Andy Allen was co-opted to the Assembly in 2015 to represent East Belfast. The former Royal Irish Regiment soldier is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and was left a double amputee and partially blind as a result of a Taliban bomb attack in Helmand in 2008, when he was aged just 19. He set up a charity to help other veterans, AA Veterans Support.
Constituency: Belfast East
Electorate | Seats | Total Poll | Turnout | Valid Poll | Spoiled Votes | Quota |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
64,788 | 5 | 40,828 | 63.02% | 40,357 | 471 | 6,727 |
Vote Distribution
Left Right
Count Results
Candidate | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Naomi Long |
7610 | ||||||||||
Joanne Bunting |
6007 | 6016.02 | 6021.02 | 6026.13 | 6057.35 | 6217.46 | 6228.46 | 6275.01 | 6759.01 | ||
Andy Allen |
5275 | 5313.17 | 5323.39 | 5356.6 | 5498.59 | 5767.92 | 5783.14 | 6048.62 | 7257.62 | ||
Chris Lyttle |
5059 | 5760.03 | 5780.25 | 5885.86 | 6032.81 | 6072.14 | 6367.87 | 7268.87 | |||
Robin Newton |
4729 | 4734.5 | 4736.5 | 4739.5 | 4774.5 | 4862.61 | 4865.61 | 4890.72 | 5268.26 | 5333.26 | 5541.65 |
David Douglas |
4431 | 4435.18 | 4436.18 | 4440.18 | 4455.4 | 4568.4 | 4572.4 | 4599.73 | 4995.25 | 5093.25 | 5410.84 |
John Kyle |
2658 | 2673.29 | 2678.51 | 2685.73 | 2751.95 | 2936.28 | 2950.28 | 3148.79 | |||
Georgina Milne |
1447 | 1474.06 | 1500.28 | 1539.49 | 1763.36 | 1801.58 | 2080.65 | ||||
Mairead O'Donnell |
1173 | 1183.34 | 1185.45 | 1216.66 | 1232.88 | 1235.1 | |||||
Andrew Girvin |
917 | 918.65 | 920.65 | 924.76 | 958.87 | ||||||
Courtney Robinson |
442 | 449.48 | 456.48 | 467.81 | |||||||
Sheila Bodel |
275 | 276.32 | 278.43 | 280.43 | |||||||
Seamas de Faoite |
250 | 260.45 | 260.56 | ||||||||
Jordy McKeag |
84 | 85.43 |
On the Ballot
Sheila Bodel is an Employment Support Officer. She has worked in a variety of roles within education and training for over eight years. She is also studying a MA in International Business with Ulster University and plays an active role in her church.
Joanne Bunting is from East Belfast and was educated at Grosvenor High School. She has worked at the Northern Ireland Assembly for 18 years and was a councillor in Castlereagh for 11 years, serving as mayor in 2004/05. She was first elected MLA for East Belfast in 2016 after she was selected by the party to replace former leader Peter Robinson on the ballot.
Seamas De Faoite has been active in party politics since the age of 14. He chairs the Belfast youth wing of the SDLP and travelled to the US to campaign for Hillary Clinton in the final days of her push for the White House last year.
David Douglas is the son of former East Belfast DUP MLA Sammy Douglas.
Andrew Girvin is a councillor representing Castlereagh East on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Married with four children, he and his wife Nicola are qualified foster carers and he has been involved in youth work for many years. He is self-employed in the food industry and describes himself as a champion for business and development. Mr Girvin is a campaigner against animal cruelty.
Dr John Kyle is a councillor on Belfast City Council and a former interim leader of the PUP. He was co-opted to the council after the sudden death of the party leader, David Ervine. His interests include education, young people, community safety, restorative justice and conflict transformation. A GP at Holywood Arches for 20 years, he also campaigns on health issues and chairs the Health Strategy Group on the East Belfast Partnership.
Alliance leader Naomi Long was first elected MLA for East Belfast in 2003. She left the Assembly to serve as MP for the constituency from 2010-2015, when she lost her seat in the general election. She returned to Stormont in 2016. She is also a former Lord Mayor of Belfast. Born and brought up in East Belfast, she studied civil engineering at Queen's. Ms Long is a committee member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church, a governor of Victoria Primary School and is a guider in the Girl Guide movement.
Chris Lyttle was co-opted to replace Naomi Long as Alliance MLA for East Belfast in July 2010 and was re-elected in 2011 and 2016. He served on the OFMDFM and Employment and Learning Committees. He was also a member of the Assembly working groups on autism, learning disability and international development. East Belfast-born and raised, Mr Lyttle studied government and politics at Queen's. He also studied conflict management at the University of California and public policy and administration at Harvard. Before becoming an MLA, he worked as a research assistant to Naomi Long. Away from politics, he's a qualified IFA coach.
Independent candidate Jordy McKeag, an 18-year-old trainee joiner, is standing as a protest against the DUP's handling of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme. If elected, he says he will put his MLA salary on a 1000/1 accumalator bet and give any money he wins to the homeless.
Georgina Milne is a research statistician with a PhD in the impact of long-term climate change and an East Belfast Green Party Councillor.
Robin Newton is a former member of Belfast City Council and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2003 and returned to represent the East Belfast constituency in 2007, 2011 and 2016. He was elected as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2016. Mr Newton has a background in business, as chief executive of a management company, and received an MBE for services to politics and the community.
Mairead O'Donnell is a 53-year-old mother of five from the Short Strand. She is a Sinn Fein councillor on Belfast City Council. She was co-opted onto Belfast City Council in June 2016 replacing Niall O Donnghaile.
The 18-year-old call centre worker has been a socialist activist since she was 14. The former president of the Students' Union at Belfast Met is a campaigner on many social issues, particularly those affecting young people and women. In 2014, she took part in the Abortion Pill Train when abortion medicine was transported from Belfast to Dublin.