If YouGov’s projections come anywhere near to being true and control of the House of Commons teeters on a knife’s edge, then suddenly Northern Ireland’s 18 MPs go from a curiosity to being right at the heart of parliamentary arithmetic. The DUP holds the largest batch of eight seats – precisely the same as the Lib Dems won in the entire United Kingdom in 2015. They’re likely to win a similar number this time around. So what happens if we end up with a hung Parliament? If invited to cooperate with the Tories, the DUP’s price will not be extortionate. But it won’t be insignificant either. In particular, they will not want investigations of police and military personnel actions during the Troubles – an important issue for Sinn Féin in stalled Stormont talks.
Then take Sinn Féin, currently with four MPs.
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