcome occur down the line? 

But then that links into a wider question. What could the DUP do otherwise about the Protocol? And yet again we are faced with a truth that they are very much the architects of their own misfortune, unwilling to lead and perpetually in a defensive, indeed reactionary, posture in every sense of the term reactionary. 

But like the Poots leadership it appear to be an effort to try to answer problems for which there are no solutions. He can’t change the fundamentals at play. Foster couldn’t either. Replace him and his successor would face exactly the same conundrum. Pull down the Assembly and Executive and London will impose and implement what it wants. All of which should, rationally, push the DUP to re-engage differently than it has. 

Chances of that?