Some of the battles to look out for in each of the 11 council areas as the public vote tomorrow
The Northern Ireland council election campaign is in the final stretch and parties are busy making their last pitches for votes.
Here are some of the key battles in each council area which will help determine whether parties will be celebrating success or assessing electoral disappointment: TUV also may see a potential of winning back seats, as the party is running five candidates - two more than in 2019. The DUP is making a bid for two in the DEA with Councillor Carl McLean standing for the party after quitting the Ulster Unionists.
Sinn Féin is standing Ulster championship-winning hurler Noel Sands in the area as the party attempts to secure a seat in the only local authority where it has no representatives. The sole independent on the council, Paul Berry, will be seeking re-election in Cusher, and TUV will be hoping Keith Radcliffe's respectable vote in the Assembly election can translate into council seats.
Naomi Long's party is running three more candidates than during the last council election in 2019, including an ambitious bid to pick up a fourth Alliance seat in the Ormiston area of East Belfast. PUP will be down at least one councillor compared to last time, as party leader Billy Hutchinson is their only candidate after John Kyle joined the UUP.
The SDLP retained its six councillors, but a reduced vote share leaves some seats vulnerable in areas such as Causeway. Since then, Sinn Féin has had an internal shake-up in the area which included replacing its two Foyle MLAs. Alliance will aim to solidify its gains last time with two councillors elected, while independents will be seeking to maintain their strong 2019 result of four seats.
The split helped Stephen Donnelly secure Alliance's first seat on the council, and the party will be aiming to strengthen their foothold in the area. Alliance was second in vote share which almost doubled, but placed third in terms of seats as it ran too few candidates to capitalise on the surge in support.
It will be a stretch for the SDLP to win two with incumbent John Gallen standing alongside Simon Lee, who secured a seat in 2019 as a Green candidate before jumping ship last year. The Ballymena district electoral area will be closely watched to see if SDLP councillor Eugene Reid, who succeeded Declan O'Loan, can once again win out.
Her former party will be vying for the seat with their candidate Karol McQuade, while Sinn Féín is aiming for a second with Deirdre Varsani who narrowly missed out last time. With more candidates than in 2019, the republican party will be aiming to extend their lead in the battle within nationalism.
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