So the election is well and truly over apart from the party on friday to thank all our wonderful volunteers.
How did it go? Well, overall the SDLP didn't do very well at all but personally Mum did pretty well. Her first preference votes were down 0.4% but her overall vote after transfers was up by 1%. Doesn't sound like much but it is great considering the area is mostly a Unionist area and the overall SDLP vote in Northern Ireland was down.
I supposed I should explain a bit more for my foreign friends. Basically this was a PR Election which basically means you vote for more than one person in a 1, 2, 3, 4 ..... order, with your favourite first. You don't have to vote for everyone but you can if you want to. Our number one votes were only 816 but then we were able to get votes from other people when they were elected or eliminated. For example we received 203 number 2 votes from a candidate who had been elected. So overall we reached nearly 2000 votes after all the votes were counted.
We had our first minor victory at about 8pm when we realised that our original 816 votes had risen to 1097 votes. This number led us to this first victory as we beat our closest rivals, Sinn Fein. That made me reallllllyyyyy happy! By the end of the count at about 2am we were the last to be eliminated and we had increased our overall vote which was another great little victory for us. It shows us that our work wasn't in vain and that we have more overall support in the area than we had thought. It means that we should be able to do more work and gain more ground in the future. Fingers crossed! It was also great that Sinn Fein were elimated first and that we beat them so substantially. Fantastic!
The election period, including the election day and count day, were very interesting. I can talk to anyone and even if I don't agree with their politics I can grin and bear it, smiling through gritted teeth. I was introduced to some hardliners and terrorists. I even met my aunt who is connected with an extreme political group aka dissident republicans aka murdering scum! I couldn't believe she would be so stupid to be involved with people like that but that's her choice and even though I don't agree with her I respect her right to choose. That is if she actually did make that choice herself. If I ever get married she won't be on the guest list...lol.
Seriously though it was an interesting time and I think I made a reputation for myself because I didn't even have to introduce myself to some people...they had already heard all about me...weird eh? I was quite taken aback but still don't know if it's a positive reputation or not...lol. I think a few old dudes were even trying it on with me...lol.
Overall it is a sad day for NI politics as it has descended into extremism. It is sad because the most powerful political parties are criminals and murderers. Question...If Saddam Hussein had turned around and said that he had changed his ways and wanted to be a democrat, would he still be alive? Would anyone have let him become a legitimate politician? I have no idea why the majority of voters here support criminals and mass murderers. I am still in shock! I really wish people would have some sense.
I will let you know about any developments in the future. But lets hope that things change in the future.
