New MLAs promise change from ‘orange’ or ‘green’

The rise of People Before Profit and the Green Party in the Assembly brings a radical new edge to Stormont.

Gerry Carroll won People Before Profit's first Assembly seat in Belfast West at the expense of Sinn Féin's Rosie McCorley, topping the poll with an impressive 8,299 votes.

“West Belfast rising has begun,” Mr Carroll (28) said in his declaration speech.

The self-styled “revolutionary socialist” was the bookmakers’ favourite going into the election.

After running for the Assembly in 2011 and polling 1,161 votes, his young campaign team has spent the past five years knocking on doors and spreading an anti-austerity message to people “fed up with poverty and deprivation,” he said.

Mr Carroll was elected to Belfast City Council in 2014, took nearly 20 per cent of the vote at the Westminster election last year and is now an MLA.

Such a spectacular result in a republican heartland is a psychological blow for Sinn Féin.

Alt.politics

Mr Carroll has consistently said people are looking for an alternative to "orange and green" politics. He believes voters have connected with the idea of a "radical political alternative" to other Stormont parties, and notes the emergence of socialist leaders such as Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in Britain as attributing to his success.

Veteran civil rights campaigner Eamonn McCann took a second seat for People Before Profit when he was elected in Foyle.

Mr McCann (73) said he and Mr Carroll will declare as “Other” and not “Nationalist” or “Unionist” at Stormont.

He said he believes the party did well in Belfast West and Foyle because it offered a “political alternative to orange versus green”, and that they will be able to hold the Executive to account, to an extent.

The Green Party also has cause to be pleased as it doubled its representation at Stormont. Leader Steven Agnew was returned in North Down and deputy leader Clare Bailey was elected in Belfast South, taking the fourth of six seats in the constituency.

As its solo MLA in the last Assembly, Mr Agnew was strong on environmental and animal rights issues. He was able to get his Children’s Bill passed and also led the charge over welfare reform, offering critical analysis of the DUP and Sinn Féin’s handling of the matter.

Mr Agnew now has company “up on the hill” in the form of Ms Bailey (45), who received 3,521 first preference votes and was elected with 6,056 overall.

Before Friday, Ms Bailey worked for Nexus NI, a charity supporting victims of rape and sexual abuse. She has never held public office, and yesterday said she was “excited for 9 o’clock Monday morning” to get started.

Strong positions

Ms Bailey has lived in the Ormeau Road area of south Belfast for two decades. She said her success in the diverse constituency is down to the strong positions her party have taken on social issues.

“The issues that were coming up on the doors was our stance on social issues, abortion, equal marriage and the equality agenda,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fiona Ferguson did well to get 1,286 votes in Belfast North for PBP while Ross Brown missed out on the last seat in Belfast East for the Greens, but can be pleased with his 2,183 first preference votes.