NI council elections 2023: Sinn Féin on track to win the most seatson May 20, 2023 at 6:14 am

Counting is continuing in Northern Ireland’s local elections, with Sinn Féin on track to become the largest party in local government.

With well over half of council seats filled, it holds the most seats returned so far with 104.

It looks like it could overtake the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is currently on 86 seats.

It would be the first time a nationalist party has held the most council seats in Northern Ireland.

It follows on from last year’s election, when Sinn Féin became the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Elsewhere, Alliance is on 42 seats, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is on 36 and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is on 25.

So far, a total of 311 councillors out of 462 have been elected.

In all, 807 people have been competing for seats in Northern Ireland’s 11 local councils.

A total of 1,305,553 people were eligible to vote, according to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

Three councils have already wrapped up counting, so what do we know so far?

If the last election brought an Alliance surge, this time some are describing results as the Sinn Féin tsunami.

The party has made gains across seven councils so far.

In Armagh Banbridge & Craigavon, where counting finished overnight, Sinn Féin is now the largest party for the first time.

The DUP is holding ground in many areas but seems likely to fall from being the largest party in local government.

Alliance, who were the big winners four years ago, have picked up support in some areas but struggled in parts of the north west.

The UUP and SDLP have been squeezed with both parties losing some well-known faces.

The Green Party has lost its second leader in 12 months and the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) lost its seat in Belfast to the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV).

People before Profit has also lost one of its 2019 wins and faces more battles today.

As the shape of our 11 councils starts to become clear, the political tectonic plates are shifting.

Again.

On Friday, Sinn Féin made breakthroughs with its first councillors elected in Lisburn City and Ballymena.

In Foyle, the party appears to have recovered ground lost at the last election. Party vice-president Michelle O’Neill called it “a very positive day”.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said this election was always about holding ground but that it was time to stop splitting the Unionist vote.

The Alliance Party became the third biggest at the Northern Ireland Assembly election last May and so far it seems on track to replicate that in these council elections. The party has taken its first ever council seats in Ballyclare, Fermanagh and Limavady.

The SDLP hopes to retain its 59 seats from the 2019 elections, but is under pressure from Sinn Féin.

The Ulster Unionist Party has also been facing a battle to hold its ground but its leader Doug Beattie said unionism was likely to take a hit across the board.

Elsewhere, smaller parties have so far struggled – Green Party leader in Northern Ireland Mal O’Hara and PUP leader Billy Hutchinson both lost their seats on Belfast City Council.

Special election coverage on BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Radio Ulster begins at 10:00 BST on Saturday.