Alex Easton: DUP MLA quits hours after Donaldson ratified as leader

Alex Easton says he will stand as an independent in the next Stormont election

North Down MLA Alex Easton has quit the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) after 21 years as a member.

He said he was at the "end of his tether" and saw no "respect, discipline or decency" in the recent behaviour within the DUP.

His announcement came just hours after the DUP met to ratify Sir Jeffrey Donaldson as its new leader.

Sir Jeffrey said on Thursday that he hoped Mr Easton would "find his way back to this party".

Mr Easton said he intended to stand as an independent unionist in the next Stormont assembly election.

Several councillors have left the party since its former leader Arlene Foster announced her resignation as leader and as Northern Ireland first minister after an internal revolt in April.

Former DUP leader Edwin Poots speaks with his successor, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, on Thursday

"It is with great sadness and hurt that I find myself doing one of the hardest things in my life and resigning from the Democratic Unionist Party," Mr Easton said in a statement first made to the County Down Spectator and the Belfast Telegraph newspapers.

"I have had to stand back and watch as colleagues tear themselves apart... there is no respect, discipline or decency I have just had enough.

"This is not something that I want to be a part of as a unionist and it is not Alex Easton.

"I am at the end of my tether with U-turns and reaction politics."

In politics, as in life, sometimes timing is everything.

And Alex Easton, by accident or design, certainly picked his time.

The morning after Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was unanimously confirmed as DUP leader, lauding the fact the healing had begun for his divided party, he awoke to the worst headlines possible.

His party had lost an MLA - one we rarely heard from but his leaving card certainly stung, accusing the party of lacking respect, decency and discipline.

So instead of all the attention being focused on his first major speech as DUP leader Sir Jeffrey fielded questions about the one who got away.

Mr Easton may be an outlier - no-one else may go for the reasons he cited.

But in an instant Sir Jeffrey's already-difficult job just got harder.

Mr Easton was the DUP's North Down candidate for the 2019 general election in which the party had high hopes of winning the seat for the first time.

But the constituency elected its first ever non-unionist MP when Stephen Farry from the Alliance Party defeated Mr Easton by just under 3,000 votes.

That defeat was set against a backdrop of a bruising night of results for the DUP.

Alex Easton will now sit as an independent MLA ending the DUP's one seat majority over Sinn Féin.

'Future must be built on unity'

Sir Jeffrey said he intended to speak to Mr Easton.

He said he had already spoken to other councillors who had decided to become independent and believed some would return to the DUP.

"The future of unionism cannot be built upon a fragmented movement," said Sir Jeffrey after his first speech as party leader.

"It has to be built on a unity and I hope Alex will find a way to be part of that team,"

• DUP members ratify Sir Jeffrey as party leader

• Councillor resigns from DUP over leadership

Mr Easton said he understood his decision may annoy and upset some people but said that some of his time in the party had been "extremely lonely".

"Unionism is in my heart and soul and it is ultimately why I am in politics," he said.

Sammy Wilson says the DUP has been through a "torrid time" in recent months

"I crave unity for the unionist community and I am not getting this from any of the unionist parties or their leaders at present."

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said he had spoken to Mr Easton and knew "how unhappy he was".

Speaking to BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme, Mr Wilson said he was sure the new party leader would "reach out to [Mr Easton] as he has done to others to try and heal the breaches in the party."

"We have gone through a very torrid time in the party, one which I think we all regret," he said.

"I think Jeffrey will help heal some of those rifts."

'Restore some order'

In his speech on Thursday morning, Sir Jeffrey said the DUP had to "refresh and renew" if it was to have electoral success.

He said Northern Ireland in 2021 was not the same as Northern Ireland a hundred years ago when it was established.

The party must be prepared to "face up to new realities and adapt to new circumstances" due to considerable change, he added.

"After some tumultuous months it is time to restore some order and stability and to focus on delivering good government for those we represent," he said.

Sir Jeffrey said the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland - known as the Protocol - represented "the greatest threat to the economic integrity of the United Kingdom in any of our lifetimes".

The protocol was designed as to keep Northern Ireland closely aligned with this market, ensuring free trade across the Irish border.

It has been criticised by unionists because it has led to additional checks and delays on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"The Irish Sea border... is a threat to the living standards of the people of Northern Ireland and the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom," he said.

He said a goal in the weeks ahead was to remove the Irish Sea border and to "preserve and protect the internal UK market".

The new leader said his other priorities included the health service, the economy and making sure that devolution at Stormont was stable and sustainable.