Introduction
The DUP will hold their Annual Party Conference both today and tomorrow at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belfast.
This will be the first party conference where Stormont has been fully operational since February 2022.
This will be the first party conference with Gavin Robinson MP as Party Leader after he replaced Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.
The Party is aiming to look forward and gain back support, which was lost at the General Election, with recent polls and results perhaps showing a decline in its backing.
What’s the context?
The last LucidTalk poll conducted over the Summer placed the DUP on 18%, which was a 3% decrease on support from the last poll conducted in May 2024. The Party was 12 points behind its executive colleagues Sinn Féin. The DUP remains the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, six points ahead of the UUP.
This will be the first party conference since the General Election in July 2024 which proved to be a tough night for the DUP. On a 22% vote share, the DUP was down nine points on its 2019 Westminster performance. The DUP lost three of its Westminster seats in Lagan Valley, South Antrim, and North Antrim. The Party saw a significant decrease in their vote share in both East Londonderry and East Antrim.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly is performing strongly at Stormont in her role, receiving plaudits from all sides of the house. Gavin Robinson MP secured his seat at Westminster in the July election, providing him with three years to further shape the direction of the party ahead of the next Assembly election in 2027.
What can we expect?
On Friday, a Rural Affairs breakfast hosted by Carla Lockhart MP will feature speeches from the deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly and Michelle McIlveen MLA. The Friday event concludes with a conference dinner.
On Saturday, there are a variety of speeches planned with Jonathan Buckley MLA discussing building for the future, Cheryl Brownlee MLA discussing life as an MLA, and Diane Dodds to present on health amongst other speakers. There is a panel discussion planned to feature all the DUP members of the Northern Ireland Executive before the conference is brought to an end by a keynote speech from the leader Gavin Robinson MP.