THE SDLP’s Joe Boyle has missed out on an Assembly seat after being pipped to the post yet again in Strangford.
On his fourth consecutive attempt at election to Stormont, Mr Boyle lost out by just under 600 votes to Alliance’s Kellie Armstrong and the UUP’s Philip Smith, who took the final two seats in a nail-biting finish.
The Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt received a round of applause at the Aurora Leisure Centre in Bangor as he offered commiserations to Mr Boyle.
He said: "Democracy can be cruel....the SDLP candidate has stood four times for election and lost four times. He came very, very close. I would like to say how sorry I am."
Earlier in the day, Mr Nesbitt had topped the poll, finishing ten votes ahead of Regional Development Minister Michelle McIlveen, of the DUP.
Mr Nesbitt had expressed his fear – later to prove unfounded - that his own personal success looked set to damage his party colleague.
Mr Nesbitt told The Irish News: "On a personal level, I am surprised, humbled and delighted, and I didn’t see it coming."
The quota was 4,663, the exact number of votes gained by Ms McIlveen, while Mr Nesbitt polled 4,673.
Joe Boyle of the SDLP, who came within 31 votes of a seat in 2007, had polled 2,724 first preference votes, but missed out after Simon Hamilton’s surplus transfers enabled the UUP’s Philip Smith to overtake him.
Mr Hamilton followed close behind his DUP colleague Ms McIlveen, with 3,964 first preference votes.
The Alliance’s Kellie Armstrong had a strong showing, polling 3,499 first preference votes, ahead of DETI Minister Jonathan Bell, with 3,393.
In an unexpected development, Ms Armstrong surged ahead of the chasing pack by gaining almost 600 transfers from the elimination of UKIP’s Stephen Crosby.
The DUP’s ambitious hopes of landing a fourth seat with Harry Harvey were dashed after he was eliminated on the sixth count.
The TUV’s Stephen Cooper ate away at support for the other unionist parties, with 1,407 votes, but remained out of contention for a seat last night.
Dermot Kennedy, of Sinn Féin, was quickly eliminated after polling just 661 votes.
Strangford saw a 50.25% turnout, up almost 2% on the 2011 Assembly election, with 3,000 more votes cast this time around.
Elected: Mike Nesbitt (UUP), Michelle McIlveen (DUP), Simon Hamilton (DUP), Kellie Armstrong (Alliance), Jonathan Bell (DUP), Philip Smith (UUP).
