Foyle (UK Parliament constituency)

:"For other constituencies of the same name, see Foyle."

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Foyle


Type = County
Entity = Northern Ireland
DivisionType = Districts
Division = Derry
Year = 1983
MP = Mark Durkan
Party = Social Democratic and Labour
EP = Northern Ireland

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.
* "Constituency created" (1983)
* 1983 — 2005: John Hume, Social Democratic and Labour Party
* 2005 — "present": Mark Durkan, Social Democratic and Labour Party

Elections

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Mark Durkan
votes = 21,119
percentage = 46.3
change = -3.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Mitchel McLaughlin
votes = 15,162
percentage = 33.2
change = +6.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = William Hay
votes = 6,557
percentage = 14.1
change = -0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Environmental Alliance
candidate = Eamonn McCann
votes = 1,649
percentage = 3.6
change = +3.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Earl Storey
votes = 1,094
percentage = 2.4
change = -4.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
candidate = Ben Reel
votes = 31
percentage = 0.1
change = +0.1Election box majority
votes = 5,957
percentage = 13.1
change = -10.5Election box turnout
votes = 45,609
percentage = 65.9
change = -3.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing = 5.3

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = John Hume
votes = 24,538
percentage = 50.2
change = -2.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Mitchel McLaughlin
votes = 12,988
percentage = 26.6
change = +2.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = William Hay
votes = 7,414
percentage = 15.2
change = -6.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Andrew Davidson
votes = 3,360
percentage = 6.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Colm Kavanagh
votes = 579
percentage = 1.2
change = -0.5Election box majority
votes = 11,550
percentage = 23.6
change = Election box turnout
votes = 48,879
percentage = 68.9
change = -1.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = John Hume
votes = 25,109
percentage = 52.5
change = +1.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Mitchel McLaughlin
votes = 11,445
percentage = 23.9
change = +6.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = William Hay
votes = 10,290
percentage = 21.5
change = -4.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = H. Bell
votes = 817
percentage = 1.7
change = -1.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = D. Brennan
votes = 154
percentage = 0.3
change = -0.5Election box majority
votes = 13,664
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 70.7
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = John Hume
votes = 26,710
percentage = 51.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Gregory Campbell
votes = 13,705
percentage = 26.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Martin McGuinness
votes = 9,149
percentage = 17.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Lara McIlroy
votes = 1,390
percentage = 2.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Gordon McKenzie
votes = 514
percentage = 1.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = John Burns
votes = 422
percentage = 0.8
change = Election box majority
votes = 13,005
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 69.6
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = John Hume
votes = 23,743
percentage = 48.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Gregory Campbell
votes = 13,883
percentage = 28.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Martin McGuinness
votes = 8,707
percentage = 17.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Elizabeth Zammitt
votes = 1,276
percentage = 2.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Eamonn Melaugh
votes = 1,022
percentage = 2.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 9,860
percentage = 20.3
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 69.0
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = John Hume
votes = 24,071
percentage = 46.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Gregory Campbell
votes = 15,923
percentage = 30.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Martin McGuinness
votes = 10,607
percentage = 20.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Gerard O'Grady
votes = 1,108
percentage = 2.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Eamonn Melaugh
votes = 582
percentage = 1.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 8,148
percentage = 15.6
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 77.6
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Social Democratic and Labour Party
swing =

ee 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.