‘Not all Protestants hate Abba’: DUP leader shows his fun side, but no hiding election fears

On the eve of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) conference, party leader Gavin Robinson asked members if there were any Derry Girls fans among them.“You mean Londonderry Girls,” replied MP Sammy Wilson at the Friday night dinner.Introducing the evening’s entertainment – an Abba tribute band – Robinson quoted a line from the “blackboard scene” of the sitcom, which addressed some apparent differences between Catholics and Protestants. Saying he wanted to dispel a myth, Robinson joked: “Not all Protestants hate Abba.”Wilson proceeded to lead a conga line through the ballroom of La Mon Hotel in Belfast to Dancing Queen.READ MOREIt was, as one DUP stalwart was overheard saying in the same ballroom the following day, an “insane” evening.“But it was very much in Gavin’s image,” he added. “It was fun.”Before training as a barrister, Robinson worked as a children’s entertainer, clown and magician.“It was very different to previous dinners when it was more cringe entertainment,” added another delegate.In a 40-minute address at La Mon Hotel Hotel in Belfast, DUP leader Gavin Robinson criticised Sinn Féin, mentioned Donald Trump and called for unionism to work together. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images) This was Robinson’s third outing as party leader. He was tasked with delivering arguably his most important conference speech just eight months out from the next Assembly and council elections.Even before the arrest of former party leader Jeffrey Donaldson on child sex-offence charges triggered a political earthquake two years ago, the party was in decline.It haemorrhaged 40,000 votes in the last Assembly election in 2022.[ As momentum builds in the Irish unity debate, how is unionism responding?Opens in new window ]Once the undisputed leader of unionism, the DUP slipped behind its UUP rivals in the polls in July, a month after Donaldson’s conviction on all 18 offences, including child rape.While the party had been unaware of these crimes, a drip-feed of unsavoury stories about Donaldson’s behaviour raised questions about what the party did know of his apparent double-life.Robinson commissioned a review into what, “if anything”, was known within the party about Donaldson’s “alleged misconduct” and how it was dealt with.On Saturday afternoon, around 300 people were seated for the main leader’s speech. In 2012/13, the same room was filled with more than double that number during Peter Robinson’s reign (a trend reflected across all political party conferences).While Gavin Robinson entered the room to rapturous applause, the mood dipped when he addressed the Donaldson scandal head-on at the opening of his speech.Last year, the subject wasn’t aired. It had been akin to “don’t mention the war”, one delegate observed.“We will not let the vile actions of one man define our values and our integrity,” Robinson told members, to further applause.Following the US president’s endorsement a week earlier of a united Ireland, the party faithful booed – the only boo of the 40-minute speech – at the mention of Donald Trump’s name.He received the loudest cheer of the day after saying: “We have one objective Mr President – to make Northern Ireland great again."A DUP programme of events at the party's annual conference at La Mon Hotel, Belfast, on Saturday. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Predictably, Robinson rounded on Sinn Féin for using a border poll as a “distraction” from addressing the North’s crisis-ridden public service:He said: “Need to do something about waiting lists – ‘I know, a border poll’. Need to do something about the A5. ‘Oh, I know, a border poll . . .”Robinson’s delivery was confident. He rarely looked at any of the three autocues and he covered every inch of the stage, unlike earlier party speakers.He could easily have been delivering the closing submissions to a court room during his previous life in the legal profession.Yet for all his public confidence, he knows the party is in electoral trouble. Falling just shy of requesting a pact, he used the latter part of his speech to appeal to unionist rivals for “greater co-operation”.The problem is that those rival leaders – Jon Burrows of the UUP and the TUV’s Jim Allister – are much more formidable opponents than last time round.While he insisted the DUP would “not be found wanting” to maximise a pro-unionist vote, Burrows and Allister will smell blood.Robinson, who has successfully retained his East Belfast MP seat for over a decade, may be safe electorally.He may also have his party members onside after a positive conference.Despite weathering one of the biggest scandals in the modern political history of Northern Ireland, he now faces into his biggest test as leader at next May’s polls.His political survival could depend on its outcome.