Easton says his North Down victory is a lesson for unionism – The Irish News

Independent journalist Alex Easton said his victory in North Down was an example of what is possible when “the union movement comes together”.

Mr Easton finally claimed his fourth success in the race for a Westminster seat, defeating incumbent Senator Stephen Farry.

An emotional Mr Easton said he was “stunned” after the difficult choices.

The intra-union rivalry in the region over the past six weeks has been chaotic and bitter, and its effects have been widely commented on in the media.

The former DUP candidate, backed by both TUV and the DUP, which did not field candidates in the constituency, said his victory was a lesson for trade unions.

“This shows that if we unite, we can win back seats for unionists, and that is a lesson that unionists need to learn at all levels,” he said.

Fighting back tears, Mr Easton dedicated his victory to his parents, who tragically died in a house fire last year.

The Alliance’s deputy chairman was unexpectedly elected in 2019, securing the only parliamentary seat belonging to his party.

Mr Farry, who was the first independent candidate elected in the constituency, regained his seat for the Unionists.

In 2019, Mr Easton, who was then standing as a candidate for the DUP, came second behind Mr Farry, gaining 2,968 votes.

But Mr Easton was lucky for the fourth time and on Friday he defeated the Alliance deputy chairman by a landslide of more than 7,000 votes.

Mr Easton, the new MP for North Down, secured 20,913 votes to Mr Farry’s 13,608.

Initially expected to be a close race between Mr Easton, Mr Farry and UUP Colonel Tim Collins, the contest quickly developed into a two-horse race.

Early in the vote count, a former British Army colonel dealt the UUP a blow by claiming its vote had not held up.

Co. Collins was fielded by the UUP in January in what was essentially a unilateral attempt to field him as the sole unionist candidate.

He finished third with 6,754 votes, but correctly predicted that Mr. Easton would take that seat.

“I think the people of North Down don’t want someone who doesn’t live in Northern Ireland,” he told the BBC.

“They’re interested in local politics, they’re not interested in reducing VAT, they’re not interested in international affairs. They’re interested in potholes and hedges.”

When asked if he would run again in five years, Colonel Collins replied that he could not predict what he would do then.

In contrast to 2019, both the Greens and SDLP fielded candidates in this election. Deirdre Vaughn of the SDLP won 657 votes, while Barry McKee secured 1,247 votes for the Greens.

Independent candidate Chris Carter won just 117 votes.