THE DUP’s Jim Shannon secured another convincing victory in Strangford, albeit with a reduced vote, for the fifth time.
The overall turnout in Strangford was also down, just 52.39% compared to 56.28% in the 2019 Westminster election.
While Mr Shannon topped the poll with 15,559 out of 38,911 valid votes, he received over 2,000 fewer votes than in his previous race.
A committed Christian, pro-life advocate and hardened critic towards the previous Conservative government’s legacy bill, Mr Shannon received the endorsement of nearly 40% of the electorate in Strangford.
Mr Shannon’s re-election reaffirmed the DUP’s dominance in the constituency with Alliance’s Michelle Guy
finishing second with over 5,000 fewer votes.
While this was a sizeable victory, the celebrations were marked with an element of sombreness, largely because Mr Shannon’s colleague, Jonathan Buckley, had lost in Lagan Valley, a seat that former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had held since 1997.
At the same time, there was conjecture surrounding the Titanic Exhibition Centre that the TUV’s Jim Allister had unseated Ian Paisley in North Antrim by just 451 votes.
Taking to the podium at just after 5am on Friday morning, an emotional Mr Shannon began his victory speech by thanking God, his wife Sandra and their family, his election agent Michelle McIlveen and his campaign staff and volunteers for all their efforts.
He also made it clear that he was everyone’s MP and would work in the interest for all his constituents, but also warned about a divided unionism as it became clear that his party would be returning with fewer seats.
“I want to thank every person who put the X beside my name,” Mr Shannon said.
“I am humbled and energised by that.
“I do however want to leave this thought for unionism,” he added.
“Where unionism is divided, unionism loses and my urge to all the unionist parties and the unionist candidates who ran in this election across the province is simple – unionism needs to look at itself and where we are and work together.”
During his speech, Mr Shannon did not mention the defeats his party had sustained throughout the course of the night but did congratulate the independent unionist candidate Alex Easton for his victory in North Down.
“Five years ago Alex and I were at a Christmas card event and we thought we would be going into Westminster together but it wasn’t to be then. I look forward to working with Alex in Westminster on this occasion.”
Mr Shannon has been a public servant for over 40 years, but he repeatedly said he was “energised” to serve his constituents.
“I will continue with the grace of God to serve the people of Strangford,” he said.
“I am everybody’s MP. No matter who you are or how you voted I will work hard for you and together we will all reap the benefits.”
Ms Guy congratulated Mr Shannon on his victory and wished him well for the next five years.
While it was a convincing victory for the DUP, Ms Guy received 10,482 votes and said she was optimistic about Alliance’s future in the constituency, believing the party will be competitive in future elections.
“To the voters and everybody who voted Alliance, I am absolutely grateful that you put your trust in us,” Mrs Guy said.
“We didn’t get there this time, but we are going to keep working to see if we can run it a bit closer next time,” she jested to Mr Shannon.
“We are grateful for every one of those votes and we definitely don’t take it them for granted.”
Ms Guy thanked her family, her election agent Nick Mathison and her team for “keeping me motivated”.
“My team were incredible and they gave me the belief that we could do this over the course of the six weeks of campaigning.
“We had a wonderful campaign and we are going to continue to keep working hard.”
Ulster Unionist Party candidate Richard Smart congratulated Mr Shannon on social media.
“I would like to wish the re-elected member of Parliament, Jim Shannon, very success I this new mandate,” he said.
“Every resident of the new Strangford boundary will undoubtedly want and need him to succeed, given the challenges that exist for so many.”
Cllr Smart also thanked the nearly 4,000 people who voted for him and said the turnout signified strong support for a positive pro-union position.