Election 2023: Mid and East Antrim Borough Council final results - Trio of unionist parties preserve share
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The DUP lost a single council seat, falling to 14, and the UUP – despite failings elsewhere – picked up an extra one (making eight), while the TUV remained static on five.
Despite gobbling up a little more of the popular vote this time rather than 2019, Alliance did not make any in-roads.
The SDLP lost a seat, and Sinn Fein gained two.
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Hide AdOne of those elected back stronger than before was DUP man Marc Collins.
Councillor Collins added a few dozen votes to his previous stack of 845 first-preferences.
He had faced an extremely negative publicity since being elected in 2019.
Firstly, he was revealed to have used anti-Catholic slurs on his Facebook page dating back to 2011 (he apologised and voiced embarrasment, saying he had been 16 at the time).
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Hide AdThen in 2021 he sparked negative headlines after questioning why a local hotel had been requisitioned to house migrants, saying "in our daily work we come across so many local families and individuals who are in crisis, homeless, relying on food banks etc, and yet none of this help is ever afforded to them" – comments Alliance's Stewart Dickson called "vile".
Councillor Collins was also suspended from holding office for eight months by the Local Government Ombudsman over a tweet concerning republicans.
2019:
DUP (32%) 15 councillors
UUP (18.2%) 7 councillors
Alliance (15.8%) 7 councillors
TUV (15.2%) 5 councillors
Ind (8.2%) 3 councillors
SF (6.4%) 2 councillors
SDLP (1.8%) 1 councillor
2023:
DUP (30.9%) 14 councillors
UUP (17.3%) 8 councillors
Alliance (18.9%) 7 councillors
TUV (15.9%) 5 councillors
Sinn Fein (9.3%) 4 councillors
Ind (4.7%) 2 councillors
SDLP (2%) 0 councillors
BALLYMENA:
Matthew Armstrong, TUV, 991
Colin Crawford, UUP, 969
Reuben Glover, DUP, 913
John Hyland, Alliance, 897
Bréanainn Lyness, Sinn Féin, 926
Lawrie Philpott, DUP, 462
Rodney Quigley, Independent, 1,023
BANNSIDE:
Ian Friary, Sinn Féin 1,292
Timothy Gaston, TUV, 1,468
Thomas John Gordon, DUP, 1,256
Tyler Marcus Anthony Hoey, DUP, 838
Stewart McDonald, TUV, 1,442
Jackson Bolton Minford, UUP, 942
BRAID:
Beth Adger, DUP, 1,245
Alan Barr, UUP, 1,058
Chelsea Harwood, Alliance, 1,016
Christopher Jamieson, TUV, 1,194
William McCaughey, DUP, 1,224
Archie Rae, Sinn Féin, 1,302
Matthew Warwick, TUV, 893
CARRICK CASTLE:
Billy Ashe, DUP, 1,030
Cheryl Brownlee, DUP, 1,154
Bethany Ferris, UUP, 706
Lauren Gray, Alliance, 1,607
Robin Stewart, UUP, 751
COAST ROAD:
Andrew Clarke, DUP, 1,111
James McKeown, Sinn Féin, 1,180
Maureen Morrow, UUP, 457
Gerardine Marie Mulvenna, Alliance, 1,094
Angela Smyth, DUP, 808
KNOCKAGH:
Marc Neill Collins, DUP, 931
Bobby Hadden, Independent, 1,182
Peter Johnston, DUP, 1,144
Aaron Skinner, Alliance, 903
Andrew Wilson, UUP, 792
LARNE LOUGH:
Roy Beggs, UUP, 1,139
Maeve Donnelly, Alliance, 1,389
Robert Logan, Alliance, 696
Gregg McKeen, DUP, 1,197
Paul Reid, DUP, 862