Northern Ireland is set for a second election this year after the biggest unionist party again prevented the region’s government from forming, amid a row over post-Brexit trade rules that has major implications for the United Kingdom.
The Democratic Unionist Party stopped the election of an assembly speaker and prevented the election of an executive for a fourth time Thursday, after a last-ditch attempt by other parties to appoint one ahead of a midnight deadline.
The U.K.’s Northern Ireland secretary, Christopher Heaton-Harris, has said an election would be called if the region’s power-sharing government is not restored in time, with Dec. 15 seen as a likely date.
