Opinion

Election results should concentrate minds on restoring Stormont

As the parties digest the results of recent elections, one of the key questions is whether the Alliance surge is evidence of a significant shift towards the middle ground or a temporary sign of disenchantment with the traditional power blocs that dominate our political landscape.

Earlier this month, Alliance's performance in the local government elections caused something of a stir as the party saw its share of the vote surge from 6.7 per cent to 11.5 per cent.

However, even that striking result was dwarfed by the 18.5 per cent notched up by leader Naomi Long, who comfortably took the third European parliament seat previously held by the Ulster Unionists.

Her dramatic success was undoubtedly the story of this particular poll where interest lay in the destination of the so-called third seat, with Martina Anderson and Diane Dodds regarded as rock solid in the other two seats.

In the event, the other main challengers for the third position - Colum Eastwood, Jim Allister and Danny Kennedy - did not come close with the UUP losing a seat they had held since 1979.

Although the SDLP was marginally up, the momentum was clearly with Alliance who are likely to have picked up Remain supporting unionists with nowhere else to go as well as new voters for whom Brexit is more immediately relevant than the standard issues that divide us.

It may be too soon to say if we are seeing a wholesale change but these electoral developments, which also saw the Greens perform well in the council elections, cannot be easily dismissed.

And while the DUP saw a small percentage increase in the EU poll, Sinn Féin's numbers were down and the party generally suffered serious reversals in the south.

Some hard thinking will have to be done and these latest results should concentrate minds as the talks to restore Stormont continue.

Hopefully, political leaders will conclude it is better to be in power, delivering for the electorate, rather than standing on the sidelines with little say in the issues that affect us all.