McCartney multiple seat bid fails

Mr McCartney had been standing for multiple assembly seats on an anti-St Andrews Agreement ticket.

Launching his "anti-manifesto", he had said it would be "absurd" to outline priorities for government when he would not be part of any administration.

A former North Down MP, he was eliminated on the seventh count there, with his vote down 5.7% on 2003.

He secured just 1,806 votes.

Rival unionist parties had accused Mr McCartney of dividing unionism and splitting their vote.

Mr McCartney has now been eliminated in North Down, Lagan Valley, North Belfast, South Antrim, Fermanagh/South Tyrone and West Tyrone.

Mr McCartney had insisted he would not be resigning if he won more than one assembly seat.

"I believe that democracy and terrorism can never co-exist in government, but clearly the electorate takes a different view"
Robert McCartney

He had threatened to take the secretary of state to court if, in the event of him winning two or more seats, he was prevented from having more than one vote in Stormont.

One bookmaker had offered odds of 5/4 on his party not winning any seats, but punters could have got 500/1 on him getting at least four seats.

Following his elimination in North Down, Mr McCartney said in the past he had "undertaken the task of analysing and exposing the defects in the policies of the devolved executive".

"A new opposition spokesman outside the major parties will now have to be found," he said.

Mr McCartney said he had worked in politics to "put something back into the community in return of the advantages which it had given me".

"I am in one sense grateful to the voters of North Down for releasing me from that self-imposed obligation.

"I believe that democracy and terrorism can never co-exist in government, but clearly the electorate takes a different view."

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