Newton Emerson

THERE is a saying in American politics that the chair rises up to meet you - meaning that if you lack the authority of your office, the mere act of taking office will give you some more. Maybe that works in the White House but in the less impressive office of a Stormont first minister, it helps to adjust the chair yourself. Peter Robinson made obvious efforts to curtail his notorious temper en route to leading Northern Ireland. The man who jabbed his finger in David Trimble’s face during the ‘fuss at the bus’, who screamed “at least I have hair!” when Michae[...]