The 2023 Northern Ireland Council Election counts are coming to a close and your new Mid and East Antrim councillors have been elected.
Just over 60 candidates competed across the seven district electoral areas to elect 40 councillors to represent the public in the local authority for the next four years.
In 2019, Mid and East Antrim saw the second lowest turnout of NI councils at 48.1% - 2023 saw an increase in those turning up to vote by 1.59% with a turnout of 49.69%.
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Unsurprisingly, the DUP remained the largest party in the council despite dropping one seat from 2019. The unionist majority remained unthreatened with the UUP taking eight seats (+1 from 2019), marking them as the second biggest party in the council.
Sinn Féin doubled their Mid and East Antrim seats from 2019, bringing the number of councillors elected to four - Ballymena saw its first-ever SF seat when Bréanainn Lyness was deemed elected at the first stage of counts.
MEA remains fertile ground for TUV, retaining five seats this year across three DEAs; Ballymena., Bannside and Braid.
A loss for the SDLP as their only representative on the MEA council, Eugene Reid, was not reelected in Ballymena DEA and only other candidate running, Morgan Murphy, not making the quota in Bannside DEA.
Two independent candidates proved popular in MEA with Bobby Hadden and Rodney Quigley polling on top in Knockagh DEA and Ballymena DEA respectively.
The Alliance Party stood their ground as seven candidates were declared in 2023, matching their 2019 numbers.
Ballymena
Seven seats
Rodney Quigley - Independent
Matthew Armstrong - TUV
Colin Crawford - UUP
Bréanainn Lyness - Sinn Féin
Reuben Glover - DUP
John Hyland - Alliance
Lawrie Philpott - DUP
Bannside
Six seats
Timothy Gaston - TUV
Stewart McDonald - TUV
Ian Friary - SF
Thomas John Gordon - DUP
Tyler Marcus Anthony Hoey - DUP
Jackson Minford - UUP
Braid
Seven seats
Archie Rae - SF
Beth Adger - DUP
William McCaughey - DUP
Christopher Jamieson - TUV
Alan Barr - UUP
Chelsea Harwood - Alliance
Matthew Warwick - TUV
Carrick Castle
Five seats
Lauren Gray - Alliance
Cheryl Brownlee - DUP
Billy Ashe - DUP
Robin Stewart - UUP
Bethany Ferris - UUP
Coast Road
Five seats
James McKeown - SF
Andrew Clarke - DUP
Gerardine Mulvenna - Alliance
Angela Smyth - DUP
Maureen Morrow - UUP
Knockagh
Five seats
Bobby Hadden - IND
Peter Johnston - DUP
Marc Neill Collins - DUP
Andrew Wilson - UUP
Aaron Skinner - APNI
Larne Lough
Five seats
Maeve Donnelly - Alliance
Gregg McKeen - DUP
Roy Beggs - UUP
Robert Logan - Alliance
Paul Reid - DUP
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