Bradley tops the poll in South Down

6 May 2016

THE SDLP's Sinead Bradley has pulled off a stunning victory by topping the poll in South Down in her first election.

Bradley, the daughter of former SDLP Assemblyman PJ Bradley, recorded 5059 first preference votes, 14 votes ahead of the Sinn Fein's Chris Hazzard. Jim Wells (DUP) recorded a vote of 5033.

The independent Unionist John McCallister polled badly with just 1156 votes and has been eliminated.

The result overall is a disappointment for the SDLP whose share of the vote has fallen by 4.34% since the 2011 Assembly election, probably due to the absence of constituency flag bearer, Margaret Ritchie.

With the Sinn Fein vote rising slightly there is now just 0.38% between the parties.

Ulster Unionist Harold McKee also polled well in a congested Unionist field, completely centred around the Mournes, with almost twice the vote of TUV hopeful Henry Reilly.

The election has been a huge success for Alliance whose youthful candidate, Patrick Brown, almost trebled his party's vote.

FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES

BRADLEY, Sinead (SDLP) - 5059

BROWN, Patrick (ALLIANCE) - 2200

GRAY-SLOAN, Michael (Sinn Fen) - 3520

HARDY, John (Green Party) - 820

HAZZARD, Chris (Sinn Fein) - 5045

McCALLISTER, John (Independent) - 1156

McGRATH, Collin (SDLP) - 4288

McKEE, Harold (UUP) - 3481

REILLY, Henry (TUV) - 2718

ROGERS, Sean (SDLP) - 3564

RUANE, Caitriona (Sinn Fein) - 4191

WELLS, Jim (DUP) - 5033

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