It can be argued with some justification that the stance taken by Jeffrey Donaldson over recent years has generally, in a unionist context, been a sincere one.
Unlike the DUP, he was prepared to argue his case during the negotiations which led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Donaldson departed from the talks at the 11th hour, reportedly over the issue of early prisoner releases.
Since then he had given the clear impression that he understood the basic logic behind the agreement while rejecting some of its detail.
Again unlike the DUP, Mr Donaldson gained absolutely no political benefit from the introduction of our devolved structures at Stormont.
As he was not given dispensation by his party to run for the Northern Ireland Assembly, he was not eligible for a role within the executive.
He then had to watch from the sidelines as DUP members, who had loudly proclaimed their total opposition to the agreement, enjoyed all the trappings of ministerial office.
However, as Mr Donaldson has proved over recent weeks and yet again yesterday, sincerity and sound political judgment do not always go hand in hand.
He staked his credibility on a direct challenge to his leader, David Trimble, at the last meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council, and openly discussed the prospect of resigning from the party if he lost the contest.
In the event, the outcome, quite predictably, was basically the same as those of the nine previous Ulster Unionist Council meetings since the agreement, with Mr Trimble securing the support of 56 per cent of his colleagues.
Mr Donaldson responded by talking yet again about having to reach a tough decision and allowed the expectation to grow among his followers that his future was outside the Ulster Unionist Party.
When his announcement was finally made yesterday, it turned out to be less than earth-shattering.
Together with his fellow MPs, David Burnside and the Rev Martin Smyth, he resigned the Unionist parliamentary whip but somehow managed to retain his party membership.
Mr Smyth's position as Ulster Unionist president is obvious untenable in these circumstances, while Mr Burnside continues to present himself as a DUP enthusiast in all but name.
Neither figure is taken seriously outside their own circles, but Mr Donaldson had the potential to make a telling contribution to the wider search for political progress.
Instead, he has opted to concentrate his energies on the vicious internal struggle which is threatening to tear the Ulster Unionist Party apart on a permanent basis.
Bemused nationalist representatives can only wait and wonder who they will be able to engage with if and when unionism ever gets its act together.
