As you were in East Londonderry

The re-election of the DUP's Gregory Campbell for the third time in succession in essence was not a major surprise, but East Londonderry was a constituency that came under scrutiny in the run-up to the poll itself for various reasons.

Concerns that a three way division of the unionist vote, coupled with the addition of Claudy and Banagher and the extra nationalist votes that this may have brought, may have handed the seat to a nationalist failed to transpire.

Also the re-entry of the seat's former holder, William Ross, into the political landscape caused intrigue mainly not only because of his well known past battles with Mr Campbell, but also because this time he was representing Traditional Unionist Voice and not the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr Ross said he re-entered the fray because of his awareness that people had become highly disillusioned over the wider expenses scandal and his claims that the DUP had reneged on their 2005 Westminster manifesto pledges that they would not enter into a Stormont Executive with Sinn Fin.

Last week's election provided the first real litmus test for unionists who may have riled against the DUP, because they did enter into government with Sinn Fin. Added to this was the inclusion of a third unionist candidate into the field with the emergence of the highly articulate voice Lesley Macaulay for the Conservatives and Unionists.

The potential three-way division of the unionist vote therefore saw Gregory Campbell appeal in last Wednesday's edition of the Sentinel for unionist voters not to be complacent on the day of the poll, and the appeal appeared to do the trick.

Whilst as predicted Mr Campbell's majority was cut, it was nowhere near the level where his seat would have come under pressure. In 2005, Mr Campbell took the seat with an overwhelming advantage of 7,727. This time he returned with a majority of 5,355. Albeit this was 2,372 votes down than 2005, however this may have been contributed too just as much by a 8.4% plummet in turnout as it was by the three way split in the vote.

Yet, the emergence of the Sinn Fin's Cathal O hOisin as the second placed candidate has lent weight to the theory that a future serious fracture in the unionist vote in East Londonderry could eventually lead to a nationalist taking seat once considered the safest of all safe unionist strongholds.

This possibility has not escaped either Gregory Campbell or the DUP as in a post victory statement the MP said: "All unionists now need to act in a spirit of solidarity. Now is the time to move forward, we must build for the future, the economy is a priority, building Northern Ireland as a region of the United Kingdom that ensures prosperity for this and for future generations."

Another reason for calls for unionist unity is that in Northern Ireland political eyes have already shifted towards next year's Assembly elections. Up until now the rules stated that the designated individual from the party with the largest share of the vote and from the largest tradition would be in line for the post of First Minister. But, following changes at St Andrew's the policy is that the party simply with the largest share of the vote would be in line for the prime position. This means that in 2011, if Sinn Fin were to gain the largest percentage share of the vote, Martin McGuinness could possibly become First Minister, something that would hardly be palatable to unionist taste.

The DUP have also apparently back tracked on their pledge to end 'double jobbing'. At the launch of the DUP manifesto, Peter Robinson said that any assembly members elected to Westminster would give up their Stormont seats.

But, Gregory Campbell stated on Monday that only "some" MPs would quit the assembly in the near future.

He added that others, including himself, would remain at Stormont.

Mr Campbell, who is both MP and MLA for East Londonderry, said dual mandates would be "phased out" and that some would remain in both houses for the time being.

When asked specifically whether he would be leaving within weeks, he said that he would not.

In his post election statement Mr Campbell also said: "After last year's european election result where we in the DUP lost 40% of our vote there were those commentators and political opponents who predicted that there would be the same again or worse for us in this election. We confounded those critics with a result which was decisive even with 3 Unionist candidates in the race instead of two as on the previous occasion, and I want to thank all those who made the victory possible. My canvas team were magnificent as they worked tirelessly throughout the election period canvassing thousands of homes and most importantly of course I wish to thank the 12,097 people who voted for me."

In the final analysis the count returned from the East Londonderry constituency was as follows: Gregory Campbell, DUP: 12, 097-Cathal O hOisin, Sinn Fein: 6,742-Lesley Macaulay, Conservatives and Unionists: 6,218-Thomas Conway, SDLP: 5,399-William Ross, TUV: 2,572 and Barney Fitzpatrick, Alliance: 1,922.

In the wake of the election Conservative and Unionist candidate Lesley Macaulay said: "First of all I want to say a very big thank everyone to all who voted for me in East Londonderry.

"It has been a privilege to represent the Conservatives and Unionists and I will continue to listen and work for the people in East Londonderry to ensure that positive changes to our constituency are created and developed.

"Thank you so much to my Campaign team who have worked tirelessly at putting up the posters, door to door leaflet drops, tweeting, facebooking, house gatherings, moving the A frames and lots and lots of street canvassing! Thank you for the overwhelming personal support which each one of you has given me.

"Thank to the local papers and radio station for the fairness in reporting local events.

"And lastly a huge thank you to my wonderful family!

"Sooner or later most people will have had enough of the same old same old negative politics that makes no difference in ordinary people lives. When that day comes it will be time for 21st century politics in East Londonderry."

In his post election statement, the TUV's William Ross said: "I am very grateful to the 2,572 people in East Londonderry who, having a clear understanding of what is wrong with the Government of Northern Ireland, gave me their support in the General Election on May 6.

"Our financial resources were slender but they were backed up by a team of TUV Party members who spared no effort in trying to get our message across. I have never in my long involvement in politics had a more dedicated and determined group of workers in an election campaign. Anything that they could do was done and I am deeply grateful to them all.

"It was, and remains, my firm conviction, that the system of Government at Stormont will never deliver the policies and actions which will secure the Union and provide the employment and prosperity which Ulster deserves.

"The TUV came into existence to create a sound foundation for progress towards those objectives and I regret that we were on this occasion not successful.

"I am sure that in the future our stand for truth and integrity in the political life of Ulster will find favour when the Unionist people fully understand the nature and dangers in our present system of Government. I look forward to that day."