Young woman from unionist background to stand for SDLP in council elections

A young woman from a unionist background is to stand as an SDLP local government election candidate in north Belfast.

Heather Wilson, a former student of the Belfast Model School for Girls and Queen’s University, is bidding to win a seat in the Castle district electoral area when voters go to the polls in May.

The 27-year-old, who says she is in favour of the party’s partnership with Fianna Fail, is hopeful she can win a seat on Belfast City Council.

“There is an SDLP seat there. The numbers are there, so hopefully we can win a seat. Nichola (Mallon MLA) works very hard in the area, so I suppose it is just about keeping up that momentum between now and May,” she said.

Raised in Ballysillan, Ms Wilson has been a member of the SDLP for the past three years and serves as a press officer for the party.

She says she hopes her decision to stand for the SDLP “won’t be an issue” in her local community, which is a predominantly unionist area.