Alliance Party set to confirm position as third force in N Ireland politics

The party has already surpassed the 53 councillors it had elected in 2019, as well as increasing its share of first preference votes. However, while the dramatic Alliance surge at Stormont was one of the biggest talking points from last year's election, the gains have been more moderate on this occasion.

Once derided as a metropolitan party whose support base was confined to greater Belfast and the surrounding areas, Alliance has in recent elections stretched its geographical reach into areas where seat gains had once not even been contemplated. However, the results of this election will once again pose questions about how effective the party can be west of the Bann.

The party opened an office in Londonderry recently, but will be disappointed to have lost both of its sitting representatives in Derry and Strabane. However, the party has taken its first ever council seats in Ballyclare, Fermanagh and Limavady. Ahead of the election, Alliance leader Naomi Long said it was an opportunity for voters to express their views on the political vacuum at Stormont.

As the results rolled in, she said she believed that people voted in stronger numbers for parties that want to see the Stormont Assembly functioning again. However, while Alliance may have benefited from this sentiment, the bigger winner has been Sinn Fein.

Mrs Long said: "We have argued in this election that what we need is Stormont working again. "But the message from those who have not voted is also strong. The nationalist turnout is much stronger, often 10-15% higher than in predominantly unionist areas. "That should cause unionism concerns because if they are not motivating their people by this kind of negative campaign they have been running, then they need to think long and hard about what will motivate their voters to come out and vote for them.

"Certainly when I was at the doors at constituencies right across Northern Ireland, unionist voters were saying very clearly to me that even if they weren't voting Alliance, they weren't voting DUP because they felt the DUP had let them down and not going in and doing the jobs they were elected to do.

"You can discount those people and say they didn't vote so they don't matter, but actually they do because the lack of those people coming out to vote has had a direct impact on the outcome of these elections without a doubt."