| Leaprechauns have some facts.
Total No. of seats = 17
pre election status : Unionist/DUP 14 Sdlp 2 Sinn Fein 1
post election status : Unionist/DUP 13 Sdlp 3 Sinn Fein 1
N.I. elections for the Westminster Parliament are held on the one
man-one vote principal.
In most constituencies of N.I. the two main Unionist parties put
up the sitting members as "agreed" canditates, so that the Unionist
voters would only have one person that they could vote for, therby
ensuring that the Unionist vote was not split.
On the pro-republican side, no such pact was entered into. This
resultant divide in the anti-union vote meant that Enoch Powell's
seat might have survived but the anti-union vote to the SDLP just
shaded it, Eddy McGready getting the seat in this now predominantly
anti-union constituency.
Fermanagh-South Tyrone, is another predominantly anti-union
constituency that the Unionists held as Sinn Fein was opposed
by the SDLP and the anti-union vote was split.
Total vote split accross the whole of N.I. went thus:
Unionist/DUP; 380,000 (56.3%)
SDLP 160,000 (23.75%)
Sinn Fein 85,000 (12.6%)
Alliance 40,000 (6.0%)
rest 10,000 (1.35%)
The combined pro union vote is slipping quickly towards the 50%
mark.
Transferred to an all-Ireland plane the total poll would be in the
order of 2 millions. The Unionist portion represents 19% of the
popular vote.
Re .-1 Enoch Powell was an elected representative (whom I did not
care much for), and as such was entitled to speak for his
electorate.
Snake see writing.
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