Since its formation in 1971 by the late Rev Ian Paisley, the DUP has always prided itself in being the political voice of the so-called ‘church vote’ in Northern Ireland, especially those from the evangelical and fundamentalist wings of Christian theology.
Indeed, Paisley senior’s initial foray into politics before 1971 was under the banner of the DUP’s forerunner, the Protestant Unionist Party. Two decades before he founded the DUP, Paisley senior - later Lord Bannside - had formed his own fundamentalist denomination, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.
Founded in 1951 and dubbed ‘the Free Ps’, the denomination was often later viewed as the DUP at prayer. During the early decades of the DUP, many Free Presbyterians held positions within the party and being a born again Christian believer, or ‘saved’, was a prerequisite for getting your name on the DUP electoral ticket.
The rival Ulster Unionist Party was perceived by many in the DUP to be theologically liberal. But ‘Big Ian’ or ‘The Doc’ as he was affectionately known in the ranks of the DUP is no longer here to guide the party through its latest political storm - how to keep its traditional broad evangelical and fundamentalist Christian support base in the wake of the Donaldson saga.
The former Lagan Valley MP was seen as the ideal Christian politician complete with the symbolic lapel fish badge - until his conviction last month as a sex offender and child rapist.
Since his conviction, more allegations concerning his behaviour have emerged. The key question DUP election strategists will be asking - by the time those 2027 elections come around, will folk have forgotten about Donaldson or has trust from ‘Church folk’ in the party already waned substantially and irretrievably?
More importantly, will the current DUP leadership be able to pull some electoral rabbit out of their canvassing hat which will guarantee that the majority of the party’s Christian church vote remains with the DUP?
Is there the danger many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, spiritually disillusioned especially with what emerged from Donaldson’s trial, could shift their voting allegiances to the more hard line Traditional Unionist Voice party fronted by North Antrim MP Jim Allister?
Could the Donaldson saga convince many Unionist voters - who switched their preferences to the DUP from the UUP when Donaldson quit the UUP for the DUP - to return to the new-look UUP under leader and former top cop Jon Burrows?
And then there’s the third route. Voter apathy among the pro-Union community has been growing over the years. Gone is the era when a Unionist elected representative could boost a 30,000-vote majority.
The so-called ‘stay at home’ brigade is costing Unionism seats at all levels. Pro-Union voter apathy has become just as big a barrier as infighting among Unionist parties.
Could many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians - sickened by what they heard from the Donaldson court case - show their revulsion by ignoring the ballot box, or by spoiling their votes?
Given the increasingly theologically liberal views being expressed by the Alliance Party, the chances of these same Christians opting for Naomi Long’s party as a protest vote are decreasing rapidly.
Alliance is now seen by many in the pro-Union community as an integral part of the pan nationalist front. It is not the so-called ‘middle ground’ which will dictate the outcome of the 2027 elections, but the voting intentions of the silent majority in the Christian church community.
In spite of Northern Ireland being portrayed as an increasingly secular society, there are still tens of thousands of folk who are still affiliated to a place of worship or who regularly attend church.
And while mainstream Protestant denominations, such as PCI, the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church, have seen memberships dwindle over the years, some evangelical and fundamentalist denominations - such as the Baptists or Pentecostalists - have seen their numbers maintained.
Whilst they may garner a lot of publicity on social media, Hell-fire street preachers with their ‘pump up the volume’ public address systems do not represent mainstream thinking when it comes to open air evangelism. Church-based summer schemes, Bible weeks, and the youth outreach by organisations, such as the Children’s Special Services Mission (CSSM), continue to be as popular in 2026 as they were in 1976.
Granted, fundamentalist pressure groups, such as the Evangelical Protestant Society and the Caleb Foundation, may not have the influence they one enjoyed around the era of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, but clerics of all Christians denominations should be encouraging their flocks to vote come May 2027.
There is no use Christians huffing about the state of society if they will not get out of their pews and into the polling booths. If the Christians churches and places of worship wish to halt the tide of the so-called secular or pluralist society, then they have the ability to do so by voting in candidates who share their theological beliefs.
In bygone days, it could be a vote winner for candidates to have their election literature include their church work. But has the Donaldson saga poured cold water on that tradition where publicly proclaiming you are a Christian candidate will actually become a vote loser?
Perhaps the DUP may need to have a quiet word with Sinn Fein and ask the question - in spite of all the clerical abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, how did Sinn Fein manage to still electorally eclipse the SDLP?
The real challenge - not just for the DUP, but for all pro-Union parties come May 2027 - is will the silent majority church vote still have faith in the electoral process?
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter Dr Coulter has been a journalist since 1978 and is currently a political commentator with GB News. |
