In a piece about the DUP recently in The Critic magazine, Lee Reynolds, a former special adviser, refers to stopping its decline.
My observation is that the DUP has inadvertently rebranded itself as the Death of the Union Party. This rebranding resulted from supporting Brexit, putting Theresa May over the Brexit barrel, whinging about the protocol, its inability to navigate the new political landscape, and its brand of unappealing Protestant social conservatism.
Senior members have supported the return of the death penalty, and the party opposed a woman’s legal right to an abortion and same-sex marriage. Last but not least, many within the DUP have called for creationism to be taught in science classes.
Lee asks: “What is our story for Northern Ireland?” Well, there is a story, and it goes like this: lack of vision, incompetence, shying away from difficult decisions, blaming the Brits for unionism’s political and managerial ineptitude, and no focus on the future.
Unionist support from working-class Protestants was based on a false narrative, that working-class Billy and working-class Kevin had nothing in common – a fear of working-class unity. Kevin only wanted to undermine your culture, your status, your identity and your sense of Britishness.
Lee talks about a DUP problem – the real problem is unionism. A crisis further exacerbated by the loss of unionist hegemony. Unionism is a political ideology defined by a siege mentality, though calling it a political ideology is a bit of a stretch.
Leafy-suburb unionists only cared about working-class Protestants’ votes, not their aspirations or their needs. Later, Big Ian further embedded this siege mentality and mindset. The aim was simple – how do we leafy-suburb unionists use the Protestant working-class, with whom we have nothing in common, to cling to power?
Lee calls for a focus on delivery. The problem is that the same inmates are running the asylum, otherwise known as the mandatory coalition. A political structure successfully designed to feed and serve the political class and deliver inertia.
Lee says: “Unionism lets the everyday distract from the strategic.” Seriously, unionism has done nothing strategic for decades.
He waxes about unionism not coming close to meeting its full electoral potential, whatever that is.
He talks about the DUP’s five core strengths: size (not vision), incumbency (in this case associated with political inertia and incompetence), time till the next election (you have had 25 years), talent (you mean lack thereof), and that we all love Cuddly Gavin.
His change agenda is flawed in that its focus is on organisational change, ignoring unionism’s capacity for self-harm which has undermined the union in a way that the IRA could only have dreamed of.
Suneil Sharma, Belfast BT8
