Sinn Fein has hailed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as they became the largest party at Stormont for the first time and pushed the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) into second place.
The Irish nationalist party’s vice-president Michelle O’Neill said it was a “defining moment for our politics and our people” and said she wanted to “work together” with the DUP to restore power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.
Sinn Fein has won 27 seats and received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 23 seats and 21.3 per cent of first preference votes for the DUP – raising the prosect of the first-ever Irish nationalist first minister.
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose nationalist party also made gains in local elections, said earlier it would be an “extraordinary result” if Sinn Fein came out on top and “something that seemed impossible not that long ago”.
Over in England, the Conservatives have recorded a loss of nearly 500 seats in local elections to date as well as a string of flagship councils, including the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Westminster.
The politics blog is now closed, however we’ll be back tomorrow with the latest news from the heart of Westminster and beyond.
Keir Starmer should ‘consider position’ if fined by police, says Diane Abbott
Sir Keir Starmer should “consider his position” as Labour leader if he is fined as part of a police inquiry into a takeaway meal with colleagues, former shadow minister Diane Abbott has said.
Durham Constabulary is investigating claims that an event attended by Sir Keir along with other senior party figures and activists while campaigning last year might have broken local Covid regulations.
“I think if he actually gets a fixed penalty notice he really has to consider his position,” Ms Abbott, a left-wing critic of Sir Keir’s leadership, told LBC.
Adam Forrest has the details.
Nicola Sturgeon congratulates Sinn Fein on ‘historic result’
Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland after victory
Parties should restore power-sharing as ‘soon as possible’, says NI secretary
Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, set to travel to Belfast on Monday to meet political leaders, said he encouraged the parties to form an executive “as soon as possible”.
The cabinet minister said: “The electorate delivered a number of messages on Thursday. They were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better.”
Mr Lewis added: “Over the coming days I will be meeting with all the party leaders and will urge them to restore the Stormont institutions at the earliest possible moment, starting with the nomination of an Assembly Speaker within eight days.”
Sadiq Khan: Starmer allegations a million miles from Boris Johnson’s actions
Labour urges ‘return to the executive’ despite protocol row
Labour has urged Boris Johnson’s government to “prioritise practical solutions through negotiation with the EU” over the protocol and “not chase headlines with empty threats”.
Peter Kyle MP, shadow Northern Ireland secretary, congratulated Sinn Fein and said they had “earned the right to nominate a new first minister”.
He added: “Unionism will still have a strong voice within power sharing and calls for progress on the remaining issues of the protocol have been heard and should not prevent a return to the executive”.
Mr Johnson’s government is drawing up legislation aimed at tearing up checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland unilaterally – a move which is sure to spark a major row with the EU.
But the bill is understood to be on hold until after the 10 May Queen’s Speech, with ministers hoping that the election results can persuade Brussels to agree that checks must be dropped to restore power-sharing arrangements.
Sinn Fein hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland as nationalists become largest party for first time
Sinn Fein has hailed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as the Irish nationalist party swept history aside and emerged the largest political force at Stormont for the first time.
Michelle O’Neill, the party’s leader north of the border, challenged the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to drop its obsession with Brexit checks and “work together” to restore the power-sharing executive which collapsed in February.
“Today represents a very significant moment of change, it’s a defining moment for our politics and our people,” said Ms O’Neill after the Republicans won the most votes and most seats for the first time since the country’s political institutions were set up a century ago.
Sinn Fein has won 27 seats and received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 23 seats and 21.3 per cent of first preference votes for the DUP – raising the prosect of the first-ever Irish nationalist first minister.
Adam Forrest reports.
Labour lose control of Tower Hamlets
Labour has lost control of Tower Hamlets council in London to the Aspire party, after it won 24 of the 45 seats on the council, with two seats still to be declared.
On Friday, Aspire’s Lutfur Rahman defeated Labour incumbent John Biggs to become the elected mayor of Tower Hamlets.It a remarkable turnaround, seven years after Rahman was removed from the same post for multiple breaches of electoral law.
He was banned from politics for five years after an electoral commissioner ruled he had “driven a coach and horses through election law”.
