DUP and Sinn Fein spending on 2019 general election revealed
Sinn Fein and the DUP spent around £100,000 each on contesting last December’s general election, the Electoral Commission has said.
North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds was the unionist party’s most high-profile casualty as he was toppled by murder solicitor Pat Finucane’s son John.
Sinn Fein spent £95,856.70, almost all accounted for by donations to candidates, data from the Electoral Commission showed.
The party spent £35,210 on unsolicited material sent to electors like leaflets.
The DUP spent a total of £105,016.06.
A total of £74,721.46 involved donations to candidates.
The party spent £76,561 on unsolicited material sent to electors like leaflets.
Following the poll the DUP lost two MPs including its Westminster leader Mr Dodds.
Mr Dodds was a high-profile supporter of Brexit and Sinn Fein labelled him the “architect” of a process which was deeply unpopular amongst many nationalists.
Emma Little-Pengelly was defeated by Claire Hanna of the SDLP in South Belfast.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood won Foyle with a massive majority.
The cross-community Alliance Party made gains and took the North Down seat.
The DUP’s Alex Easton had hoped to win the seat but lost out to Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry.
The DUP and Sinn Fein saw their share of the vote drop significantly compared with the 2017 general election, by 5.4% and 6.7% respectively.
They reopened negotiations on Stormont powersharing immediately after the election and that led to a resurrection of the devolved institutions in January.