Carla Lockhart quits DUP on a 'point of principle' after the party refuses to oust Michelle O'Neill over Drumcree protest

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart, 41, has resigned from the DUP after more than two decades as a party member, declaring she could not stay while Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill "wilfully ignores the rule of law" over the Garvaghy Road protest that blocked Portadown's Orange Order parade. Lockhart had demanded the DUP withdraw deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly — a move that would automatically collapse O'Neill's joint office — but leader Gavin Robinson refused. The resignation leaves the DUP with just four Westminster MPs, down from ten in 2017.

O'Neill and other senior Sinn Féin figures are under police investigation for the Garvaghy Road counter-demonstration last month.

Lockhart quoted Thatcher at a loyalist rally, saying she 'stood in front of 15,000 people and said this lady was not for turning' before walking out.

The DUP warned the 'only winner out of further divisions within unionism is Sinn Féin.'