East Belfast News: Can Lyttle Go A Long Way?

Following the electoral victory of Naomi Long in the East Belfast Constituency, the Alliance Party replaced her as MLA with Chris Lytle.

The party have now nominated both Chris Lytle and Castlereagh Councillor Judith Cochrane to fight in next year's Northern Ireland Assembly Elections, in the East Belfast constituency.

Ms. Cochrane stated that it was an honour to be selected and highlighted the party's proud tradition of public service, whilst Alliance MLA for East Belfast stated that he aimed to replace the wasteful tribal politics of the past.

Editorial

As the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly Elections approach, we will all see candidates hit the media with their spin on why we should vote for them.

East Belfast will be keenly watched as all parties will have to manage their vote very carefully, The 2010 General Election may have saw victories for some, but the voters saw the biggest circumvention of democracy, as parties substituted former MLA's now MP's, with un-elected members, Chris Lytle was one such candidate. The question is, can Chris Lytle and those substituted on voters, secure their vote to become elected members. 

So much has changed in East Belfast since the last Assembly Elections when the DUP saw three members elected and the Ulster Unionist, Alliance & PUP, each saw one member returned. In particular, Dawn Purvis has left the PUP and will stand as an independent candidate, Sir Reg Empey stepped down as UUP Leader after a disastrous General Election result, his reward rumoured to be a seat in the Lords and Peter Robinson who was East Belfast MP for decades lost his seat to Naomi Long.

The Alliance Party appears to have calculated that their share of the vote in the General Election will see them safely return two MLA's, if so who will be the losers? Will the PUP lose representation in East Belfast, will Dawn Purvis lose out or will the DUP have to re-calculate their share of the vote, send Lord Wallace Browne to the Lords and only nominate two candidates. It won't be long before we all find out, but if as reported UKIP stand in this mainly unionist constituency, it could all change, if parties fail to manage their votes carefully.