Who is popular today?

The race to become the next DUP leader is said to be too close to call as the party on Friday prepares for a first leadership election in its 50-year history.
DUP Assembly members and MPs – a select group of 36 individuals – have a choice between Edwin Poots and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to succeed Arlene Foster, with a result expected at around 5pm.
“There’s probably about seven, eight MLAs who have either told both candidates they’re voting for them, or they haven’t made their mind up, or both,” said former DUP special adviser Tim Cairns. “It’s going to come down to that number of people. That’s who will decide the election.”
Mr Poots, Stormont’s Minister for Agriculture, was the initial frontrunner, coming out of the traps ahead of Lagan Valley MP Mr Donaldson.
There is little to choose between them in terms of policy. Both have emphasised their commitment to the Union and their determination to see it strengthened; to this end, both have pledged tough action against the Northern Ireland protocol, and internal reform within the party.
“It’s a style election, because the policy differences are so small, so that’s what it’s going to come down to,” said Mr Cairns.
Robust vs polished
“One will be more robust – certainly that’s what Edwin Poots is putting forward – and the other will be more polished, in terms of Jeffrey Donaldson. One’s going to be more [Traditional Unionist Voice leader] Jim Allister, and one’s going to be a little more moderate than that, so it’s for MLAs to answer the question, who do they prefer in terms of representing unionism?”
If there are indeed any finer distinctions between the two candidates, neither the media nor the wider public was given the opportunity to uncover them. Neither could they challenge them, or hold them to account; a gagging order by the party banned both candidates from giving interviews on the basis that the leadership election was an internal party matter.
The result was not radio silence, but a succession of leaks from both sides, such as the “phone call tonight from deep within Sir Jeffrey’s team” which was the basis for the claims reported on the BBC’s Nolan Live television show on Wednesday night that, if elected, Mr Donaldson “may” cut off all North-South co-operation, an act which in turn “may prompt others to collapse the Assembly”.