A row over conversion therapy was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” over her removal as leader of the DUP, Arlene Foster has confirmed.
The former First Minister quit the role after an internal revolt three years ago after DUP members signed a no-confidence motion calling for her removal.
Foster said it came just one week after she had abstained in a vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly calling for a ban on gay conversion therapy.
The majority of the party had voted against the motion, arguing that any legislation to outlaw the practice needed to ensure safeguards for churches.
Foster explained this was the “trigger” for her removal when speaking to Michael Gove for a new Radio 4 podcast.
She said “I was aware that one of our members had a daughter who was gay - in an attempt to try and diffuse the situation, I said: ‘Well, we’ll just abstain.’
“It was a non-binding vote. But by saying just abstain, people got very angry about that and that was the trigger then for my removal, which came just a week later.”
Foster also said Covid restrictions which she was jointly responsible for, had “caused difficulties” with her former colleagues.
“Because of Covid, a lot of things were happening remotely, I didn’t see a lot of it coming towards me,” she explained.
“Certainly not of the magnitude that happened and the way in which it happened, because nobody had actually come to me and said: ‘Oh, by the way I think you should step down and it’s time for you to go’.
“Nobody came to me and said that, but the way they did it was that they obtained signatures on a letter of no confidence and that’s how it came about.”
She said that while some of those involved in the move later apologised, the “damage was done”, describing it as a part of her life which was not particularly pleasant.
She resigned from the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2021 and became a presenter on GB News.
