East Antrim: UUP candidate says Sammy Wilson will win '“ with bigger majority

John Stewart, who was only elected to the Assembly a few months ago and is standing for the UUP in place of more experienced fellow MLA Roy Beggs, said it appears Mr Wilson’s majority (he won with about 36% last time) will be up on 2015.

Meanwhile, he said, the UUP looks likely to just hold the roughly 18% or so that it achieved in the las t general election in 2015.

Mr Stewart told the News Letter that, with about half the votes counted as of around midnight, it looks like “certainly Sammy Wilson will be holding his seat and his vote will be up on 2015”.

He said he had been chosen to contest the seat instead of Roy Beggs, to offer “a fresher face” and to raise his profile.

For more on the past political make-up of East Antrim, see the figures in THIS STORY.