Belfast gets new Sinn Fein mayor

Sinn Féin's Tom Hartley won by just two votes

The new Lord Mayor of Belfast is Sinn Féin's Tom Hartley, who will replace outgoing first citizen Jim Rodgers of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr Hartley received 25 votes, seeing off the challenge of the DUP's Diane Dodds who got 23 votes.

New deputy mayor, David Browne of the UUP, abstained from the ballot.

Mrs Dodds accused him of "opportunism", but he rejected her claim he had made a pact with Sinn Fein, saying: "I just wouldn't vote for Diane Dodds."

Mr Browne said: "I understand that Mrs Dodds is disappointed, but that doesn't excuse her behaviour. She is behaving like a spoilt child.

"At 5.15 last night, all of the unionist councillors who were in the room said that they would not vote for Diane Dodds.

"I had never any intention of voting for Diane Dodds... it didn't matter if I voted for Diane Dodds or not last night, she was two votes short, so it was irrelevant whether I voted for her or not."

Mr Hartley, 62, said he would follow the example of former Sinn Féin Lord Mayor Alex Maskey who had laid a Remembrance Day wreath at the Cenotaph.

"I will be trying to reflect the diverse political cultures here in Belfast... I will want to meet the different communities that exist in Belfast," he told BBC News on Tuesday.

"We will have to have a discussion about meeting royalty, but where I cannot represent the citizens of Belfast, they will be represented by David Browne.

Mr Browne said: "I will be happy to take up any duties that Tom feels he is unable to attend."

Mr Hartley is only the second Sinn Fein councillor to become Belfast mayor, following Alex Maskey's term in 2002.