12/06/2001

COUNCIL ELECTIONS KEEP UUP IN FRONT

WITH all the results in for the Northern Ireland local government elections there has been a slight improvement in the overall situation for the beleaguered Ulster Unionist Party.

Despite a five percent drop in voter share the UUP managed to poll sufficient votes to keep the lead as the province’s top political party in local government. However, the two parties celebrating are the DUP and Sinn Féin who have gained a substantial number of seats to radically improve their representations on local councils.

Early results indicated that there had been a similar trend to that shown in the general election. The swing towards the DUP levelled out at around six per cent giving a 21 percent share of the vote to the DUP. Sin Féin picked up almost exactly the same share of the vote with a gain of around four per cent.

As expected the voting patterns evident in the general election were repeated with many unionist voters opting for the DUP rather than the UUP and a nationalist voters finding Sinn Féin more appealing than the SDLP.

As well as the UUP shedding voters the other losers in terms of voter share were the SDLP and the Alliance party who both experienced a one percent fall in the overall vote.

The final results for the 582 council seats, were as follows: UUP – 154 seats; DUP – 131 seats; SDLP – 117 seats; Sinn Féin – 108 seats; Alliance 28 seats, and Others - 44. (SP)

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