February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
South Down — The SDLP’s Eddie McGrady reclaimed the seat he has held since 1987 however with a reduced majority. Sinn Fein’s Caitriona Ruane, following on from previous SF gains in this constituency, increased her party’s vote by 6 percent.
Fermanagh and South Tyrone — Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew successfully defended her seat and increased her majority. Meanwhile, the DUP surpassed the UUP vote here with UUP defector Arlene Foster seeing off Tom Elliot.
West Tyrone — Sinn Fein’s Pat Doherty had little to worry about from Independent candidate Kieran Deeny and had a majority of over 5,000 votes. The SDLP vote however collapsed with its candidate Eugene McMenamin taking less than 4,000.
Foyle — Proved to be one of the biggest stories of the election. SDLP leader Mark Durkan took the seat with a comfortable majority over Sinn Fein’s Mitchel McLaughlin. Many pundits had predicted that Durkan would fall here and that his party would disintegrate. However, Durkan crossed the line well ahead of McLaughlin.
East Derry — The DUP’s Gregory Campbell increased his vote here by over 10 percent, despite some predictions that he might be run close by the UUP.
Mid Ulster — Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness predictably walked this constituency, though the Sinn Fein vote did ebb by 3.5 percent.
North Antrim — Ian Paisley actually increased his personal vote here, surpassing that of Gerry Adams in West Belfast.
South Antrim — David Trimble’s arch-critic David Burnside was ousted by the DUP’s Willie McCrea. He immediately blamed his defeat on his party leader. McCrea reclaimed the seat he lost in 2001.
East Antrim — The DUP’s Sammy Wilson took this seat off sitting UUP MP Roy Beggs. Wilson had been parachuted in from East Belfast, but had worked hard at making his presence known.
North Down — The only UUP MP was elected here. Sylvia Hermon did well to hold her seat against the DUP’s Peter Weir and was elected comfortably. She has been tipped in some quarters as a replacement leader for the party, though this is unlikely in the male-dominated world of unionist politics.
Strangford — Iris Robinson took the seat for the DUP, and faced little in the way of competition from the UUP.
North Belfast — The DUP’s Nigel Dodds again won the unionist battle here while Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly increased his share of the nationalist vote.
East Belfast — Peter Robinson had little problem in seeing off the challenge of the UUP’s Reg Empey, despite the standing aside of PUP leader David Ervine.
West Belfast — The first of the eighteen constituencies to be declared, West Belfast saw yet another ringing endorsement for Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. While the Sinn Fein vote, as was the SDLP vote, was down on 2001, Adams managed to increase his share of the poll.
South Belfast — The stunning victory of SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell will be a huge boon to the party. He snuck through the middle of a split unionist vote as the DUP’s Jimmy Spratt and the UUP’s Michael McGimpsey fought each other to a standstill.
Lagan Valley — The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson again won the seat that he claimed in 2001 as an Ulster Unionist.
Upper Bann — The end of an era. David Trimble received a thumping from DUP candidate David Simpson and resigned his leadership of the UUP the following day. Paisley can add Trimble’s scalp to a long line of unionist competitors.