Sinn Féin are hoping to elect three MLAs in Foyle for the first time, standing three candidates next year. Ciara Ferguson, Christopher Jackson and Sandra Duffy will be on the ticket.
Chloe Devine has been co-opted onto Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council to replace Sorcha McGeown, who is stepping down due to family commitments.
Councils across Northern Ireland have now appointed new mayors and deputy mayors for the 2026/27 term, the last year of the four-year mandate they have until the election next year. Sinn Féin and the DUP hold the mayor position in almost all councils.
Doug Beattie has quit the UUP, saying his position ‘is no longer tenable’. In a letter to party leader Jon Burrows, he says a ‘toxic atmosphere has been allowed to flourish’. He will serve the remainder of his term as an independent.
An MLA since 2003, Patsy McGlone will retire at the end of this Assembly mandate. He is the SDLP’s longest-serving politician in the Assembly, and has been described as a ‘stalwart’.
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) will field two North Antrim candidates in the Assembly election next year. The party say they hope to elect both Timothy Gaston and Kirk Wilson.
The local Ulster Unionist Party association in Upper Bann is now expected to reselect Doug Beattie to stand in next year’s Assembly election. It comes after the party HQ asked the association to ‘revisit’ its decision.
Doug Beattie will not be selected as the Ulster Unionist Party’s Upper Bann candidate in the next election. The BBC are reporting that he will stand either as an independent or for another party.
Sinn Féin have accused DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons of not funding the place-names project, something he denies, saying that responsibility was transferred to his department without funding being made available.
