Edwin Poots is elected DUP leader - BBC News
The NI agriculture minister will succeed Arlene Foster as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.
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Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has been elected leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

He succeeds Arlene Foster, who steps down as party leader on 28 May and will then leave her role as NI first minister at the end of June.

Mr Poots beat MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to take the top post in the party.

It is the first time in the party's 50-year history that a leadership contest has taken place.

He has said that he would like to remain as agriculture minister and would not take on the role of Northern Ireland first minister if elected party leader.

North Belfast MLA Paula Bradley has been elected as the party's new deputy leader, after incumbent Lord Dodds announced he would not bid for re-election.

She beat MP Gregory Campbell by 18 votes to 16, and is the first woman elected to the post.

Only three people have held the role of DUP leader since the party was established in 1971 - its founder the late Ian Paisley, followed by Peter Robinson and its current leader, Arlene Foster.

Edwin Poots and his new party deputy, Paula Bradley

A secret party ballot of party MPs and NI Assembly members was held on Friday.

Mr Poots said it was an immense honour to be selected for the top post and he was looking forward to a "positive relationship right across Northern Ireland with my party colleagues and indeed with people from other parties".

He said Northern Ireland people had shown "remarkable resilience".

"I stand here very proud to be taking up the mantle as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and that brings with it a responsibility to all of unionism," he said.

"I will be a leader in unionism who will be reaching out to other leaders in unionism. I want to see unionism working together."

He said the Northern Ireland Protocol, which places a border down the Irish Sea, has proven to be a "massive challenge for us".

He said he wants to ensure that there is not the "unionist bickering that we have had in the past" and "I will encourage all unionists to work with me".

Later, speaking to reporters outside Stormont, Mr Poots said he would speak to Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis on Friday night and meet him next week.

The DUP leader-designate cancelled media interviews and did not take any questions.

Paula Bradley MLA is the first woman elected to the DUP deputy leader post

Mr Lewis, and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, separately tweeted their congratulations to Mr Poots and said they looked forward to working with him.

Ahead of the party vote, in a message to MPs and Northern Ireland Assembly members, Mr Poots said that leading the DUP "would be my greatest honour".

He said he had been "tried and tested over many years in political office" and had a plan to "reinvigorate unionism".

Ms Bradley said she would serve the party to the best of her ability and give it "her all". She said she would support the leader, but would at times be a "critical friend".

"It's a great honour. I would never have thought just over a week ago that I would be standing in this position today," she said.

There has been concern in the past that it looked like the DUP's Westminster grouping seemed to have too much power and too much sway.

Clearly this is a signal that they want the power base shifted back to Stormont and that is what is going to happen from the end of the month.

For Edwin Poots, this has been a lifelong ambition for him. He is steeped in the DUP.

His father is a DUP founding member. He is also Free Presbyterian.

He has talked about reform being one of his key policies and clearly that has won some of those undecided DUP politicians over, in terms of getting behind him.

There has been a concern in recent years that some of the establishment and key central figures within DUP HQ held too much power.

He obviously wants to oversee all of that and that has been what he's promised them. Clearly the pitch has paid off.

The result of this also shows that there is still a split in the party.

Some of those within Sir Jeffrey's camp are incredibly disappointed and very shocked by the result.

They were quietly confident that they were going to edge it.

Mr Poots became an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for the Lagan Valley constituency in 1998 and has also served on Lisburn City Council.

He has served as Northern Ireland minister for the environment, minister for arts, culture and leisure and as health minister over the course of his political career.

After the DUP and Sinn Féin agreed to share power together and formed a government in 2007, Mr Poots was appointed as culture and arts minister in the executive.

It would be the first of a number of ministerial briefs he has held during his political career.

Edwin Poots smiles as he leaves DUP headquarters on Friday

The DUP is a socially conservative party and Mr Poots's religiously-influenced views - including his belief that the earth is 6,000 years old - have also generated headlines in the past.

A former police officer, canteen kitchen worker and social worker, Ms Bradley is arguably less known among the public than MP Gregory Campbell, who was also a contender for the deputy leader post.

North Belfast MLA Paula Bradley is the party's new deputy leader

She currently chairs Stormont's Communities Committee. Prior to being elected to Stormont, she had been a councillor on Newtownabbey council.

Ms Bradley is one of the more socially liberal members of the party.

Defeated leadership contender Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he has has no regrets about putting his name forward.

"They [party members] have made their choice and I respect that," he said.

"The party must now consider what that means for our way forward, what it means for the union that we cherish, and what it means for Northern Ireland."

MP Ian Paisley, who backed Mr Poots for leader, said he was "personally delighted" for him.

"We have been boyhood friends, and are very, very close, and I am personally delighted for him," Mr Paisley said.

"I am also delighted for Paula. She is an absolutely excellent candidate for deputy leadership, she made one of the best speeches I have ever heard in a selection meeting today."

He said the differences between the leadership candidates were "subtle".

Defeated leadership and deputy leadership contenders Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Gregory Campbell earlier on Friday

"It is important that people recognise that because the power base is at Stormont, and because most of the votes in the electoral college are based at Stormont, then clearly that is where the influence is going to be," he added.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson declined to say which candidate he had voted for, but congratulated Mr Poots and Mrs Bradley.

He described his election as "very significant" and said dealing with the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland and the Irish Sea border would be a "massive issue".

"Not only for unionists, but for people across the political spectrum. One of the big jobs Edwin has to do is to persuade the government that what they've done in signing the protocol is wrong and they've got to get it changed."

Arlene Foster will step down as DUP leader on 28 May

Mrs Foster announced her decision to resign after facing a revolt from DUP members.

She had led the party since December 2015 and was appointed first minister of Northern Ireland the following month.

BBC News NI understands that she will sever her ties with the DUP when she stands down as first minister.

Sources close to her said she thinks it is no longer the party she joined.