General Election 2019: Northern Ireland
| Author | Jon Tonge |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2041905820911740 |
MARCH 2020•POLITICAL INSIGHT13
Northern Ireland’s election
contained plenty of drama
(again) and had important
consequences. For the first
time, only a minority of MPs elected to
Westminster from Northern Ireland are
now unionists. Nine nationalists won seats,
seven from Sinn Féin (SF) who refuse to
take their seats and two from the Social
Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Eight
unionists, all from the Democratic Unionist
Party (DUP) were returned, along with one
member of the Alliance Party, not part
of either the unionist or nationalist bloc.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) – once
dominant – failed to win a seat for the third
time in the last four elections.
In an election dominated by Brexit and
marked by nationalist and unionist pacts,
labelled as pro-Remain on the nationalist
side, four of the 18 seats changed hands, with
two SDLP gains and one each for Alliance
and Sinn Féin, although Sinn Féin’s net haul
was unchanged. The English electorate’s
decisive endorsement of the ‘Boris Brexit’
may have long-term implications for the
General Election 2019:
Northern Ireland
Jon Tonge analyses an election in Northern Ireland that saw reversals
for the major parties – particularly the Democratic Unionists – and the
growing strength of politics beyond Orange and Green.
Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The immediate impact of the Conservatives’
substantial majority, however, was to
marginalise Northern Ireland MPs. The DUP’s
days in the Westminster sun, under the
condence-and-supply deal which provided
the Conservatives with a majority in the last
Parliament, were over. Attention turned to
the local power base in the Northern Ireland
Assembly, suspended since January 2017
when Sinn Féin quit but restored within one
month of the 2019 General Election. The
absence of Westminster power appeared to
concentrate minds.
The DUP had a tough defence to mount,
having won a record ten seats in 2017. Its
vote share fell in all bar one constituency and
the party was reduced to eight MPs, losing
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