Not a seat to spare!
The results are in….The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) remains the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly election of March 2, they remain ahead of Sinn Fein by only a single seat – with the DUP winning 28, to Sinn Fein’s 27, with the DUP down 10 seats.
Foster was re-elected as an MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, but, her party dropped 10 seats in the election count which ended early Saturday morning.
There were only 90 seats up for grabs this year, down from 108 in the May 2016 contest. The Social Democrat and Labour Party kept 12 seats, and the cross-community Alliance Party won eight seats. The Traditional Unionist Voice held its North Antrim seat, and the Green Party held its two seats. People Before Profit were down a seat to a single seat after Eamon McCann lost his seat in Foyle – after only being elected last year for the first time.
The Ulster Unionist Party was the big loser, dropping from 16 to 10 seats, and prompting the resignation of its leader, Mike Nesbitt. All party leaders were returned in their seats.
The election’s last seat decided early on Saturday morning with the final seat assigned shortly after 3 a.m. in Belfast South. Justice Minister Clare Sudgen, an Independent Unionist, was returned in Derry.
This count means that the unionist parties now hold only 40 MLAs, with 39 nationalist/republican MLAs. The DUP has lost its majority, and is two seats short of being able to file a “petition of concern,” essentially, a veto, in the assembly.
There was 64.8 per cent voter turnout, a jump nearly 10 per cent from 2016, when 54.9 per cent of voters turned up.
Foster will now have three weeks to cobble together a coalition government, before direct rule from London is introduced.
By: Desmond Devoy –
