ROTHESAY — Democratic Party leader Stephen Cameron has said his party didn’t match expectations in Monday’s election because it ‘wasn’t clear enough’ on what it stood for.
Cameron and deputy leader Eloise Penner launched the Democratic Party on August 19, making it New Ulster’s first official political party.
However, in their haste to announce the party — and despite launching mid-election campaign — the leaders were criticized at the time for not having a complete electoral platform.
Indeed, it drew much comparison with the Liberal Conservative Party which launched five days later and had a fully developed programme for government.
Now, Cameron admits it was a mistake. ‘In hindsight,’ he mused, ‘we should’ve had a clearer message from the get go.’
When pressed, he strenuously denied the early launch of his and Penner’s Democratic Party was to ‘steal the thunder’ of McAllister’s LCP; rumour of which had been circulating.
‘No, we didn’t [launch early] to steal anybody’s thunder,’ he said, ‘we launched at the time because the election had been called 2 days earlier and we wanted to say right at the start of the campaign: here’s an alternative.’
Cameron is set to become Leader of the Official Opposition and said he intends to hold the McAllister ministry to account — but also didn’t rule out working with the minority government when and where necessary.
‘We want voting reform and better territorial structure,’ he opined, ‘so if [McAllister] pursues those, we’ll back the premier.’ However, Cameron quickly ruled out any support for the LCP’s economic plans. ‘It’s focusing energy in the wrong places. We should grow the public not the public purse.’
Monday’s general election saw 2 Democratic Party candidates win seats — Cameron and his deputy Penner. The party had stood 4 candidates.
Cameron added he was disappointed with that result but reassured, ‘It’s a good place to grow from.’
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