Poor result will '˜galvanise' unionism, says Campbell

DUP MP Gregory Campbell gave a coy response when asked about the prospect of yet another election in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster today.
Gregory Campbell MP.Gregory Campbell MP.
Gregory Campbell MP.

In a discussion of the election results, Mr Campbell was asked by presenter Stephen Nolan whether there should be another election, Mr Campbell remarked: “Wouldn’t that be an awful thing?”

While he did give a clear statement that yet another election would not be “appropriate”, Mr Campbell’s tone was interesting as he suggested unionism would bounce back from what he called a “poor result”.

Sinn Fein had a successful election, just as we had. But unionism had a very poor result,” he said.

“Sinn Fein did not perceive an outcome that they may well galvanise the unionist community, which we predicted and others wrote off. If that is the case, they will have to live with that in future elections.”

Regarding the possibility of another election of negotiations are unsuccessful, he said: “Maybe some people who thought they had unionism behind the eight ball would not want that.”

Asked directly whether he would like to see another election, Mr Campbell said: “We said about this election that it was unnecessary, so why would we say another one in four weeks’ time was essential?

“The last election wasn’t required and the next one won’t be either.

“And if another election was to run you know what would happen then? People would say ‘they didn’t like the outcome the last time and they are trying to re-write the election result’.”

He added: “I don’t think another election would be appropriate, in terms of getting government back in place, it would not solve anything.