DUP will not seek to be part of Westminster coalition if it holds balance of power

The DUP will not be seeking to be part of a formal coalition or asking for seats in cabinet should it hold the balance of power after the British general election in May, First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson said in Belfast on Tuesday.

Rather, said Mr Robinson, the DUP would use any influence it had for the benefit of Northern Ireland.

“We are not interested in coalition. We are not interested in getting positions for ourselves. We are there to get the best possible deal that we can for Northern Ireland,” he said in east Belfast.

Mr Robinson was joined by several senior party colleagues in the art deco Strand cinema including some DUP Westminster candidates such as Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell for the launch of the party's election billboard.

Proclaiming the message, “More votes. More seats. More influence. More for Northern Ireland. Only the DUP can do it,” Mr Robinson said the billboard will shortly go on a mobile tour of Northern Ireland.

"We are less than 100 days out from a general election, the result of which is expected to be the most open for decades. Based on current opinion polls, it is highly unlikely that either the Conservatives or Labour will win an overall majority," the DUP leader said.

Currently the DUP holds eight seats. It is hoping to take back Mr Robinson's former seat of East Belfast which Alliance's Naomi Long won in 2010.

If an electoral pact is agreed with the Ulster Unionist Party, the DUP believes unionists have a real chance of taking SDLP leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell's seat of South Belfast, with a slimmer chance of ousting Sinn Fein MP Michelle Gildernew in Fermanagh South Tyrone.

Discussions on that possible pact are continuing.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Northern Ireland,” Mr Robinson added. “The votes of local MPs could have a more important role than they have had for a generation. More DUP MPs means more influence which in turn means that more can be delivered for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has insisted that even in the event of a hung parliament that the party would not end its abstentionist policy to shape who should be the next British prime minister — either David Cameron or Ed Miliband.

Mr Robinson said that as the SDLP’s seat were already “bought and sold” because it was the British Labour party’s sister party that the DUP was the only party in Northern Ireland that possibly could exert real influence after May.

North Belfast MP Mr Dodds added, “The main parties at Westminster along with the national media are showing greater interest in the DUP and the role we may play in a hung parliament. It is important that we return to the House of Commons with an even greater number of MPs so that we can maximise our influence and ensure that the voice of the people of Northern Ireland is heard.”

Meanwhile, Mr Robinson said he still hoped agreement could be reached that would permit the DUP to be also part of a UK-wide TV election debates. Seven parties have been invited to take part — the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and the Greens — but the parties operating solely in Northern Ireland — the DUP, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, the UUP and Alliance — have been excluded.

“We are already taking legal advice but hopefully the broadcasters will have a satisfactory proposal before we get to that stage rather than having this decided by the courts,” Mr Robinson said.