Keith Buchanan

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Buchanan later stood at the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, in which he was a candidate for Mid Ulster.^[5] He was the last candidate elected in the constituency, unseating incumbent MLA, and Buchanan's running mate, Ian McCrea.^{[6][7] [8]}

Buchanan was re-elected at the March 2017 Assembly election, taking 9,568 first-preferences (19.3%).^[9][10] Notably, he became the only unionist candidate to be returned in Mid Ulster, following a reduction in the number of MLAs in each constituency, leading to the Ulster Unionists' Sandra Overend losing her seat.^[11]

Buchanan contested Mid Ulster at the June 2017 general election, where he came a distant second to Sinn Féin’s Francie Molloy, with 12,565 votes (26.9%).^[12][13]

At the 2019 general election, Buchanan again finished second to Molloy, though his share of the vote dropped by 2.4%.^[14][15]

In November 2021, Buchanan was called "disgraceful" by a fellow MLA for attempting to link the Gaelic Athletic Association to dissident Irish republicans. SDLP MLA Justin McNulty accused Buchanan of "stirring up the pot of sectarian tensions".^[16]

At the 2022 Assembly election, he was the fourth candidate returned in Mid Ulster, and received 16.5% of first-preferences.^[17][18][19]

Buchanan’s share of the vote declined further to 20.2% at the 2024 general election, though still finished as the runner-up in the constituency. ^[20][21]