Has the DUP's Godfather sorted out the leadership race? #BBCNolan

Dec 08, 2015, 09:38 AM

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So it's all looking very good for Arlene Foster. She's the odds-on favourite to be the next DUP leader and First Minister. That's after DUP deputy Nigel Dodds ruled himself out of the leadership race. It seemed last night that Sammy Wilson might have a go. But a tweet by Peter Robinson seems to have pretty much snuffed out his hopes. We got a real glimpse of DUP party management last night. It was an evening of intrigue. First, Nigel Dodds said he was not standing. Then BBC's Mark Simpson reported that Sammy Wilson might be back in the running. Just last week, Sammy had endorsed Nigel Dodds for the top post. And then we got that tweet from Peter Robinson, the godfather of the DUP family. He revealed that Arlene Foster had been nominated for leader. And he stated that "Arlene's nomination was submitted with the support of over 75% of those entitled to vote.." That looked like a message to anyone thinking of standing. You haven't a chance. Stephen got the views of political commentator Alex Kane, Professor Jon Tonge, co-author of an award winning book on the DUP and TUV leader Jim Allister