Thanks to the practice of holding local and Westminster elections on the same day, and because the local elections use the single transferable vote (because unlike the Westminster elections, local elections in Northern Ireland have to be fair), the final results of last Thursday’s voting back home have only just come through.
DUP on 208278 votes, 29.6%, up 9%; won 182 seats, up 51.
Sinn Fein on 163205 votes, 23.2%, up 3%; won 126 seats, up 18.
UUP on 128381 votes, 18.1%, down 5%; won 115 seats, down 39.
SDLP on 121991 votes, 17.4%, down 2%; won 101 seats, down 16.
Alliance on 35149 votes, 5.0%, down very slightly; won 30 seats, up 2.
Greens 5703, 0.7%, won 3 seats (two of whom were sitting independent councillors who had joined before the election)
PUP 4591, 0.7%, 2 elected (down 2)
Newtownabbey Ratepayers 1897, 0.3%, held their 1 seat
Socialist Environmental Alliance 1321, 0.2%, won nothing.
Conservatives 1164, 0.2%, won nothing. Hooray!
Workers Party 1052, 0.1%, won nothing.
Socialist Party (Northern Ireland) 828, 0.1%, won nothing.
Women’s Coalition, 738, 0.1%, lost their last elected representative so I guess that’s the end of that.
UK Unionist Party 734, 0.1%, lost both seats they were defending. Hooray!
and
Independents 27677 votes, 3.9%, 20 elected
Shift to the extremes confirmed. But some cause for consolation in the middle and lower reaches of the table.
Oh I love it!