Final list of Tyrone candidates emerges for Assembly election

A FINAL running order of candidates standing for election to Stormont in the three constituencies covering Tyrone, will become clearer from next week.

While Friday marks the official deadline for the nomination of candidates, many familiar names and some new faces have already put themselves forward for the May 5 poll.

As ever, Fermanagh and South Tyrone looks set to be one of the most keenly contested constituencies in the North, with up to 14 names on the ballot paper, vying for just five seats. Sinn Féin will hope to maintain their three seats, with the DUP and UUP fielding two candidates each. The packed field also features SDLP, Alliance, Aontú, TUV, Green Party, Cross Community Labour Alternative and one Independent candidate.

In Mid Ulster, which covers parts of south Tyrone, 10 candidates are expected in the race for Stormont, with three Sinn Fein, one DUP, on SDLP seeking re-election, while the UUP, TUV, Alliance, Green Party and Aontú all expected to contest the five seats. In 2017, Sinn Féin took over half of the first preference votes back at the last Assembly election in 2017.

West Tyrone will also feature a large field of 14 candidates hoping to capture one of the five seats which are currently held by Sinn Féin (3), DUP (1) and SDLP (1). With an expected surge in the Alliance Party vote cross the North, the party is hoping their candidate Stephen Donnelly can make an historic break through in West Tyrone. Again, the seats will also be contested by Aontú, TUV, Green Party, Cross Community Labour Alternative and independent candidates and also People Before Profit and the Socialist Party.

Friday’s nomination deadline comes as a recent poll again shows that Sinn Féin are expected to top poll and could consequently see Michelle O’Neill talking the position of First Minister, if unionists agree to take the role of Deputy First Minister.

Last week, the ‘LucidTalk’ poll published in conjunction with the Belfast Telegraph, showed that despite the chaos and division of the last year, the DUP had improved its percentage of the vote, but was still on course to come second behind Sinn Féin, which saw its share increase to 26 per-cent.

Consistent with previous opinion polls, the Alliance Party would become the third largest party in the North, increasing its share to 16 per cent, with the UUP on 13 per-cent, the SDLP on 11 per-cent, and the TUV on 9 per-cent.

The Stormont Assembly election will use the Single Transferable Vote system, with voters asked to mark 1,2,3 and so on for the candidates on the ballot paper.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on April 14.

All persons who are listed on the electoral register, at least 18 years of age on 5 May, and are British, Irish, European Union and qualifying Commonwealth citizens, are eligible to vote.