General election 2024: Foyle constituency profile

The SDLP has represented Foyle at Westminster in all but two years of its 41-year history as a parliamentary constituency.

But could that change in July?

Foyle MP, and SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood will face off against Sinn Féin’s Sandra Duffy for the seat.

And while the likes of the DUP, UUP and Alliance are not eyeing up a win, they will be looking for encouraging signs of growing support in the north west.

Here’s a closer look at what could be one of the most intriguing constituencies in Northern Ireland’s general election landscape.

Foyle has been the spiritual home of the SDLP where the late party leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume strode the political canvas like a colossus.

The party held the seat for 34 years.

But that was rocked to its very foundations in 2017 when Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion won it from Mark Durkan by 169 votes.

Colum Eastwood staged a stunning comeback in 2019 with the largest majority in the whole of Northern Ireland at 17,110.

That was an 18% swing in its direction. Mr Eastwood had previously faced criticism for leading the party from Westminister, but in 2019 he benefitted from a strong anti-Brexit vote and tactical voting by unionists to keep Sinn Féin out.

It’s now perhaps key to his leadership position and party morale that he wins comfortably in Foyle.

Colum Eastwood is in buoyant form, but he’s not predicting such a huge majority this time around as he battles it out with Sinn Féin once again.

He says he’s not taking anything for granted and that last time out it was a very unique election.

But he feels strongly that people in Derry and the north west want to send someone to Westminster, so their voice will be heard.

That is in contrast to Sinn Féin, whose MPs do not take their seats in the House of Commons due to the party’s policy of abstentionism.

Their new face in this election is former mayor Sandra Duffy, who enjoyed a highly successful year as first citizen from June 2022.

She championed a number of issues during her time as mayor of Derry City and Strabane, including greater investment for jobs and opportunities for the north west, homelessness and the expansion of the Magee campus of Ulster University.

She believes Sinn Féin has a powerful mandate for change given its electoral strength and that every vote matters in what could be a tight race.

Yes and no. Foyle is now losing the villages of Eglinton and Claudy, as well as Ardmore on the outskirts of Derry.

It probably won’t affect the overall result, but it could have an impact on parties like Alliance who are trying to rebuild their profile in the second city.

They lost their two sitting councillors last year in the local government elections – it had been the first time they’d had political representation on the Derry council since the 1980s.

Rachael Ferguson was one of those councillors who lost out and she’s now running for the party in this Westminster election.

She believes the boundary changes could affect her vote but benefit the party in the neighbouring East Londonderry constituency.

For her, its all about developing the Alliance base and creating a stronger presence in the north west. She says the party will be back.

This will be a battle royale between the sitting MP Mr Eastwood and Ms Duffy.

Critics question the SDLP leader’s delivery for Derry, but Mr Eastwood has strongly defended his record claiming he’s helped promote massive road and rail improvements and the growth of the Magee campus, as well as funding which has improved the daily lives of many people in the constituency.

Ms Duffy says the overall strength of Sinn Féin means it can truly deliver change.

She points to the commitment of Economy Minister Conor Murphy to meet a target of 10,000 students at Magee, after he set up a taskforce earlier this year, as just one example.

Within unionism, the DUP’s Gary Middleton is under huge pressure – but it’s not on the campaign trail.

He and his wife Julie, a DUP councillor on Derry City and Strabane, are expecting their second child and there’s great excitement in the Middleton household – not least for the couple’s six-year-old son.

Mr Middleton, who acknowledges it would be quite the story if his wife gives birth in the next few weeks, says while he’s not going to win the Foyle seat it’s important for unionists to come out and vote for a candidate like him.

He believes unionist voices are very important in this election and he’s standing on his record as an elected representative over the last 14 years.

The Ulster Unionists meanwhile have sitting councillor Janice Montgomery standing in Foyle for the first time.

The childminder says she is hearing on the doorsteps huge concerns about access to childcare and cost-of-living pressures, as people struggle to meet their everyday needs.

She’s determined that their voices are heard in the corridors of power.

For People Before Profit candidate Shaun Harkin, it’s an important election.

He says it’s an opportunity for people to register their opposition to parties who’ve implemented “Tory policies” over many years.

Mr Harkin says the Northern Ireland Executive has been handing down economic misery and that needs to be challenged.

Aontú are running John Boyle as a candidate in Foyle and well known GP Dr Anne McCloskey will also run on an independent ticket.