Lockhart to reveal DUP future 'early next week' as Robinson says he hopes she will stay

Carla Lockhart, the DUP's Upper Bann MP, will set out her decision on whether to leave the party "early next week," with party leader Gavin Robinson saying he hopes she will stay, after she resigned as a party officer amid a dispute over how far the DUP should go in sanctioning Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill. Robinson confirmed he shares her view that "there needs to be political sanctions for the behaviour of Michelle O'Neill," but stopped short of meeting her demands. Lockhart's departure would leave the DUP with just four MPs.

O'Neill is under police investigation for taking part in an unnotified protest blocking the Orange Order's Drumcree parade down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

Lockhart demanded deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly be withdrawn, which would automatically remove O'Neill from office — but Robinson refused, opting instead to bar joint engagements.

O'Neill branded the DUP's move "a reactive stunt, driven by the DUP's own internal pressures and electoral problems."