As he made his victory speech in the Titanic Convention Centre in the early hours of Friday morning, the DUP leader – and newly re-elected MP for Belfast East – Gavin Robinson had a message for the Alliance Party leader, Naomi Long.
“The fourth time in a row, I want to say, we have to stop meeting like this.”
This had been billed as the battle of the Westminster election in Northern Ireland: two party leaders, both former MPs, both east Belfast through and through, slugging it out for the seat.
In the end, Robinson put it beyond all doubt; as he alluded to, he has taken Long on four times, and won all four.
Key election 2024 battles: maps show where Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin hope to gain - and may lose - seats
Schisms and sleaze plague Keir Starmer’s first Labour conference, risking long-term damage
Cities need to be run in new ways, and not just by officials, or councillors, says former British mayor
‘It’s only right that families are given every chance to get to the truth’: Legacy Act change welcome
This time, it was with an increased majority of more than 2,500 votes, which he secured even with the presence of a TUV candidate – absent from the previous general election in 2019 – which many had speculated could split the unionist vote and facilitate an Alliance victory.
Robinson took 19,894 votes to Long’s 17,218 in what was a two-horse race; the TUV’s John Ross came a distant third with 1,918.
One of the high points in an otherwise difficult night for the DUP, Robinson put his victory down to “the political campaign our team has run in East Belfast” and “the people who in this election have come out to vote, or come out to vote for the first time in a long time.”
Had Long taken the seat, it would have turned a night of mixed fortunes for Alliance – it lost North Down but gained Lagan Valley – into a resounding success.
Instead, she sought to find the silver lining in the defeat which allowed her remain in the Assembly as an MLA and Minister for Justice.
“It’s a win-win for me. If I won the election, that was great news, but if I didn’t, I get to do a job I love.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
