The 18 constituencies of the British province of Northern Ireland voted and the participation rate reached 61.8% (-3.6% compared to 2017). The province that voted 56% to stay in the European Union in 2016 was at the forefront of the Brexit crisis, so avoiding a return to the border with Ireland is a puzzle.
At the end of the vote, the Eurosceptics of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose deputies played a key role in Brexit by supporting successive Conservative governments – but rejecting the agreements negotiated with Brussels by Theresa May and Boris Johnson – , were defeated, losing two deputies, including their leader of Westminster. Nigel Dodds lost his North Belfast seat to John Finucane of Sinn Fein, while Emma Little-Pengelly was beaten by Claire Hanna of the SDLP in South Belfast. The DUP retains a majority with 8 elected, in front of Sinn Fein and his 7 elected, the moderate nationalists of the SDLP (2 elected) and the APNI (1 elected).
Conservatives having exceeded the threshold of 326 seats required to obtain a majority in the House of Commons, "The days of influence of the DUP in Westminster are over, Boris Johnson leading the Conservatives to an overwhelming electoral victory, analyze the Belfast Telegraph. The DUP is likely to focus on reaching an agreement with Sinn Fein to restore devolution (autonomy) with talks scheduled to begin on Monday. "
