Arlene Foster ousting a "political assassination", says ex-DUP MLA

Brenda Hale was awarded an OBE for political service in 2018.

A former DUP MLA who represented the same constituency as Edwin Poots said the move to oust Arlene Foster was a "political assassination".

Brenda Hale, who lost her Lagan Valley assembly seat in 2017, said she is "really sad and disappointed at the way that it was done".

"She was undermined," Mrs Hale said.

The former MLA said "backroom politics" were involved in Mrs Foster's forcible ejection, which "has not covered the usurpers or the party in glory".

"I think when people are looking to vote they will want someone with honour and integrity and honesty, and backroom chats and political assassinations are maybe not the way forward for Northern Ireland."

Mrs Hale was a supporter of the Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson in the recent DUP leadership election.

She said there was anger amongst some DUP activists and a perception that there would be an "oppressive and controlling presence " at Parliament Buildings.

Brenda Hale said the DUP "could struggle under the leadership of Edwin Poots"

Mrs Hale's soldier husband Mark died in Afghanistan after being caught in an explosion while helping an injured colleague in August 2009.

She became a DUP MLA in 2011 but lost her seat in the 2017 assembly election.

She was awarded an OBE in 2018 for political service.

Mrs Hale said there could be a price to pay at the polls and she expressed concern about voting trends in her former seat.

She said the DUP vote in that area was diminishing "year on year " and that she believed the party could struggle under the new leadership of Edwin Poots.

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She told BBC News NI: "The Lagan Valley electorate will have the final say in next year's upcoming assembly elections."

The former MLA, who is still a party member, said the DUP had to be a party for all, recognising people across the board.

She said: "We have to promote those who are capable, regardless of whether they are male or female, regardless of their religious or no religious denomination."

'An alternative for unionist voters'

She said the next first minister cannot "just be" the choice of Edwin Poots. She said the person needs to come from the "whole of the assembly group", otherwise the party could not "move forward".

Speaking about the news that Doug Beattie is to lead the Ulster Unionist Party, she paid tribute to the Upper Bann MLA saying he will be a "very good leader for the UUP".

Mrs Hale added that "there is now an alternative for unionist voters, so Edwin and the party officers need to make sure that we put someone in place who can speak to all of the unionist electorate and not just to one side of the party".

Mrs Hale praised the outgoing first minister's leadership

She said Edwin Poots' election as DUP leader "does not speak to the electorate as a whole", but to "one part of the electorate and one part of the party and I am not sure that is best for the DUP".

Questioned as to whether she would ever consider running for the party again or returning to the political world, she said: "The DUP, as it stands now, is not a party I could return to."

She praised the previous DUP leaders Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster, saying that under their stewardship it was "an inclusive party" but she had worries about what direction the party is going in now.