Carla Lockhart quits DUP over Drumcree row and will sit as independent unionist

Lockhart quits over the Drumcree row

Carla Lockhart, the Upper Bann MP, resigned from the Democratic Unionist Party on Monday, 2 November 2026, over how the party handled the fallout from the Drumcree parading dispute. She will sit in the House of Commons as an independent unionist. The break followed a public clash with DUP leader Gavin Robinson, who declined to remove Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill from her post as First Minister. Lockhart believes O'Neill can no longer serve as one of Stormont's joint leaders because of her part in a protest against an Orange Order parade in Portadown in September. She had pressed the DUP to withdraw its deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, a move that would automatically have removed O'Neill from office. In her open letter, Lockhart described her decision in these terms.

“This is a difficult and deeply personal decision.”

Police investigation and the protest

O'Neill and several other senior Sinn Féin figures are being investigated by police over their part in the protest on the Garvaghy Road, which was staged to stop the Orange Order parade passing through a predominantly nationalist area. The PSNI deemed the protest unlawful, and the party figures have attended a police station in Belfast for voluntary interviews. O'Neill has defended her involvement, saying it was the 'right thing to do'. Unionists have accused the party of acting unlawfully. In an open letter to colleagues on 29 October, Lockhart said that forcing O'Neill from office was the 'only one credible option', and that any 'graduated response' would be 'insulting to those who have trusted us'.

The DUP's position and the Assembly

Last Thursday, 29 October, the DUP announced that Little-Pengelly would no longer take part in joint engagements with O'Neill and would withhold permission for O'Neill to carry out engagements alone as First Minister. Robinson stopped short of withdrawing Little-Pengelly, the step that would have forced O'Neill out. Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster on Tuesday, 3 November, Robinson said the party was fully behind its position, pointing to a unanimous decision by officers and unanimous support among DUP MLAs in the Assembly group. He said the disagreement with Lockhart was over strategy rather than sentiment.

“My party are fully behind the position that we have.”

Robinson also said he expected budget talks with the secretary of state to continue on Thursday, 5 November, arguing that Northern Ireland needs a functioning government and a budget.

Impact on the DUP and unionism

With Lockhart's departure the DUP has four MPs at Westminster, down from a high of 10 in 2017, and it has lost its only female MP. Three of the four remaining MPs are in the later stages of their political careers. The Commons now shows five distinct unionist groupings: two independents and three parties, the DUP, the Ulster Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice. Lockhart was the only DUP MP elected with TUV support, and Upper Bann was the only seat where the TUV did not field a candidate at the last Westminster election. Alongside her resignation letter, Lockhart published an eight-page document setting out her principles and an action plan for unity. The DUP's statement said the only winner out of further divisions within unionism was Sinn Fein. Robinson said of her departure:

“I'm very sorry to see her go.”

2017 high10

20264

2017 high

10 MPs

2026

4 MPs

Data from the article text