Taking place ahead of next week’s Westminster election a LucidTalk snap poll found Eastwood to be the strongest performer by nationalists, with Alliance voters rating him above Naomi Long and unionists scoring him higher than the UUP’s Robbie Butler. Some 32% of people said Mr Eastwood had won the debate with 22% opting for Mrs Long and 18% backing DUP leader, Gavin Robinson. Sinn Fein’s outgoing South Down MP Chris Hazzard came fourth with 15% and Robbie Butler was last with 13%.
The result was music to the ears of SDLP politicians and activists who took the chance to praise their leader on social media. One of those was the party’s East Londonderry candidate and current Stormont MLA Cara Hunter, who took the opportunity to use a meme from the 1994 classic Mrs Doubtfire showing Robin Williams’ character vacuuming. She captioned the post: “Live scenes of @columeastwood after wiping the floor with the other candidates.
” The snap poll of 841 after the debate found the SDLP leader’s performance was described as good or excellent by 61% of those taking part, with just 20% deeming it poor or awful. Alliance Party leader Naomi Long was the only other leader with an overall ‘plus’ score: 47% of people thought she’d performed well with 29% saying she hadn’t. During the heated debate, Eastwood particularly clashed with nationalist rival Chris Hazzard, the Sinn Fein man standing in for Michelle O’Neill.
Their arguments focused on abstentionism and Gaza, with M.
