Sammy Wilson back as DUP's Westminster Chief Whip months after resigning in protest

Sammy Wilson
-Credit: (Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)


The DUP's East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson is back working as the party's Westminster Chief Whip months after he resigned in protest at the party's decision to return to Stormont.

At the time of his resignation in February, Sammy Wilson said that he was stepping away from the role as he couldn't force members to back policies that the didn't agree with.

The veteran DUP politician was highly critical of the party's deal with the UK Government which led to their return to Stormont.

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Back in March, Sammy Wilson told UTV's View From Stormont: "the chief whip’s responsibility is to ensure that people stay in line, that they vote in certain ways and that you maintain party discipline.

“I have reservations about some of the things that the party has agreed with the Government and I felt it was inappropriate for me to be in a position where I was asking people to make sure they do toe the party line, while on occasion I may be saying something different from what the party is saying.”

Now it appears that Mr Wilson has quietly returned to the role without any formal announcement from the party.

During her speech at the party's annual conference last month, Carla Lockhart made reference to Sammy Wilson as the party's Westminster Chief Whip.

The first official reference to Sammy Wilson having returned to the role from the party came in a press release yesterday where he was pictured alongside party leader Gavin Robinson submitting a letter to the Treasury outlining the key asks of the DUP of the Government, ahead of the Budget on 30 October.

The party website also lists Mr Wilson as the party's Westminster Chief Whip and Treasury spokesperson but there has been no indication as to when he returned to the role.

Both the DUP and Sammy Wilson were contacted for comment but neither responded by the time of publication.

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