Northern Ireland local elections 2023: Brexit, STV and everything else you need to know about Thursday’s vote
Voters across Northern Ireland will head to the ballot box for local elections this Thursday.
On 18 May, people across the country will get the opportunity to decide who is responsible for local issues, from leisure services to bin collections.
Local elections are often used by voters to voice their opinion on national political parties, so the results will be watched closely ahead of the next Northern Ireland Assembly elections, which could be in January 2024.
This is particularly poignant at the moment as there has been no functioning government in Northern Ireland since February 2022 after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to form a power-sharing government in protest over post-Brexit trading agreements.
Voters are likely to use the local elections to give a verdict on the parties’ approach to the Windsor Framework, the amended Brexit deal for Northern Ireland agreed by Westminster and the EU in February.
Sky News takes you through all you need to know about the upcoming local elections.
Where are they taking place?
A total of 462 seats will be up for grabs in all of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils.
They are taking place two weeks later than originally planned after Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker pushed them back over concerns the King’s coronation on 6 May would “impede the smooth running of the election and cause difficulties for staff involved”.
Local elections in England went ahead on 4 May, when Northern Ireland’s were originally planned for.
The local elections will be a test for the DUP, which refused to form a powersharing government over post-Brexit trading agreements
Which voting system will be used?
A single transferable vote system is used for the country’s local elections, just as it is for Northern Ireland Assembly elections and Scottish local elections.
Voters have to mark a “1” against their first preferred candidate on the ballot paper, a “2” against their second preference and so on, for as many candidates as they wish.
A mathematical formula based on the number of seats and number of votes cast is used to calculate a quota for each area.
Candidates who receive the number of first preference votes to meet the quota are then elected.
If a candidate has more votes than the quota their extra votes are transferred to the next preferred candidate.
The candidate with the fewest votes is knocked out and their second preferences transferred to other candidates.
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This process continues until either five, six or seven candidates meet the quota or there are only five, six or seven left (depending on area) and they are then elected.
As a result, the counting generally takes longer than in England, where the first-past-the-post system is used.
The system has been used since 1998 and was chosen to allow the widest range of voices to be heard.
Who can vote?
People must be registered to vote, live in Northern Ireland, be 18 years or older and be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth or EU citizen.
Those who are registered to vote will receive a polling card in the post ahead of the day.
The deadline to register was midnight on 28 April.
What are the different ways of voting?
Voters can head to their local polling station on 18 May, with the location indicated on their polling card, but people do not need to take the card with them.
Those who wish to vote by post must fill in a postal vote application form and send it back to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland by the date stated on their form – it is different for different areas.
The Alliance Party is hoping to build on its success from the last local elections
Voters can also nominate a proxy to vote on their behalf. They must have completed an application form specifying the reason they cannot go in person to vote.
The deadline for applying to vote by post or proxy was 26 April.
Voter identification
Northern Ireland introduced the requirement to show photo ID before being able to vote in 2002. It was required for the first time in England during the latest local elections earlier in May.
Valid ID includes a UK, Irish or EEA/EU driving licence or passport, an electoral ID card, Translink cards or biometric immigration documents.
The documents do not need to be current or have your registered voter address, but the photo must be of a good enough likeness.
What happened last time?
The 2019 local elections saw a rise in support for the Alliance Party, notable because it is a liberal and centrist party as opposed to a unionist or republican party.
It remained the fifth-largest party but closed the gap on all the others and its success was replicated in the European, Westminster and Stormont elections over the next three years.
Sinn Feinn is hoping to become the largest party in the local elections
The Greens and People Before Profit, both smaller parties, gained four seats each in 2019 but all the others lost seats.
The DUP remained the largest party with 122 seats, but dropped eight, while Sinn Fein came second with 105 – unchanged from the previous election.
The Ulster Unionist Party came third with 75 seats, losing 13, and the smaller Traditional Unionist Voice dropped seven to hold six.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
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What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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