An unlikely double act forged on Westminster backbenches

Published on Wednesday 20 February 2008 21:17

IAN Paisley and Alex Salmond have become the odd couple of British politics.

One is probably the most trenchant Unionist ever to set foot in the House of Commons and the other is a politician who has dedicated his career to breaking up the United Kingdom.

But Ian Paisley and Alex Salmond can't help getting on.

The first ministers of Northern Ireland and Scotland met again yesterday, their third meeting since last year's election. They emerged praising each other, smiling at each other's jokes and declaring how well they got on.

So what is it that makes these two politicians, from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, such close allies?

According to fellow MPs, this entente cordiale was forged in the dark recesses of the House of Commons tea room, after bruising evenings in the chamber, when Mr Paisley and Mr Salmond were fuming at being trampled underfoot by the main parties.

John Swinney, the finance secretary, who was an MP with both men, said: "It's a very lonely place, those couple of rows back there on the back benches, it's very easy to get bulldozed by the main parties."

According to Mr Swinney, Mr Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and Mr Salmond's SNP found they had to work together, particularly after the 1997 election, to make sure their voices were heard.

They formed a loose pact, agreeing to fight for each other's interests to be heard, in return for reciprocal support.

Mr Swinney said: "They are both outsiders. They were both in small parties in the Commons but are now in positions of power. They have a lot in common."

Mr Paisley, who will be 82 this year, has been an MP since 1970 and a Free Presbyterian minister since he was 20. For him, politics and religion have been intertwined, but he has been involved so deeply in Northern Irish politics that he has been part of, or vigorously opposed – and sometimes both – every political development in the province for the past 35 years.

Mr Salmond, 53, keeps his religious views very much to himself. He has only been an MP for the past 20 years and all of those years have been spent trying to get Scotland out of the Union and out of the Commons.

But he, too, has been intimately involved in every major development that has taken place in his own country's politics for the past two decades,

and this is where the two share interests and common goals.

"Ian Paisley is a Northern Irish patriot," said Kevin Pringle, Mr Salmond's spokesman.

"He wants what's best for Northern Ireland and he recognises that Alex Salmond wants what's best for Scotland. They may diverge on their views on what is best in terms of independence but they are both committed to getting the best deal for their areas."

He added: "There is a good personal rapport between them; there has been for some time."

Mr Paisley certainly made it clear yesterday how he felt about his relationship with Mr Salmond.

"Because Alex and I both served in Westminster and still serve in Westminster, we have a very close relationship," he said.

"We do not agree with one another on everything but there are certain things we do agree on – our parts of the United Kingdom have to be treated well."

But with speculation mounting that Mr Paisley might stand down as early as May this year, there may be only a limited time for this most unlikely of political relationships to produce results.