Peter Robinson- husband of ‘homophobe’ Iris Robinson loses his seat
The first minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, has lost his Westminister seat, Belfast East. He is the husband of Iris Robinson, the former MP and Northern Ireland assembly member who called gays an”abomination” and suggested they could be cured.
Mr Robinson lost to the Alliance Party’s Naomi Long 11,306 votes to Miss Long’s 12,839 this represented a huge 22.9% swing in support.
“I have a job to complete with my mandate at the Assembly and I will continue to carry out that important work,” he said.
Mrs Long said: “I went to the electorate with a track record of hard work with a passion for east Belfast where I have lived in my whole life and with a dedication to serve them in an open and transparent way and give them my best and to build a better future for everyone in east Belfast.”
Mrs Robinson has since quit as MP for Strangford and a member of the Assembly. She was said to be undergoing psychiatric treatment in Belfast. She was reported to be in psychiatric care after newspapers revealed that she had conducted an affair with a teenager.
Mrs Robinson, called gays an “abomination” and suggested they could be cured. In 2008, she told the Belfast Telegraph that homosexuality was comparable to paedophilia. She also told a radio show that homosexuality was a mental illness and could be “cured”.
She broke parliamentary rules by not declaring her interest in the business, despite sitting on the council which awarded the money to Kirk McCambley, it was claimed.
Last March the Public Prosecution Service decided she had not committed an offence and the case was dropped.
Police who had been on high alert throughout Northern Ireland because of a security threat were worried that a terrorist attack would occur in the country.
