Okay, partly on foot of yesterday’s UTV tweet up in Ballymena, we flip over to East Antrim where the lost Nationalist seat is likely to re-emerge. The open question is whether Sinn Fein’s Oliver McMullen or the SDLP’s Justin McCamphill is the beneficiary. The legal challenge to McMullen currently in train his residency qualification statement that his principal or only place of work is in the Larne council area won’t do him any harm in terms of nationalist sentiment, particularly if he wins.
The UUP here had two MLAs going into the election and are running two. One sitting, Roy Beggs and one aspirant, Rodney McCune. McCune’s regularly run for the party both here and in North Antrim over the last decade. He’s well regarded in the party but having been London based, he may struggle to get the hard constituency yardage that STV demands.
The DUP have three (with voter catcher and Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson at their head) and are running four. The Alliance party are seeking to replace former leader with Stewart Dickson, but they also have a second candidate, Gerardine Mulvenna.
If you are going to look for a McGuinness squeeze from the DUP on the UUP, this might be one place it could happen. But what do you think?
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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