Northern Ireland

East Derry: 'Hard hitting' Gregory Campbell retains seat for DUP

Gregory Campbell celebrates his election with his wife at Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt, Co Derry. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire 
Gregory Campbell celebrates his election with his wife at Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt, Co Derry. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire  Gregory Campbell celebrates his election with his wife at Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt, Co Derry. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire 

DUP MP Gregory Campbell’s victory in East Derry reflected the party’s performance across Northern Ireland.

With 49.1 per cent share of the vote in 2017, the veteran politician was always going to retain his seat barring a complete DUP collapse. However, the fall in his vote of 3,958 marked a major downturn for the party.

Likewise, Thursday’s poll marked a huge setback for both Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party. Sinn Fein’s Dermot Nicholl saw his vote fall by 4,753. While in nationalist-republican terms, the SDLP’s Cara Hunter edged ahead of Sinn Féin by just 30 votes, the result will be received as a victory by her party.

The Ulster Unionists were once the traditional representatives in East Derry. Former MP William Ross dominated general election politics in the constituency for many years before losing the seat to Mr Campbell. While the UUP vote increased, the party’s fall reached a new low on Thursday when its candidate, Richard Holmes was eclipsed by the SDLP, Sinn Féin and the Alliance Party, finishing in fifth place.

Reflecting the party performance in other areas of the north, Alliance candidate, Chris McCaw increased his party share of the vote by 8.8 per cent.

Mr Campbell said the result would raise many challenges for Prime Minister, Boris Johnston in the days and weeks ahead as he came to terms with Northern Ireland’s situation and an economic border through the Irish Sea.

“Whatever majority Boris has, there will be an onus on him to deliver on his issue about no checks east west and there will be an even bigger issue than that which is how does he preside over the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland. How does he cement that and build that for the future?

“In my view he has to do that on an economic basis so that people here and in Scotland can see there’s a tangible benefit of staying within the UK.

CANDIDATE: VOTE % change since 2017

Gregory Campbell (DUP) 15,765 (40.1%) -8.1%

Cara Hunter (SDLP) 6,158 (15.7%) +4.9%

Dermot Nicholl (SF) 6,128 (15.6% ) -10.9%

Chris McCaw (All) 5,921 (15.1%) +8.9%

Richard Holmes (UUP) 3,599 (9.2%) +1.4%

Sean McNicholl (Aontú) 1,731 (4.4%) +4.4%

Electorate 69,246

Turnout 39,495 (57%) -4.6%

Majority 9,607