Simon Hamilton first DUP candidate elected

Simon Hamilton first DUP candidate elected

3 March 2017

THE DUP's Simon Hamilton is the second Strangford candidate to be elected to the Assembly with 6,531 votes.

Mr Hamilton had the highest number of first preference votes but said he was not disappointed that the Alliance Party's Kellie Armstrong was the first candidate elected.

"Our main objective is to get our three seats back and we still hope Peter Weir will be the third representative," he said.

He said voters on the doorsteps had asked questions about the RHI heating debacle but more in an attempt to understand the situation.

"People realised that the DUP had been trying to deal with the problem," he said.

Following a disappointing result for the UUP so far, Mr Hamilton said it wasn't his place to comment on that party's future. However, he did say some voters had queried why there was not one unionist party.

"People would have asked - why are you not working more closely together?"

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