Jeffrey Donaldson, at the heart of Northern Irish politics for nearly 40 years

became “politically aware” at a young age, in part because of the murder of his cousin, Samuel Donaldson, in 1970, one of the first policemen to be killed in the Troubles. and the Orange Order, and won his first election in 1985, becoming a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly aged 22.

As well as holding on to his Lagan Valley seat at Westminster, he also represented the constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont from 2003-2010. A Presbyterian, he has spoken of how the strength of his Christian belief has “helped to anchor me in the storms of politics”.As party leader, Donaldson presided over the party’s campaign against the Northern Ireland protocol – the post-Brexit trading deal opposed by unionists who said it undermined their position as an integral part of the UK. That campaign left Stormont in limbo from 2022-24.

Despite previously saying he would quit Westminster to take up the position of Deputy First Minister in a restored Assembly, instead he chose to stay in the Commons, installing his constituency colleague in Lagan Valley,

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