The United Kingdom government expects the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to return to power-sharing at Stormont, the Northern Ireland Assembly, in the summer after local elections on May 18 play out, PoliticsHome reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources in Westminster.
The DUP supposedly will not return to Stormont before the elections as it fears some of its voters could otherwise opt for other parties similarly loyal to the UK.
To protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol, the DUP left the government power-sharing agreements last year and blocked the formation of the local government and Stormont. Most recently, the party opposed the Windsor Framework package of changes to the protocol that the United Kingdom and the European Union had agreed on.
