History
The constituency has a unionist majority, though in many elections nationalists have polled close to 35% of the vote. The main interest in elections has been the contest between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. The UUP were normally ahead of the DUP until the 2001 general election when the DUP finally overtook them.
The 2001 election was seen at a province wide level as a battle over the Belfast Agreement with the DUP opposed to it and most of the UUP in favour, however ironically this situation was seemingly reversed in East Londonderry, where the sitting Ulster Unionist MP, William Ross, was completely opposed to all involvement with the Agreement and its institutions, whilst the DUP candidate, Gregory Campbell, was a minister in the Executive set up by the Agreement. Many commentators joked that the DUP's gain meant that East Londonderry now had a more pro-Agreement MP than before.
For the history of the equivalent constituency prior to 1983, please see Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency).
Read more about this topic: East Londonderry (UK Parliament Constituency)
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