SDLP spent nearly 10 times as much as Sinn Féin in Assembly elections

THE SDLP spent nearly 10 times as much as Sinn Féin in last year's Assembly elections and still ended up being beaten into second place for the nationalist vote for the first time.

It meant the SDLP paid out around stg£2 for each vote received, while Sinn Féin's cost them 18p each.

Campaign expenditure figures released by the Electoral Commission showed the SDLP as the big spender and also that the Ulster Unionists spent over stg£20,000 more than the Democratic Unionists, and still lost their place as the dominant party among unionism.