Election 2023: Mid and East Antrim Borough Council final results - Trio of unionist parties preserve share

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.

One 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).

Then 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

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