A random person has snapped up the DUP leader’s Twitter handle after Arlene Foster changed her username

The Twitter handle for the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party has been snapped up by a randomer.

Former DUP leader Arlene Foster changed her handle from “DUPLeader” to “ArleneFosterUK,” after she resigned from the position on April 28.

It seems that the party either didn’t want or weren’t quick enough to retrieve the DUP leader’s handle when it became available again, as a random person now has it for their parody account.

The @DUPLeader parody account was created in May 2021, and people have now started to notice:

The account currently has an image of the Union Jack flag as its profile picture and header.

It includes a bio that mocks the party saying: “Need to get rid of that there sea border. Irish language act? Forget about it sunshine. (Parody).”

The account now has over 2,000 followers and has tweeted eight times so far, jokingly responding to a tweet about how they got the handle in one of them.

They also trolled other DUP Twitter accounts by asking if they could join in when the party was hosting a press conference.

The new owner of @DUPLeader, who wanted to remain anonymous, told indy100 how they acquired the handle.

“I noticed it was available at 6:48 PM · May 27, 2021 to be exact and tried to register it a few minutes later,” they said.

“To my amazement it worked.”

The person - who is based in Dublin but originally from Monaghan - described it as a “random occurrence, and seized the opportunity” and said it was “surprising” when they gained 2,000 followers.

They also said that they have “disliked the DUP for years” and they will probably use the account to “poke fun at their incompetence, especially around their fumbling of Brexit, and their backward policies.”

Despite being a DUP critic, the person stated: “I’m not a member of any party, and don’t vote for anyone in particular habitually.”

The DUP have not been in contact with them to relinquish control of the account, they added.

Even if they did contact the account, the anonymous new owner probably wouldn’t give it back, “I think I’ll keep it,” they said.

“I’ve received many DM’s of congratulations for getting hold of the username.”

People on Twitter have shared their thoughts on the handle’s new home.

Others were impressed at how quickly the handle was snapped up by the random person.

While some joked that they were planning on snapping up the handle for themselves before the parody account took it.

Foster would have taken over the Twitter account when she succeeded Peter Robinson as DUP leader in 2015.

Though, according to the Belfast Telegraph, Foster said she “doesn’t do Twitter.”

“I may post on Twitter but I don’t look at it, and I think I would advise members from right across this chamber that that’s a very good thing to do,” she said, after being asked for her opinion on a tweet by her DUP colleague Paul Frew.

However, Foster was savvy enough to keep the DUP leader account – including its 96,000 followers – and simply changed the handle to her own name. That, of course, prompted the @DUPLeader handle to become available to anyone that wanted to use it.

“Swift move for someone who said they don’t look at Twitter,” one person said.

New leader Edwin Poots, for his part, is tweeting under @edwinpootsmla.

Indy100 has reached out to the DUP, and Arlene Foster’s office for comment.