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Ex-DUP MLA Jim Wells gives verdict on party deputy leadership contest
DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley would be a “very good” choice in the party’s deputy leadership contest, former Stormont colleague Jim Wells has said.
He said Mr Buckley would provide “balance” to the party’s moderate wing and be “less likely to concede ground” on Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
Mr Wells claimed the other tipped contender, MP Gavin Robinson, would see the DUP “drift more towards the centre and be less resolute on the big issues”.
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DUP MPs and MLAs are expected to vote on Friday to elect a successor to Paula Bradley as the party’s deputy leader.
Upper Bann MLA Mr Buckley and East Belfast MP Mr Robinson are the only two candidates in the race, sources told Belfast Live.
The DUP did not respond to requests for a comment when asked about the deputy leadership contest.
Mr Wells was a DUP South Down MLA but quit the party after being deselected as their candidate for the constituency in last year’s Assembly election.
The former DUP Health Minister has since canvassed for TUV and has applied to join the rival unionist party.
Mr Wells said he would be “very much in favour of” Mr Buckley becoming the DUP’s new deputy leader instead of Mr Robinson.
He described Mr Buckley as being in the more “traditional” wing of the party and “less likely to concede ground on things like the Protocol and Windsor Framework”.
In contrast he said Mr Robinson has “always had a very liberal tendency within the party”, describing him as “floating into the Ulster Unionist territory”.
He said: “If Jonathan Buckley was to win that I think it would be very good for the party. If Gavin Robinson wins I would be fearful.
“Because I think with him as deputy leader the party will drift more towards the centre and be less resolute on the big issues.”
Ms Bradley became deputy leader in 2021 during a turbulent time for the DUP when Edwin Poots was briefly party leader.
The former MLA chose not to contest her North Belfast seat in last year’s Stormont Assembly election in order to spend more time caring for her elderly parents.
Ms Bradley was later co-opted to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and was returned to the local authority in elections last month.
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