Unionists 'need to reach out’ to other communities

Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Edwin Poots has said unionists need to "reach out" to other communities for votes and can no longer rely solely on "white working class Protestants".

He was speaking to the BBC Red Lines podcast for an in-depth interview about his political career.

It was recorded before the recent trouble in his South Belfast constituency which saw a number of businesses attacked in what police have described as "hate crimes".

BBC News NI made repeated efforts to secure an interview with him since the violence but he declined those invites.

Mr Poots represents South Belfast in the Northern Ireland Assembly, a seat he has held since March 2022.

He has been a minister, party leader, and is now Stormont’s speaker. He is the only unionist MLA in the constituency.

"I look at the population that I represent in South Belfast. Martin Smyth held that seat for years at Westminster based on white working class Protestants coming out and voting for him," he told the podcast.

"That part of our demographic has reduced significantly."

In the 1980s, the Ulster Unionist Party's Martin Smyth won the Westminster seat with a share of up to 71% of the vote.

The combined unionist vote in the constituency at the most recent general election was just under 22%.

“We have lots of people from other communities that have chosen to come and live here," he said.

"A lot of those people want to be part of the United Kingdom. So, you know, we need to reach out to those people and to be working with those people who wish to be unionists, who don't fit the traditional model of unionists.”

Since the interview was recorded trouble erupted in parts of south Belfast after anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters faced off outside the city hall at the start of August.

The PSNI believe some individuals who have been involved in anti-immigration protests are linked to loyalist paramilitaries.

Mr Poots described the violence as “wrong and totally unacceptable".

In a statement to BBC News NI, he said: “Following disorder in south Belfast I met with business owners who were impacted to offer them my support and encouragement.

"I have also been in contact with other residents from minority ethnic groups who were not directly impacted by the violence, but who have been left fearful.

“Such engagement, often away from the glare of publicity is a necessary part of building a better and more cohesive community in south Belfast."

Mr Poots also told BBC News NI he did not believe there would be a united Ireland in his lifetime.

He cited electoral results which show the overall nationalist vote had not grown in 25 years, but he acknowledged that support for political unionism has dropped in that period.

Unionism “has an awful lot of work to do,” he said, adding that "we are living in changing times".

The assembly member warned fellow unionists that those who support a "very pure interpretation of unionism" are the people most likely to lose the union.

“The more insular you become, when you already don't have a majority, then you're going to reduce the appeal to people who would wish to remain in the Union.”

You can listen to the full conversation with Edwin Poots on BBC Sounds.