Foyle (UK Parliament Constituency) - History

History

For the history of the equivalent constituency prior to 1983, see Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency).

The constituency is overwhelmingly nationalist and in many elections has often had the strongest vote for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in the whole of Northern Ireland. Unionists of various parties routinely poll around 20%-25% in elections.

There had been much speculation that with the gradual retirement of John Hume from politics, the SDLP vote might collapse. In the 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election, the SDLP lost 11.5% of the vote and were only narrowly ahead of Sinn Féin. Hume's retirement led to many questioning whether Mark Durkan, Hume's successor as leader, could hold onto the seat. However in the 2005 general election he did so. The decline in the Unionist vote suggests that some Unionist voters tactically voted for Durkan.

Durkan retained the seat in 2010. This seat also gave the Alliance Party their worst share of the vote in Northern Ireland, polling just 0.6% of the votes (though on the same night the party's Naomi Long sensationally upset First Minister Peter Robinson in Belfast East).