When the date of the Coronation was announced some of us were concerned about the impact it might have on the local elections in England – in terms of campaigning and turnout. In the event it didn’t seem to have much effect, but they took the concern seriously in Northern Ireland which is why their local council elections took place yesterday.

There was no overnight counting and results are beginning to trickle in. Of course, the political landscape is rather different in Northern Ireland from England, but as Lib Dems we are watching the performance of our sister party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

All seats are up for grabs – 462 in total across 11 councils. Last time round, in 2019, Alliance lay in fifth position overall with 53 seats, 21 up on the previous election, so they entered this one with some optimism. Voting is by Single Transferable Vote, which, of course, enables smaller parties to make an impact proportionate to their level of support.

As we write Sinn Féin has 31 councillors, DUP has 19,  Alliance has 8, UUP has 4, SDLP has 2 and Independent has 1. No seats have changed hands yet.  When we look at vote share, the Alliance party is lying third with a slight swing towards them in terms of vote. But the main news is that Sinn Féin is surging ahead on vote share with 33% of the votes, even though that hasn’t yet been reflected in an increase in council seats.  However, it seems we will have to wait until tomorrow for the full results.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.