Letter: The DUP and Ulster Unionist Party will have to get together to agree a candidate in many unionist constituencies
A letter from Frank McClintock:
Now that the dust has settled after the election, I have the following comments:
Nationalist results:
It seems clear that the western and southern constituencies of Northern Ireland (with the sole exception of East Londonderry) are now a lost cause for unionism. Even Fermanagh and South Tyrone, once a closely fought marginal, seems to have opted decisively for Sinn Fein.
These five consistencies seem happy to have no influence on the taxation or non devolved policies that they live under. Similarly, North, West and South Belfast have fallen to nationalism, seemingly for good. The good news is that nationalism has declined in vote share from an all time high of 42.4% in 2010 to 40.4% this time. So despite the nonsense being spouted by nationalist commentators, they are not making progress but rather declining over time.
It is however clear that no matter who Sinn Fein put forward, they will be elected in these constituencies and may also gain Foyle in due course.
Unionist results:
It is clear that in many constituencies, only one unionist candidate can win, and must have a strong local base, high profile and a good reputation as a dedicated MP. Examples of this trend are North Down, Upper Bann and Strangford as well as East Belfast. However vote splitting and introducing non local candidates such as in Lagan Valley can lead to the seat being lost to Alliance. It is encouraging that the overall unionist vote share barely changed from 2019, however Alliance is a ever present threat in unionist constituencies.
TUV candidates (apart from Jim Allister in North Antrim, where many unionists were determined to get rid of their arrogant, entitled and venal MP Ian Paisley) got between 2,000 and 4,000 votes and can safely be ignored. However the DUP and UUP will have to get together to agree a candidate in many unionist constituencies (especially East Londonderry and Lagan Valley) next time to avoid the disastrous loss of more unionist seats, particularly to Alliance.
Frank McClintock, Lisburn