@Arlene Foster (DUP) 14,056 (28.8%)
@Tom Elliot (UUP) 8,869 (18.2% -15.8%)
@Tommy Gallagher (SDLP) 7,230 (14.8% -3.9%)
Not the most exciting result, which is why I forgot about it earlier. Arlene Foster, like Jeffrey Donaldson in Lagan Valley, was able to take most of the UUP votes with her when she changed party.
Basil McCrea (UUP) 9,172 (21.5% -35.0%)
@Seamus Close (Alliance) 4,316 (10.1% -6.5%)
Paul Butler (Sinn Fein) 3,197 (7.5% +1.6%)
@Patricia Lewsley (SDLP) 2,598 (6.1% -1.4%)
As with Arlene Foster in Fermanagh, most of the UUP votes went with Donaldson. Some odd shifts of votes around the lower end of the results table. SF very slightly widen the margin over the SDLP.
@Dominic Bradley (SDLP) 12,770 (25.2% -12.2%)
@Paul Berry (DUP) 9,311 (18.4% -1.0%)
@Danny Kennedy (UUP) 7,025 (13.9% +1.6%)
Gerry Markey (Independent) 625 (1.2%)
Almost a mirror of the Assembly election (except that the UUP vote is down a bit). Surprisingly turned out to be the SDLP’s only loss.
@Mitchel McLaughlin (Sinn Fein) 15,162 (33.2% +6.6%)
@William Hay (DUP) 6,557 (14.4% -0.8%)
Eamonn McCann (Socialist Environmental Alliance) 1,649 (3.6%)
Earl Storey (UUP) 1,091 (2.4% -4.5%)
Ben Reel (Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket) 31 (0.1%)
I was fooled, I must admit, by the last-minute rush of predictions on my website for SF to win here. Ever the gracious losers, they are complaining that Durkan owes his victory to Unionist voters – quite apart from the offensive implication that Protestant votes don’t (or at least shouldn’t) count, this is belied by the figures which indicate that he may have got 2,000 Unionist votes but since he was 6,000 ahead of McLaughlin it wouldn’t have affected the result.
That seems to be it for now – apparently they are still chasing missing ballot boxes through the back roads of Mid Ulster, and in South Down they’re taking their time, but based on what we;ve seen they should be safe holds for SF and SDLP respectively.
How lovely!
And I keep forgetting to write and say “thank you”. We had a smashing time.