Politics

NI election: Sinn Féin now biggest party in Westminster, Stormont and council after DUP losses

Alliance makes history with first non-DUP MP in Lagan Valley, while TUV unseats Ian Paisley

Sinn Féin leaders Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald celebrate as Cathal Mallaghan is elected MP for Mid Ulster. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Seanín Graham
Fri Jul 5 2024 - 21:26

Sinn Féin has emerged as Northern Ireland’s largest party at Westminster, Stormont and at council level following one of the most dramatic nights in UK election history.

For the first time in Northern politics, the nationalist abstentionist party overtook the DUP’s representation in the House of Commons by retaining its seven seats while the DUP dropped to five in what was a crushing defeat that left unionism reeling.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald urged the new Labour UK prime minister Keir Starmer to “embrace the right of Irish self-determination and constitutional change toward Irish reunification” in the wake of her party’s victory.

[ How did Northern Ireland vote? A full breakdown of how each constituency voted in the UK election ]

DUP leader Gavin Robinson appealed for “greater cohesion” among unionists following the poll in which the biggest political upset took place in the DUP heartland of North Antrim with Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister unseating Ian Paisley jnr in a constituency where he and his late father and DUP founder, Rev Ian Paisley, had between them served as MPs for 54 years.

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The other shock result came hours earlier at 3.40am when the Alliance Party’s Sorcha Eastwood became the first non-unionist MP elected to Lagan Valley in its 40-year history.

The 38-year-old is also the first woman to hold the seat that former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson held for 27 years following her defeat of DUP candidate Jonathan Buckley by almost 3,000 votes.

Mr Donaldson did not contest the seat following his controversial departure from the party on Good Friday, when he resigned over sex offence charges.

The DUP also lost in South Antrim to former minister for health Robin Swann – with the Ulster Unionists returning an MP to Westminster for the first time since 2017.

Sinn Féin deputy leader and Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill said her party had achieved a “tremendous result right across the board”.

“This speaks volumes that the change is happening – this place is changing,” Ms O’Neill said.

East Derry was the last of the 18 constituencies to be declared just before 8am on Friday morning after a recount, with veteran DUP MP Gregory Campbell narrowly retaining the seat by just 179 votes, having seen his previous majority of almost 10,000 slashed.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson held his seat in the East Belfast battleground where he went head-to-head with Alliance leader Naomi Long for the fourth time and won with an increased majority of more than 2,500 votes.

Describing his victory as a “good result” for the party, Mr Robinson said he was “incredibly proud” of Mr Buckley for running in Mr Donaldson’s former seat, adding that his defeat was a consequence of “divided unionism”.

There was a loss for Alliance’s Stephen Farry in North Down who conceded defeat earlier in the night to Independent unionist Alex Easton.

Reacting to her landmark victory, Ms Eastwood said: “It’s a fantastic night for us but it’s also a fantastic night for the people of Lagan Valley.”

She added: “I’m a Lagan Valley girl born and bred, and this has been in our heart for a long time and I’m just delighted.”

One of Sinn Féin’s biggest successes was in Fermanagh and South Tyrone - the most marginal constituency in 2019 with just 57 votes carrying Sinn Féin –  where the party’s new high-profile candidate, Pat Cullen, the former head of the UK’s Royal College of Nursing trade union, secured a majority of over 4,000 votes to win the seat.

The nationalist party also retained its seats in Mid Ulster, North Belfast, Newry and Armagh, West Tyrone, West Belfast and South Down.

In addition to East Belfast and East Derry, the DUP held Upper Bann, East Antrim and Strangford.

The SDLP retained its two seats with party leader Colum Eastwood securing a comfortable win over Sinn Féin’s Sandra Duffy in Foyle – but with a significantly reduced majority of just more than 4,000 votes. Claire Hanna secured 21,345 votes and a majority of more than 12,000 in a landslide victory in South Belfast.

Election results special: New political maps for Britain and Northern Ireland

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Seanín Graham

Seanín Graham

Seanín Graham is Northern Correspondent of The Irish Times

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