The Conservatives are preparing to form a government with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), after shock election losses saw Theresa May’s party fall short of a Commons majority.
Tory officials took part in “extensive talks” with Northern Ireland’s largest unionist political party overnight but the deal could come at a high price.
The DUP has regularly courted controversy in its near 50-year history for its views on issues from same sex marriage to climate change.
Here are some of the most controversial positions held by the party:
LGBT rights
Ian Paisley Jr, son of the party’s founder Ian Paisley, has previously called homosexuality “immoral, offensive and obnoxious” and said he was “repulsed” by gays and lesbians.
The party once championed a campaign called “Save Ulster from Sodomy”.
Former DUP health minister Jim Wells told a South Down hustings in 2015: “The gay lobby is insatiable, they don’t know when enough is enough.”
He also said children who were raised in a homosexual relationship were more likely to be abused or neglected. He later apologised for the comments.
DUP politician Trevor Clarke last year said he thought only gay people could contract AIDS or HIV, but has since admitted he “did not understand the stigma attached to it” and has campaigned for greater awareness and prevention.
Gay marriage
The party staunchly opposes same-sex marriage, believing in what they call the “traditional” definition of the union, and has vetoed several attempts to pass new legislation.
Speaking of the pro-marriage equality movement, party leader Arlene Foster said in 2016: “They are not going to influence me by sending me abuse – in fact, they are going to send me in the opposite direction and people need to reflect on that.”
She added: “I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality, that’s not a matter for me – when it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage.”
