Nationalist battle as SDLP faces Sinn Fein challenge for Foyle

The SDLP is hoping to hold off a challenge from Sinn Fein in what is expected to be a key battle within nationalism in the Foyle constituency.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says he will be a strong voice for the constituency, while his Sinn Fein challenger Sandra Duffy insists her party’s MPs have wielded influence at Westminster despite not taking their seats.

Foyle, which includes Londonderry city, has been an almost exclusively SDLP stronghold since its creation in 1983.

Former party leader John Hume held it until his retirement from politics, before another party leader, Mark Durkan, held it from 2005 until 2017.

The winning of the seat by Sinn Fein’s Elisha McCallion in 2017 by less than 200 votes was one of the shocks of that year’s election.

Mr Eastwood won it back for his party in 2019 with a majority of more than 17,000 in an election dominated by Brexit and a difficult time for Sinn Fein in Derry.

A swift Sinn Fein reorganisation saw the party return with a strong performance in the 2022 Assembly election with a total vote of 15,384, ahead of the SDLP’s 14,460.

Mr Eastwood and Ms Duffy, a recent Derry mayor, both believe they can win the seat this year.

However, while Mr Eastwood is believed to have benefitted from tactical voting by unionists in the past, DUP candidate Gary Middleton says unionists are wary of their lent vote being counted as support for a border poll.

Mr Eastwood recalled the 2019 campaign as “extremely difficult”, with Sinn Fein “putting on a huge show” and spending a lot of money.

“But people in Derry understood that having no voice in Westminster was a mistake and they didn’t want that to happen again,” he said.

“This time, if they want to have representation at Westminster, someone speaking up for them and, I think, someone who has done a pretty good job in speaking up for them, then they need to come out and vote for that.

“The response is very good on the doors. People get it and people didn’t like being silenced and didn’t like having the only Derry accent at Westminster being Gregory Campbell (DUP). I don’t think they want to go back to that.”

Mr Eastwood said his party and Sinn Fein are putting a “big effort in”.

“There is a good reason why Derry has done well for the SDLP, there is an awful lot of hard work, and not just at election time,” he said.

“I looked at our figures for my own constituency office over the last four and a half years – we have helped 7,000 people, got £20 million back in benefits and entitlements for ordinary people in Derry, we’ve brought in hundreds of millions of pounds from the British government and the Irish government to develop the city and expand Magee and support Northlands Addiction Centre.

“If they want more of that they can vote for it or we can have an empty seat at Westminster. I am not sure that is what people want.”

Ms Duffy said of Sinn Fein MPs: “They do the entire job of an MP, they just don’t sit in an empty chamber.

“In terms of all the issues that people want us to raise, we are raising those and we’re very, very visible on the protest and on the rallies and talking directly to people that actually can have that influence and make that difference,” she said.

“We believe that, with the people’s support, we can take the seat in Foyle and we can then deliver that positive change that people want to see for Derry.”

She said a Sinn Fein MP would be better placed to deliver for Foyle, working with the party’s Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Economy Minister Conor Murphy.

“People want to see regional balance addressed, they want to see more and better jobs here within the city, they want to see the economy grow, they want to see our small businesses being supported,” Ms Duffy said.

“We have a wealth of talent here in Derry, and they want to see that talent stay within the city and develop their businesses and allow their families to grow up here in a really positive, vibrant thriving city, and that’s what I hope I am offering people.

“I believe that a strong Sinn Fein MP for Foyle is much better placed. We have the Executive up, we have Michelle O’Neill as the First Minister, we have Conor Murphy in the department for the economy and we have two other key economic departments.

“I believe that a strong Sinn Fein MP, working within that really strong Executive team, can deliver so much more for Derry. It can give Derry its fair share.

“We believe that in terms of engaging directly with the British government, no matter what government that might be at the other end of this election, we can be more influential and we can use that influence where it matters.”

Mr Middleton said unionists in Foyle want to vote for unionists as they fear a vote for a nationalist party being read as support for a border poll.

“The battle within nationalism is a matter for them. I think people of course want to see an MP who takes their seat, but from a unionist perspective, Colum Eastwood doesn’t represent the unionist community, in my opinion, to the best of his ability,” he said.

“There is no doubt that unionist voters have lent their support to the SDLP in past elections. I think that in more recent elections, that has been less of a factor, and we want to highlight to people, when you vote for Colum Eastwood, those votes are counted sadly as nationalist votes and have been used in the past in a way that would be seen to show support for a border poll.

“That’s not what we want to see, we want unionists to come out and vote for a unionist party which best represents who they are and what they believe in.

“I think in this election, that is going to be less of a factor than on previous occasions.”

The remaining candidates are Janice Montgomery (UUP), Rachael Ferguson (Alliance), Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit), John Boyle (Aontu) and Anne McCloskey (independent).