As I’m writing, not all the results are in, but it appears that the DUP have succeeded in their election campaign, and the Ulster Unionists have been wiped out. In our constituency, Jeffrey Donaldson has retained his seat in a new party, and the seats of East Antrim, South Antrim and Upper Bann have been taken.
However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. I am a unionist, and believe that the union with the United Kingdom is the best option for Northern Ireland, on economic grounds, as well as social and political grounds. Yet it appears that the competition within unionism has led to losses for unionism. In particular, the constituencies of South Belfast and Fermanagh & South Tyrone. In South Belfast, a former UUP seat, the split in unionist votes led to the SDLP taking the seat. Similarly in Fermanagh & South Tyrone, the unionist votes were sufficient to elect a candidate, yet the two main parties couldn’t agree. Why will we fight among ourselves when the battle is being lost? Unionism seems to become weaker, as concessions have been given to Sinn Fein time and again. Hopefully we will see a revival of unionism in the near future.
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