Jeffrey Donaldson moves to surrender knighthood and quit Privy Council after convictions

Disgraced: Jeffrey Donaldson

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has formally requested the forfeiture of his knighthood and resigned from the Privy Council following his conviction on multiple sexual offence charges.

The move was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon by his solicitor, John McBurney, who said letters signed by Donaldson had been sent to both the Cabinet Office and the Privy Council Office.

In a statement, Mr McBurney said:

“I have this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Cabinet Office indicating his request to renounce and forfeit his Knighthood.

“I have also this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Privy Council Office tendering his resignation from the Privy Council with immediate effect.”

The development comes less than 48 hours after a jury found Donaldson guilty on all charges, prompting widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum and calls from unionist leaders for him to be stripped of his honours.

TUV leader Jim Allister KC MP had called for Donaldson’s knighthood to be removed “forthwith” and tabled a motion in the House of Commons urging the Prime Minister to recommend its removal.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows MLA also wrote to the Honours Forfeiture Committee seeking the immediate withdrawal of Donaldson’s knighthood, arguing that allowing him to retain the honour would bring the honours system into disrepute.

Donaldson’s request to renounce the title and his resignation from the Privy Council now represent the first direct actions taken by the former politician since the guilty verdicts were delivered.

Political reaction intensifies

Reaction to Donaldson’s announcement was swift, with unionist representatives arguing that the move merely anticipated sanctions that were likely to follow his convictions.

North Antrim UUP MLA and party leader Jon Burrows said Donaldson’s decision did not alter the gravity of the crimes for which he was convicted.

“There is nothing honourable about giving up what was inevitably being stripped from you,” Mr Burrows said.

“Still not a word of remorse.”

A TUV spokesperson struck a similar tone, dismissing the move as an attempt to pre-empt formal action by the authorities.

“If Jeffrey Donaldson thinks that he will receive some sort of credit for handing back his knighthood and asking to be removed from the Privy Council he is very much mistaken,” the spokesperson said.

“This is a man who is not only guilty of the most heinous crimes against children but someone who put his victims through the ordeal of having their testimonies challenged and repeatedly calling them liars.

“Today’s act is merely pre-empting the inevitable.”

The spokesperson also called for Donaldson to surrender his parliamentary pension rights, arguing that voters in Lagan Valley would never have elected him had they known of the offences for which he has now been convicted.

The latest statements underline the continuing political fallout from the case, with attention now turning to the formal process surrounding Donaldson’s honours, his forthcoming sentencing, and the wider consequences for the political legacy of one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent former unionist leaders.

The Cabinet Office and Honours Forfeiture Committee will ultimately determine the formal process surrounding the removal of the knighthood, while Donaldson’s resignation from the Privy Council takes effect through established constitutional procedures.

The move marks a dramatic and symbolic end to a political career that once saw Donaldson rise to the highest levels of unionist politics, serve as leader of the DUP and receive some of the UK’s most prestigious public honours.