Jenny McCartney Jenny McCartney

The other kingmaker

The Orangeman with the First in law from Cambridge has found himself suddenly popular with Commons colleagues

Nigel Dodds, the Democratic Unionist Party leader at Westminster, is reflecting drolly on his party’s recent popularity: ‘I certainly think that the last year or two has been remarkable in the number of new friends we have encountered, people who are very keen to have a cup of tea or chat to you or whatever. I don’t put it all down to our natural charm.’ As pre-election talk of political pacts thickens — with both Conservatives and Labour angling for support — former House of Commons wallflowers have found their dance cards increasingly full.

Which of the main parties might feel like a more natural ally? I ask. Dodds won’t commit to either, but observes that historically unionists lean towards the Tories: ‘Growing up, I think naturally we felt the Conservatives were more trustworthy on the Union.’ On the other hand, ‘The DUP had reasonably good relations with the Labour government in terms of Gordon Brown and working through the St Andrew’s Agreement. So we are not in the pocket of either of the main parties.’

The 56-year-old Dodds — an Orange Order member with a First in law from Cambridge — has been a player in Northern Ireland politics for decades now: at 29, he was the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Belfast. Yet after youthful academic success in the tranquil halls of St John’s College, Cambridge, didn’t he consider a legal career in England? ‘I was tempted. But I never really seriously considered it because I’m a political animal and if you have politics in your blood — and especially Northern Ireland politics — it just basically drives you.’ Nonetheless, he says, his mother, a former school dinner lady, might have liked him to have been a solicitor: something prosperous, quiet and solid.

Instead, drama has never been far from Dodds’ life amid the acrimony and adrenalin of Northern Ireland politics.

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