Foyle (UK Parliament constituency)

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For other constituencies of the same name, see Foyle.
Foyle
County constituency
Foyle shown within Northern Ireland
Created: 1983
MP: Mark Durkan
Party: Social Democratic and Labour
Type: House of Commons
Districts: Derry
EP constituency: Northern Ireland

Foyle is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from the old Londonderry constituency. Since further revisions in 1995 (when it lost parts of the district of Strabane to the West Tyrone constituency) it now covers exactly the same area as Derry city.

The River Foyle at night
The River Foyle at night


The name comes from the River Foyle which the city lies on and is used to avoid the contentious names of Derry or Londonderry, as well as to cover the areas of County Tyrone that were originally in the constituency.

[edit] Proposed boundary changes

As of 2004, the Boundary Commission has published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It proposes to transfer two rural wards in Derry to the East Londonderry constituency. After the public enquiries, although some arguments were made for maintaining co-terminous boundaries with local government districts, the transfer of the wards to East Londonderry were approved by the assistant commissioner and are likely to be final recommendations.

[edit] History

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

The constituency is overwhelming 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, however his lead was sufficient to have not been caused by this alone.

[edit] Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2005 general election is Mark Durkan of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. He succeeded John Hume, also of the SDLP, who had represented the seat since 1983.

[edit] Elections

General Election 2005: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour Mark Durkan 21,119 46.3 -3.9
Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin 15,162 33.2 +6.6
Democratic Unionist William Hay 6,557 14.1 -0.8
Socialist Environmental Eamonn McCann 1,649 3.6 +3.6
Ulster Unionist Earl Storey 1,094 2.4 -4.5
Rainbow Dream Ticket Ben Reel 31 0.1 +0.1
Majority 5,957 13.1 -10.5
Turnout 45,609 65.9 -3.0
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing 5.3
General Election 2001: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour John Hume 24,538 50.2 -2.3
Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin 12,988 26.6 +2.6
Democratic Unionist William Hay 7,414 15.2 -6.4
Ulster Unionist Andrew Davidson 3,360 6.9 N/A
Alliance Colm Kavanagh 579 1.2 -0.5
Majority 11,550 23.6
Turnout 48,879 68.9 -1.8
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing
General Election 1997: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour John Hume 25,109 52.5 +1.0
Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin 11,445 23.9 +6.3
Democratic Unionist William Hay 10,290 21.5 -4.9
Alliance H. Bell 817 1.7 -1.0
Natural Law D. Brennan 154 0.3 -0.5
Majority 13,664
Turnout 70.7
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour John Hume 26,710 51.5
Democratic Unionist Gregory Campbell 13,705 26.4
Sinn Féin Martin McGuinness 9,149 17.6
Alliance Lara McIlroy 1,390 2.7
Workers' Party Gordon McKenzie 514 1.0
Natural Law John Burns 422 0.8
Majority 13,005
Turnout 69.6
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing
General Election 1987: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour John Hume 23,743 48.8
Democratic Unionist Gregory Campbell 13,883 28.6
Sinn Féin Martin McGuinness 8,707 17.9
Alliance Elizabeth Zammitt 1,276 2.6
Workers' Party Eamonn Melaugh 1,022 2.1
Majority 9,860 20.3
Turnout 69.0
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing
General Election 1983: Foyle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Democratic and Labour John Hume 24,071 46.0
Democratic Unionist Gregory Campbell 15,923 30.5
Sinn Féin Martin McGuinness 10,607 20.3
Alliance Gerard O'Grady 1,108 2.1
Workers' Party Eamonn Melaugh 582 1.1
Majority 8,148 15.6
Turnout 77.6
Social Democratic and Labour hold Swing

[edit] See also

  • Foyle and City of Londonderry were neighbouring constituencies in the Northern Ireland Parliament from 1929 to 1973.
  • Londonderry City was a borough constituency in the UK parliament from the Act of Union to 1922.
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