ALLIANCE’S Andy McMurray paced around the tedious election count with his sleeves rolled up.
Two months ago, he was a Slieve Croob councillor and a highly regarded outdoor pursuits instructor. It was a job he loved.
Fast forward a few frenetic weeks and the affable Alliance man was chosen to replace Patrick Brown who dramatically quit as the party’s South Down MLA. And then McMurray was chosen to contest the South Down Westminster seat.
Typically, he faced the whirlwind head on and embraced the challenge, but it was a difficult campaign for him and while he can now devote himself to his MLA role, his party has many questions to answer and it will now have to roll its sleeves up to redress this setback.
McMurray cut a lonely figure in the count centre which he was initially turned away from, along with many others due to no available parking spaces, being redirected to a nearby shopping centre.
The South Down Alliance vote suffered a worrying collapse, plunging from 6,916 in 2019 to just 3,187 — a decrease of 3,729
McMurray, who was delighted for party colleague Sorcha Eastwood who won the Lagan Valley seat from the DUP on a night of soul searching for the once dominant unionist party on the green benches at Westminster, said election campaigns were never easy.
“They just take it all out of you,” he reflected. “It’s good that it’s now over and we still have a solid Alliance vote in South Down, even though it’s down a little.
“It’s been a long campaign and as someone who is involved in politics it’s somewhat magical to be at the count centre where it all happens,” he said.
Conceding that it has been a whirlwind few months, the Alliance man said it is time to dust himself off and get going again.
“I always embrace challenges that come my way. From an outdoor pursuits point of view, a challenge is nothing new and in some way i have created the
neurological pathways of challenges and how you approach them.
“We gather ourselves up and go again. There is still a core Alliance vote in South Down but it is hard to tell what happened and where the votes went. Every election is different and there is always a different context,
but there is an Alliance vote and we will continue to work for the people who voted for us and others.”
Mr McMurray said his focus now switches to the Assembly and working with the party’s councillors on the ground.
“That is what we do. Since I took over from Patrick we have continued to work for our people and that will continue. For us now it is about working hard until the next scheduled election and keep going.” he said.
Mr McMurray said politics was the art of working in partnership to deliver for people.
“That is why we are in this game, to work for and on behalf of others to get things done. Politicians don’t always agree and that is why we are in politics. I am a very staunch Alliance supporter and we want to build a united community. We want to build something that works for everyone in Northern Ireland and that is what we will continue to do.”
Mr McMurray added: “There is very much an appetite for that to continue both in South Down and across Northern Ireland. There are highs and lows with any election and for me
it’s about building my MLA profile as I’m literally just into the job.
“We go again, we move on and we work hard. That’s what we do in Alliance and we’ll be working for the people on the ground and also readying ourselves for the next election.”