Election stories: continued

SOUTH Belfast. A constituency of contradictions: from the housing wastelands of semi detached havens in Four Winds and Carryduff through to the housing wastelands of the Lower Ormeau terraced communities. Where a bus can pass through property values of a few thousand pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds; where the Malone Road fashionistas can head to the polling booths along with the Donegall Pass working class families.

And, it could be one of the most interesting constituency battles of the Westminster campaign.

As the clock ticked down to the close of nominations, Sinn Féin parliamentary candidate Alex Maskey pulled out of the race to allow a clear run for the SDLP’s Alasdair McDonnell.

Then the DUP’s Jimmy Spratt offered the Conservative and Unionist’s Paula Bradshaw an Assembly seat if she stood aside.

But dig a little deeper.

Sinn Féin had little hope of taking the seat.

And the DUP offer was a time limited offer, because come this time next year there will be an Assembly election.

In other words, sometimes the headlines can obscure the political machinations behind the news stories.

Other candidates are also standing in South Belfast. They are Alliance MLA Anna Lo and the Green’s Adam McGibbon.

Pity they couldn’t have had a row to make it even more interesting!

Deal? Or no deal?

WITH the North Down settling down to a straight shoot out between the Conservatives and Unionist candidate Ian Parsley and the independent unionist Lady Sylvia Hermon, attention has been turned to the other constituencies.

North Antrim looks like being a straight contest between the TUV’s Jim Allister and the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jnr. But elsewhere the DUP has dangled a particularly tasty carrot to the Conservatives and Unionists.

Said Carrot is that the DUP will step aside in either South Belfast, or Fermanagh/South Tyrone, thereby all but ensuring a unionist will occupy those seats.

On the face of it a sensible ‘unionist unity’ approach: but there are a few problems, the main one being that Sir Reg Empey and his bedfellow, Conservative Leader David Cameron have said ‘no way, Jose’!

Cameron has pledged that the Tories will fight every seat in the UK.

Also, who would be the ones to pick the constituency? Would there be a panel of arbitration?

“Tell you what we’re farmers so we’ll go with the sticks”. “Nah, we’re getting a wee bit of heat from the media and South Belfast contains some housing developments…so fresh country air seems a good idea.”

The more cynical of commentators could surmise that the DUP don’t want to be anywhere near South Belfast, but lest you assume we are cynical, it is much more rational to assume that trying to embarrass the Tories and Ulster Unionists was too much of a chance to pass up.

And therein lies the rub. For all the DUP, TUV, Tory/UUP and other assorted election battles, it is never really about battling republicanism or nationalism. It really has only ever been about who has unionist bragging rights.