Democratic Unionist Party

synonyms: Ulster Democratic Unionist Party (UDUP) One of the two main Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. The DUP was formed in September 1971 by Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal who was then Member of Parliament for Shankill. Boal said the party would be "right wing in the sense of being strong on the Constitution, but to the left on social policies". The party took over from the Protestant Unionist Party. The DUP has stood in Northern Ireland local government elections, various local assemblies, Westminster general elections, and elections to the European Parliament. Down through the years the main objective of the party has been to defend Northern Ireland's constitutional position within the United Kingdom. The DUP campaigned vigorously for a 'No' vote in the Referendum campaign in May 1998 on the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). In the elections that followed in June 1998 for the new Northern Ireland Assembly the party polled 18% of the first preference vote and won 20 seats. This entitled it to take two seats in the Executive and it used this position to maintain the party's opposition to the GFA. Such an approach has brought further electoral success for the DUP and at the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in November 2003 it emerged as the largest party winning 25.7% of the first preference vote and 30 seats. With subsequent defections from its main political rival, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), this figure rose to 33 in January 2004. In addition the DUP has one Member of the European Parliament, Ian Paisley, and six Westminster Members of Parliament Gregory Campbell, Jeffrey Donaldson (who defected to the party from the UUP in January 2004), Nigel Dodds, Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson, and Iris Robinson.