A TOTAL of 14 candidates stood for election in Court DEA which returned six seats to Belfast City Council.
Court is an interesting area for elections as it emcompasses large parts of the Nationalist Lower Falls as well as the Unionist areas surrounding the Shankill Road.
In 2019 the area returned three DUP candidates, two Sinn Féin and Billy Hutchinson of the PUP. This time the results were largely the same with three DUP, two Sinn Féin but the final seat saw PUP leader Billy Hutchinson lose his seat which the party have held since 1981. The loss of PUP’s seat now leaves the party with only one councillor in Causeway, Coast and Glens Council.
COURT DEA: Billy Hutchinson lost his seat. The PUP have held a seat in Court since 1981
The TUV benefitted from Hutchinson’s loss when transfers from successful DUP candidates Frank McCoubrey, Nicola Werner and UPRG-linked Ian McLaughlin helped push Ron McDowell over the line.
McDowell said: "Billy Hutchinson and I are probably polar opposites in terms of policy and political ideal but I'd like to relay something magnanimous about the man during yesterday's vote. If it happened say it happened.
"Billy and I had spoken briefly before the election although Billy had spoken with my wife more extensively before the election in her wee cafe and it was both of our hopes for a more diverse City Hall incorporating more shades of unionism reminiscent of when the PUP and TUV held office side by side a decade ago. This wasn't to be.
"A stage came in the result today when Billy knew he had lost, but instead of suffering disappointment and going home Billy approached me and spent 30 minutes at least telling me of his experiences, telling of people in the City Hall that could help me and offering support whenever I needed it."
COURT DEA: Ian McLaughlin won a seat 
Turnout in the area was down almost four per cent from the last election. In the first round three candidates sailed home including Lord Mayor Tina Black (Sinn Féin) who polled second. Claire Canavan took the second seat for Sinn Féin in the seventh round of votes, Ian McLaughlin (DUP) came in on the tenth round and Ron McDowell on the eleventh.
Lord Mayor Tina Black said: "I am honoured to have been elected to Belfast City Council by the people of Court DEA. I want to thank every person who gave me their vote.
"Sinn Féin went into this campaign with a commitment to work for all, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to represent the people of this area and deliver first-class council services.
"This election was an opportunity to send a signal that it is time to get the Assembly up and running, and it is becoming clear from today’s results that this is what the majority of voters want."
Councillor Claire Canavan said the results showed the Assembly needed to be back up and running.
"Historic change is happening across this island, and Sinn Féin is leading that change. These election results are a positive endorsement of Sinn Féin’s message that workers, families and communities need to be supported, and that the blocking of a new Assembly by one party must end."
COURT DEA: Claire Canavan and Lord Mayor Tina Black celebrating winning their seats where Sinn Féin's vote increased
Alliance increased their first preference votes modestly with Ally Haydock securing 329 and increasing to 477 when she was eliminated in the ninth round of voting.
The IRSP polled better than many expected with Michael Kelly taking 399 first preference votes, increasing to 425 votes with transfers which ate into the votes for People Before Profit’s Cailín McCaffrey who received 408 and was eliminated from the count in the tenth round. McCaffrey received 121 from the exclusion of Kelly and 176 from the exclusion of Haydock.
COURT DEA: Frank McCoubrey celebrates topping the poll in Court DEA
The Workers' Party had a tough election, receiving only 85 votes for their candidate Tony Walls, which is down on their party’s last council performance in 2019 where they received 166. Another candidate who had a very tough result was Independent Geoffrey Wilson who received only 18 votes, the lowest result out of any candidate in the entire North.
