Why Ireland roots for Edwin Poots to head the DUP Instead of preventing a border poll, the selection of Poots as DUP leader would hasten one. Facebook Comments In politics, when your opponents are making a grave miscalculation it's conventional wisdom to let them proceed uninterrupted. That may explain the stony silence from nationalist and republican quarters over the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leadership contest (if you could call it that) this weekend after Arlene Foster's ouster as party leader and First Minister. Read more Oddball candidate Edwin Poots tossed his hat into the succession ring less than twenty-four hours after Foster's shock announcement, hoping to steal momentum and support from his main rival Jeffery Donaldson, a former aid to the white supremacist Enoch Powell.Â