BELFAST (Reuters) – Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) named Jeffrey Donaldson as its new leader on Tuesday, the third person in a matter of weeks to lead the region’s largest party during crucial post-Brexit talks.
Lawmakers in the pro-British party ousted then leader and the province’s first minister Arlene Foster in late April in favour of Edwin Poots, who stepped down last week after just three weeks in the job.
Donaldson has pledged to pressure the British government to ditch post-Brexit trade rules agreed with the European Union that effectively treat British-run Northern Ireland as part of the EU for customs purposes. His unopposed candidacy will be formally ratified by party officials next week.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson in Belfast and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Jon Boyle)
