SDLP leader Colum Eastwood broke records when he reclaimed this seat for his party in 2019 following a shock Sinn Féin victory two years earlier.
His majority of more than 17,000 was a record margin, eclipsing the highest achieved by his legendary party leader John Hume.
Foyle has traditionally been an SDLP stronghold with three party leaders – Mr Hume, Mark Durkan and now Mr Eastwood – representing it in the House of Commons. The constituency of Foyle has existed for 31 years and for 28.5 of those it has been represented by the SDLP.
On paper, it is the safest of the 18 Westminster seats in Northern Ireland, but the only paper that will count on 4 July is the ballot paper.
There won’t be complacency in the SDLP as Sinn Féin caused a huge upset in 2017 when Elisha McCallion ousted Mark Durkan by 150 votes. It was the first time the party had taken the seat.
The result sent shockwaves through the ranks of the SDLP, but the party rallied in 2019, while Sinn Féin was plunged into a period of turmoil with serious dissent and infighting in its local team.
A huge swing of 18% saw Mr Eastwood romp home with a majority of 17,110.
In addition to the disharmony within Sinn Féin, the SDLP also benefitted from the Brexit debate raging at the time and went big on the fact that Mr Eastwood would be in the House of Commons arguing on the issue while a Sinn Féin MP would not take their seat.
Many unionist voters in the constituency also voted tactically and backed the SDLP because they wanted to remove Sinn Féin.
The Sinn Féin candidate this time is a former mayor of Derry City and Strabane City Council Sandra Duffy, who has a high profile locally and is well regarded.
The party radically transformed its local constituency team following its 2019 defeat and bounced back in the Assembly elections of 2022, with its two candidates outpolling the three SDLP candidates, securing a combined 15,384 first preferences.
Based on that revival, Sinn Féin will hope that it can create another seismic Westminster shock by regaining much of the support lost in 2019, or at least significantly reduce the margin of defeat and put down a marker for future elections.
Colum Eastwood has gone record saying his political career would be over if he loses.
Few expect him to be looking for a new job on 5 July .
2019 General Election
Valid votes – 47,144
Turnout – 63.72%
SDLP – 26,881
Sinn Féin – 9,771
DUP – 4,773
Aontú – 2,032
People Before Profit -1,332
Alliance – 1,267
UUP – 1,088
2024 candidates
John Boyle – Aontú
Sandra Duffy – Sinn Finn
Colum Eastwood – SDLP
Rachel Ferguson – Alliance
Shaun Harkin – PBP
Anne McCloskey – Independent
Gary Middleton – DUP
Janice Montgomery – UUP
