Maverick religious candidate trounces Tories in West Tyrone
An unusual fringe candidate in West Tyrone has won just 85 first preference votes.
However, Susan-Anne White’s dismal showing nonetheless means that she trounced the Conservatives.
In a constituency which had been rife with independent candidates, she stood out for her austere religious views.
She has condemned breast cancer ribbons, women lifting weights and rock music, and has called on homosexual behaviour to be made a crime.
Despite her hard-line stance she won almost twice as many votes as Tory candidate Roger Lomas (who got 44).
Province-wide, the Conservatives still show little sign of generating any meaningful interest among voters, with many candidates ending up with first preference votes which were in double figures.
The best-performing Conservative candidate was Frank Shivers in North Down, who garnered 672 first preference votes.
The worst was Alan Dunlop in Foyle, with 32.