Derry & Strabane Election 2023: Bigger parties run fewer candidates, smaller parties put forward most ambitious tickets yet

Seventy candidates will be seeking election on Thursday, May 18, across the seven District Electoral Areas (DEAs) of the Derry and Strabane Council area: Ballyarnett (six seats), Derg (five seats), Faughan (five seats), Foyleside (five seats), Sperrin (seven seats), the Moor (five-seats) and Waterside (seven seats).

An examination of the ballot papers reveals that the bigger parties, namely Sinn Féin, the SDLP and DUP, will be running fewer candidates than in 2019 and that there are far fewer independents this time around, especially in the Derry DEAs.

This suggests the larger parties will seek to ‘hold what they have’ and gain seats by consolidating their core vote around fewer candidates.

By contrast, People Before Profit (PBP) and Aontú have put forward their most ambitious tickets to date while the Alliance Party is once gain running candidates in every DEA.

The 2019 Council election was marked by significant losses for Sinn Féin.

The party lost five seats and its position as the largest single party on DC&SDC although it remained the joint largest party alongside the SDLP.

It was a breakthrough election for PBP and Alliance who both gained two councillors.

The results were as follows: Sinn Féin 17,062 votes (28.1%; -8%) 11 seats (-5); SDLP 15,458 votes (25.5%; -0.1%) 11 seats (+1); DUP 8,923 votes (14.7; -0.7%) six seats (-1); Independents 7,652 votes (12.6%; +2%) four seats (no change); UUP 4,126 votes (6.8%; -0.8%) two seats (no change); PBP 3,590 votes (5.9%; +5.5%) two seats (+2); Alliance 2,852 votes (4.7%; +3.1) two seats (+2); and Aontú 1,032 votes (1.7%) one seat (new party).

Of a total of 107,975 electors across the Derry and Strabane District only 61,798 votes (57.2%) were cast. There were 1,103 spoilt votes (1.8%), leaving a valid vote count of 60,695.

In 2019 the top ten highest polling candidates in Derry and Strabane by first preference vote share were as follows:

1. Gary Donnelly, Independent, Moor DEA (17.73%) 1,374 votes.

1. Mary Durkan, SDLP, Foyleside DEA (16.73%) 1,231 votes.

1. Darren Guy, UUP, Waterside DEA (15.96%) 1,589 votes.

1. Derek Hussey, UUP, Derg DEA (15.83%) 1,267 votes.

1. Shauna Cusack, SDLP, Foyleside DEA (15.34%) 1,129 votes.

1. Sinéad McLaughlin, SDLP, Waterside DEA (14.90%) 1,483 votes.

1. Graham Warke, DUP, Faughan DEA (14.70%) 1,050 votes.

1. Angela Dobbins, SDLP, Ballyarnett DEA (14.54%) 1,392 votes.

1. John Boyle, SDLP, Moor DEA, (13.96%) 1,082 votes.

1. Ruairí McHugh, Sinn Féin, Derg DEA, (13.57%) 1,086 votes.

In 2019 the candidate with the lowest percentage of first preferences who went on to be elected was Sinn Féin’s Dan Kelly who received 6.93% (756 votes) – 0.55 quotas – and was elected in the Sperrin DEA following the distribution of transfers.

Mr. Kelly was among four Sinn Féin candidates who stood in the Sperrin DEA in 2019.

The candidate with the lowest percentage of first preferences who was elected despite not having a running mate was Philip McKinney of the Alliance Party who received 7.18% (715 votes) – 0.57 quotas – and was elected in the Waterside DEA.

This was the lowest first preference percentage share and lowest first preference vote tally of the ten Waterside DEA candidates in 2019.

Mr. McKinney was elected ahead of the DUP’s third candidate Drew Thompson following the distribution of transfers from People Before Profit’s Maeve O’Neill and Sinn Féin’s Sharon McLaughlin.

On Thursday voters have only 70 candidates to choose from compared with 75 in 2019.

Alliance are fielding 7 (no change); Aontú 5 (+4); DUP 7 (-3); Independents 6 (-5); PBP 7 (+3); SDLP 15 (-1); Sinn Féin 18 (-4); and UUP 5 (+1).

Derry/Strabane Local Election 2023: Ballyarnett District Electoral Area – who is standing?

Derry/Strabane Local Election 2023: Faughan District Electoral Area – who is standing?

Derry/Strabane Local Election 2023: Foyleside District Electoral Area – who is standing?

Derry/Strabane Local Election 2023: Moor District Electoral Area – who is standing?

Derry/Strabane Local Election 2023: Waterside District Electoral Area – who is standing?