It was a bad night for the moderate parties as the SDLP have lost all three of its Westminster seats and the UUP lost all two of theirs. The DUP and Sinn Fein grabbed 17 out of 18 seats with Independent Lady Sylvia Hermon being re-elected in North Down.
This will be a major blow for the new UUP leader Robin Swann as for the first time they lose all representation at Westminster.
The SDLP will feel particularly aggrieved losing all their seats to a party that will not even take their seats in parliament, but as Dick Tuck once famously said: “The people have spoken, the bast*rds.”
Arlene Foster will be very happy with this result and Sinn Fein will be delighted. You have to hand it to them, both parties have powerful election machines.
If there is any comfort for the SDLP and UUP is that they seem to be the victims on a proxy vote on the national question. But as people often comment, isn’t every election in Northern Ireland a vote on the national question?
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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