A Tangled Web

It Begg(ar)s Belief!!



Get this, folks! Cuddly UUP MP, Roy Beggs is to seek re-election in his East Antrim stamping ground. He must think that, having held the seat since 1983, his chances of being returned as its MP are unassailable.



In 2001 (when the UUP was still the biggest pro-Union movement) Beggs secured a wafe-thin majoriy over DUP challenger, Sammy Wilson. Over the last few years the DUP has become the voice of the Unionist people. Only one of its five seats (South Belfast) can be considered totally safe in 2005, and that's only because the DUP is unlikely to field a candidate there.



At the last contest, Beggs' majority over Wilson was a fragile 128 votes. On the evidence of voting patterns from the intervening three years, I predict a DUP majority of at least 2,000 votes come the General Election. If cuddly Roy is of the opinion that he will be the next MP for East Antrim, I contend he is in a minority of one.