Unionist infighting and Sinn Féin votes should help McDonnell keep his seat
CONSTITUENCY PROFILE:THE LAST census showed South Belfast still had a unionist majority, but decades of inter-unionist quarrelling plus a big demographic shift and a lot of persistence gave the seat five years ago to a nationalist MP. The SDLP’s Alasdair McDonnell won on his seventh attempt, aged 55. Now continued unionist infighting could keep him in his seat. That and Sinn Féin votes.
Ulster Unionists and the DUP both ran candidates in 2005. McDonnell came through the middle with a slim majority, though the SDLP had 32.3 per cent of the vote compared to 8 per cent on his first try in 1979. The Rev Robert Bradford held his