KEY POINTS
Battle between UUP and Alliance for second place.
Unionism lost six seats in 2019 and could lose overall majority in 2023.
Increasingly diverse council with competition from Sinn Féin and Greens.
Third lowest turnout in Northern Ireland (49.1%).
ABOUT THE COUNCIL AREA
Under the reform of local government, the borough councils of Antrim and Newtownabbey were merged into the new Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. The council includes the towns of Antrim and Ballyclare, wrapping around the north eastern corner of Lough Neagh, and stretching from Toome to Ballynure, and from Crumlin across to Glengormley and the Belfast loughshore at Jordanstown.
PREVIOUS ELECTION
Gains for Alliance (3) and Sinn Féin (2) in 2019.
TUV lost both their councillors at last election.
Green Party narrowly missed out on a seat in Glengormley Urban.
A new independent easily won a seat in Ballyclare.
SINCE 2019
Danny Kinahan resigned and was replaced following his appointment as NI Veterans Commissioner.
The DUP’s Dean McCullough was co-opted onto Belfast City Council.
Phillip Brett was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Two councillors died, and a number of other councillors resigned and were replaced during the term.
COMMENTARY
2019 was a bad overall election for unionist parties in this council area with the DUP, UUP and TUV dropping six seats between them. In terms of dominance, the DUP remained the largest party with 14 councillors, followed by the UUP (9).
However, Alliance is in contention to overtake the UUP at this election. It currently holds seven seats and even a small swing would make them competitive for another two or three (Ballyclare, a second in Antrim and maybe even Glengormley Urban). Alliance success is likely to mean there is no longer a unionist majority on the council.
Another party targeting a seat in Glengormley Urban will be the Green Party, who finished just 68 votes behind Sinn Féin at the last election. TUV councillor for Ballyclare, David Arthurs, ran as an independent in 2019 but failed to be reelected. TUV stalwart Mel Lucas is on the ballot this year hoping to win it back.
Sinn Féin has grown in confidence in this council area with gains in 2019 which saw them overtake the SDLP as the largest nationalist party. They currently hold five seats to the SDLP’s four and will be challenging for wins in Antrim and Dunsilly.
Independent candidate Michael Stewart – behind the “Love Ballyclare” Facebook page – easily won a seat with more than a quota of first preference votes in 2019. This was one of the more noteworthy independent gains at the last election, and he’s likely to be competitive again in the upcoming poll.