Iris Robinson, former MLA and MP, rarely avoided controversy during a colourful political career. Her staunch Unionism and religious views frequently caused ire in the nationalist community.
A born again Christian she received an angry response during June 2008 when she made a number of comments about homosexuality. In a series of statements, each more unrepenting than the last, Mrs Robinson stated that homosexuality was an “abomination” and “vile”, and offered to help “turn around” gay men and women. These comments were met with demands for sanctions from a wide range of organisations, including the British Labour Party and Amnesty International and she was consequently voted ‘UK Bigot of the Year’ by gay rights group Stonewall in 2008.
Further damage was caused to the reputation of Mrs Robinson and her husband Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, by the 2009 expenses scandal. It emerged that in one calendar year the Robinsons had claimed £571,939 in expenses, which included lavish salaries for their children and even a daughter-in-law, of £150,000. Her claims for everything from food to perfume caused a public clamour and even led the Daily Mail to dub the family “the swish family Robinson”.
Having once described herself as “not the brightest light in the chandelier”, this did not stop Mrs Robinson’s huge electoral success in the General Assembly elections of 2007. One of four DUP candidates in her constituency of Strangford, Mrs Robinson, the leader of the ticket, managed to do what neither Mr Robinson or former DUP leader, Ian Paisley, could and get all four elected. Dismissed as too difficult beforehand, Mrs Robinson had achieved it through a mixture of careful vote management and no little sense of a cult of personailty.
The glamour and wealth attached to Mrs Robinson had become, however, part of her brand. Her expensive clothing and lavish lifestyle had created a near-celebrity of the once working-class girl from the hard loyalist estate. Indeed the Guardian described a Mrs Robinson who “charged about in her convertible Mini Cooper, leaving a cloud of perfume and gifts from grateful constituents trailing in her wake”, as a kind of “Ulster Sarah Palin”.
There is a question however, as to whether Mrs Robinson got caught up in this image of herself. The sharp-tongued, popular, glamourous queen of democratic unionism had managed to succeed in a macho, male-dominated party. Her fierce zeal mixed with an ability to charm had created for the DUP, a perfect politician. However, as happens so often in politics, her zenith was to be quickly proceeded by her nadir.
With each piece of news that broke from Christmas-time 2009 to the present, the public in Northern Ireland found themselves increasingly taken aback. Beginning with the odd announcement of her decision to retire from public life and reaching a climax with the BBC’s “Spotlight” investigation, the Robinson story was the very definition of a political sensation. The allegations made against her were as follows.
Mrs Robinson began an affair in the summer of 2008 with a nineteen-year-old called Kirk McCambley. During the affair, she had been almost forty years older than him. Mrs Robinson had known him since he was nine years of age and had been close friends with his father who had died earlier that year. Various reports have suggested that she had, had an affair not only with Kirk’s father but also with another DUP worker in the 1980s. Mrs Robinson drew strong criticism for this behaviour with veteran gay rights activist Peter Tatchell labelling her “a hypocrite” and Susan McKay, Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, describing her sexual behaviour towards McCambley as “predatory”.
Using the evidence of Mrs Robinson’s ex-advisor, Selwyn Black, “Spotlight” alleged that Mrs Robinson had urged her young lover to make a bid to the Castlereagh Council for the right to run a café in the famous Lock Keeper’s Inn site. Not only did she not disclose her own involvement with McCambley to her fellow councillors but she also raised £50,000 to help his cause from two wealthy developer friends, Ken Campbell and Fred Fraser. The programme also detailed how Mrs Robinson had sought to get the money back from McCambley after the affair had gone sour.
Amongst the revelations was Mrs Robinson’s history of serious mental problems. As regular attendee at a local hospital she fell victim to rumours of domestic violence. As a result, it appears that she suffered bouts of depression and attempted suicide in March 2009. Mr Robinson’s somewhat jocular attendance at Stormont the day after adds another odd twist to the saga.
While her political career is undoubtedly over, the obvious parallels drawn between the Mrs Robinson of the DUP and the Mrs Robinson of the cult film The Graduate, the drama ensures that her cult status will continue.
