Jeffrey Donaldson has requested the forfeiture of his knighthood and resigned from the Privy Council, his solicitor confirmed on Wednesday, days after the former DUP leader was convicted of multiple sexual offences.

The 63-year-old was found guilty by a jury at Newry Crown Court on Monday of 18 counts of sex abuse, including one count of rape. The offences were committed against two women when they were children between 1985 and 2008. Judge Paul Ramsey told Donaldson he faces a lengthy prison term at sentencing later this year and he was remanded into custody at Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim.

In a statement, solicitor John McBurney said Donaldson had signed letters to the Cabinet Office requesting renunciation and forfeiture of the knighthood he received in 2016, and to the Privy Council office tendering his resignation with immediate effect.

Honours are revoked by the monarch on the recommendation of the Honours Forfeiture Committee, a Cabinet Office body that automatically considers cases where a recipient has been found guilty of a sexual offence. The formal process means the title is not lost until annulled by the King.

Political reaction was swift. TUV leader Jim Allister had previously called for the knighthood to be removed and tabled a motion in the House of Commons. UUP leader Jon Burrows wrote to the committee seeking withdrawal. After Donaldson’s move, a TUV spokesperson said it was pre-empting the inevitable and urged him to also surrender his parliamentary pension. Burrows noted the absence of any expression of remorse.

Donaldson is now being held at Maghaberry. Former prison governor Ian Acheson described the immediate procedures: a strip search, medical screening, and assessment for self-harm risk. He could be placed in a vulnerable prisoner unit given his profile and the nature of the offences. Another former officer said the first night in prison is typically noisy and marked by checks every 15 minutes, with prisoners often in shock.

Sir John Gillen, the retired judge who led a 2019 review into how sexual offence cases are handled in Northern Ireland, said the trial demonstrated the impact of reforms. Victims gave evidence by video link, and measures to challenge rape myths were applied. Gillen said the outcome had struck a blow against a culture that has not properly heard women and girls.

Donaldson awaits sentencing. The forfeiture process will proceed through established channels, while his resignation from the Privy Council takes immediate effect.