2023 Mid and East Antrim District Council election explained

See main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections.

Election Name:2023 Mid and East Antrim District Council election
Flag Image:Flag placeholder.svg
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2019 Mid and East Antrim District Council election
Previous Year:2019
Next Year:2027
Seats For Election:All 40 council seats
Majority Seats:21
Election Date:18 May 2023
Leader1:Jeffrey Donaldson
Party1:Democratic Unionist Party
Seats1:14
Seat Change1: 1
Popular Vote1:15,627
Percentage1:30.9%
Swing1: 1.1%
Leader3:Naomi Long
Party3:Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Seats3:7
Seat Change3: 0
Popular Vote3:9,571
Percentage3:18.9%
Swing3: 3.1%
Leader2:Doug Beattie
Party2:Ulster Unionist Party
Seats2:8
Seat Change2: 1
Popular Vote2:8,764
Percentage2:17.3%
Swing2: 0.9%
Leader4:Jim Allister
Party4:Traditional Unionist Voice
Seats4:5
Seat Change4: 0
Popular Vote4:8,050
Percentage4:15.9%
Swing4: 0.7%
Leader5:Michelle O'Neill
Party5:Sinn Féin
Seats5:4
Seat Change5: 2
Popular Vote5:4,700
Percentage5:9.3%
Swing5: 2.9%
Leader6:None
Party6:Independent (politician)
Seats6:2
Seat Change6: 1
Popular Vote6:2,205
Percentage6:4.4%
Swing6: 3.8%
Council control
Posttitle:Council control after election
Before Election:No overall control
After Election:Democratic Unionist Party
Last Election1:15
Last Election2:7
Last Election3:7
Last Election4:5
Last Election5:2
Last Election6:3

The 2023 election to Mid and East Antrim District Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.[2]

They returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.

Controversies

Tyler Hoey was selected as a DUP candidate to contest the 2023 Mid and East Antrim Council elections. In 2020, Hoey 'liked' a social media post commemorating the Greysteel massacre, which stated, "On this day 27 years ago, An Ulster Freedom Fighters Active Service Unit from North Antrim-Londonderry Brigade 'Trick or Treated' its way into the republican Rising Sun bar in Greysteel in order to gain revenge for the Shankill Bombing. Spirit of '93".[3] Following this revelation, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said that Hoey "deeply regrets some of the things that he said in the past" and that he is "entitled to a second chance."[4]

Election results

|-| colspan="2" style="background-color:#f2f2f2;text-align:center;margin-bottom:-1px;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:.2em .4em" | | style="text-align:right;" | 40|| |||| style="text-align:right;" | 50,571|Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|District Electoral Area (DEA)! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
!rowspan=2|Total
cllrs
|- class="unsortable" align="center"!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | TUV!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Sinn Féin!colspan=2 bgcolor=""| SDLP!colspan=2 bgcolor="white"|

Independents and others|-|align="left"|Ballymena|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|23.09|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |13.28|1 1|12.29|1 |13.58|1 |12.69|1 1|11.03|0 1|14.04|1 1|7|-|align="left"|Bannside|23.85|2 |10.74|1 |8.75|0 |bgcolor="#D1E5FA"|39.54|bgcolor="#D1E5FA"|2 |14.72|1 |2.40|0 |0.0|0 |6|-|align="left"|Braid|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|35.31|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 1|18.68|1 |10.74|1 |21.51|2 |13.76|1 1|0.0|0 |0.0|0 |7|-|align="left"|Carrick Castle|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|39.22|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |23.30|2 |25.70|1 |6.99|0 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |4.79|0 |5|-|align="left"|Coast Road|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|32.65|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |13.3|1 |26.23|1 |5.79|0 |20.08|1 |0.0|0 |1.95|0 |5|-|align="left"|Knockagh|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|31.99|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |19.04|1 |25.53|1 |5.37|0 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |18.07|1 |5|-|align="left"|Larne Lough|32.15|2 |25.27|1 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|32.56|bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|2 |6.67|0 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |3.35|0 |5|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| Total|30.90|14 1|17.33|8 1|18.93|7 |15.92|5 |9.29|4 2|2.01|0 1|5.60|2 1|40|-|}

District results

Ballymena

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent, 1 x TUV, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and UUP gain from SDLP and Independent

Bannside

2019: 2 x TUV, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin

2023: 2 x TUV, 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Braid

2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from DUP

Carrick Castle

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: No change

Coast Road

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Knockagh

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: No change

Larne Lough

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2023: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Changes during the term

† Co-options

Date co-optedElectoral AreaPartyOutgoingCo-opteeReason
8 September 2023BallymenaJohn HylandJack GibsonHyland resigned.[5]
3 October 2023Carrick CastleCheryl BrownleeDavid ClarkeBrownlee was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[6]
23 July 2024BannsideTimothy GastonAnna HenryGaston was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[7]
? July 2024BallymenaColin CrawfordBrian ThompsonCrawford was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

‡ Changes in affiliation

DateElectoral AreaNamePrevious affiliationNew affiliationCircumstance
19 January 2024Carrick CastleDavid ClarkeLeft the DUP following claims of bullying.[8]
15 March 2024Carrick CastleDavid ClarkeJoined the TUV.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Local government elections in Northern Ireland . 2022-05-19 . www.electoralcommission.org.uk . en.
  2. News: 21 December 2022 . NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash . BBC News . 21 December 2022.
  3. Patricia Devlin . trishdevlin . 1637184552819990528 . March 18, 2023 . I wrote about DUP candidate Tyler Hoey almost three years ago. The only thing that is new is the fact he’s been selected to run for the DUP in the council elections.. April 27, 2023.
  4. News: DUP candidate’s social media posts ‘indefensible but in the past’ – Donaldson– BelfastTelegraph.co.uk . BelfastTelegraph. 20 March 2023. 27 April 2023. 20 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230320155101/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-candidates-social-media-posts-indefensible-but-in-the-past-donaldson/94048111.html/. live.
  5. Web site: New Councillor - Ballymena District Electoral Area.
  6. Web site: New Councillor - Carrick Castle DEA.
  7. Web site: New Councillor - Bankside District Electoral Area.
  8. Web site: DUP councillor David Clarke quits party over bullying claims. Hughes. Brendan. BBC News. en. 2024-01-24.
  9. Web site: Ex-councillor who quit DUP over ‘bullying’ says he’s proud to join the TUV claims. Breen. Suzanne. Belfast Telegraph. en. 15 March 2024. 15 March 2024.