“I hope that in the days to come, unionists will learn that if we want to have the kind of representation at Westminster that we deserve, then we must act together, not act against each other,” said DUP MP for East Antrim Sammy Wilson.
The relatively young constituency has only ever had two MPs beginning with the UUP’s Roy Beggs from 1983 until Mr Wilson won the seat in 2005. However, DUP support has seen fluctuations in recent years coinciding with a rise in Alliance popularity.
Although he retained his seat, he took a significant hit, receiving 11,462 votes compared to 16,871 in 2019.
The margin holding off Daniel Donnelly of the Alliance, which has grown in popularity in the constituency once again, was just 1,306 votes, down from 2019′s margin of 6,706.
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TUV candidate Matthew Warwick likely took a significant number of DUP votes this time around, with the party having not run a candidate in the constituency since 2015.
It was during his victory speech that Mr Wilson took aim at other unionist parties saying those who “split” the unionist vote should be “ashamed”.
“You knew what you were doing, in fact, in some cases, you made it quite clear that your chief objective was to destroy another unionist party rather than to ensure that the union was secured,” he said.
Mr Wilson said this led to the election of MPs who are “antipathetic towards unionism and the ideals which we espouse”.
He thanked those who put their trust in him for the sixth time. “I take that as a great weight and a great burden, people who come out and vote for me. Many of them don’t even know me – I never meet them, but they’ve put their trust in me and I hope that I will return that trust as I’ve done in the past,” he said.
Celebrating the votes gained for Alliance, Mr Donnelly said the seat is “a lot closer now,” adding: “We’re going to work hard, and we will be back.”
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