Hazzard makes history in South Down

Hazzard makes history in South Down

14 June 2017

A NEW era has dawned in South Down politics.

Sinn Fein’s Chris Hazzard made history last week when he was elected the constituency’s first ever Republican MP, winning a seat which for three decades had been in SDLP hands. Prior to that it had been the preserve of the Ulster Unionists.

Almost 30 years to the day after the SDLP’s Eddie McGrady finally took the seat off Ulster Unionist Enoch Powell, South Down elected its first Sinn Fein MP following one of the most titanic election battles in recent history.

Mr Hazzard saw off the challenge of the SDLP’s Margaret Ritchie who had been seeking a third term but became one of three former SDLP leaders to lose their parliamentary seats on the night.

At the 2015 Westminster election Hazzard trailed Ritchie by almost 5,900 votes but Sinn Fein’s stunning success at the Assembly election in March gave Republicans confidence that securing the coveted South Down seat was only a matter of time. And so it proved, increasing its share of the vote by 11.5 per cent, giving Hazzard a majority of almost 2,500 votes.

The phenomenal turnaround delighted Republicans, with the other big talking point at the Eikon Conference Centre in Lisburn — which hosted the South Down count — the performance of the DUP’s Diane Forsythe.

She more than doubled the party’s performance at the last general election, securing 8,867 votes but on what was a catastrophic night for the Ulster Unionists, Harold McKee saw his 2015 vote slashed by almost 50 per cent, decreasing from 3,964 to 2,002, prompting one senior UUP source to declare “the party is finished.” 

Alliance’s Andrew McMurray, who was contesting his first election, polled 1,814 votes — an increase of 192 votes on the party’s Westminster performance in 2015.

But all the headlines belong to Hazzard who two months ago played a key role in helping his party change the political landscape in the constituency when it smashed the long-held domination of the SDLP at the Assembly election. He was delighted with his success which ensures Sinn Fein now holds every border Westminster seat from Foyle to South Down, strengthening its grip on Northern Ireland politics.

During his acceptance speech in front of a jubilant party faithful and the glare of the media spotlight, the new MP was magnanimous in his praise for his predecessor, paying tribute to Miss Ritchie’s ‘lifetime of public service’ but he said the constituency is now entering a new era. 

He declared: “This was a historic election. It is the first time a Republican has ever been elected an MP in South Down and while I am honoured and entirely privileged it is me, I am very aware I am standing on the shoulders of heroes, people who have went before me and worked tirelessly over many years, often through tough times, to spread the Sinn Fein message.

“The message now from my party and the people of South Down is not one step back. There are huge challenges ahead as we fight Brexit and Tory austerity, but there are huge opportunities for our young people too.”

Miss Ritchie, who will find it had to come back from defeat in a constituency where Sinn Fein is on the rise, said the election result was not the one she and her party had hoped for and it was obvious Brexit has changed the political landscape, “with many lessons to be learnt from that.”

She added: “I have not gone away because I am going to live and fight for another day. That is the message I want to give to the people. The people of South Down also want service and representation; they want that delivery and want that delivery here in the constituency and also in parliament.”

Mrs Forsythe said she was “overwhelmed and humbled” that unionists in South Down gave her such a strong vote and hopes they will stand behind her, with everyone working together for the future and for strong unionism representation in the constituency.

Mr McKee put his reduced vote down to “fear in the constituency” which prompted unionist voters to back Miss Ritchie in a bid to prevent Sinn Fein from taking the seat. He said people on the doorstep did not want an abstentionist MP and that the so-called middle ground in Northern Ireland politics had been further squeezed, describing the election of a Sinn Fein MP as “bad for South Down.”

Mr McMurray admitted his first election was “always going to be difficult” and while he conceded his party was never going to win the South Down seat, argued it still has a key role to play in Northern Ireland politics, one that will become increasingly important in the years ahead.