Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart leaves the DUP after a dispute connected to the Drumcree parading controversy. BBC and RTE both report that she resigns from the party and points to the DUP’s handling of the fallout from the standoff.
RTE says Lockhart will sit as an independent unionist in the House of Commons. BBC adds that she had urged the DUP to remove First Minister Michelle O’Neill from office, linking her departure to wider party disagreement over the issue. The Belfast Telegraph frames her decision around her statement that she wants her word to “mean something.”
DUP’s response is presented in the Belfast Telegraph as regret at the decision and an argument that further divisions within unionism would benefit Sinn Fein. Across outlets, the core facts are consistent: Lockhart resigns over Drumcree-related tensions, and she exits the DUP to continue as an independent unionist.
