Sinn Fein chief whip to stand in South Belfast

Sinn Fein’s Assembly chief whip Alex Maskey is to contest South Belfast in the next General and Local Government Elections.

The party announced today he will be contesting the seat at the next Westminster poll and will also bid for a Belfast City Council seat in the Laganbank ward instead of defending his seat in Upper Falls.

Mr Maskey, who represents West Belfast in the Assembly, is replacing Councillor Sean Hayes as the party’s candidate at Laganbank following his announcement last week to seek election to Castlereagh Borough Council instead.

Councillor Hayes had been expected to fight the South Belfast seat at the General Election.

Sinn Fein’s decision to field Mr Maskey in South Belfast at the General Election will hot up the battle for nationalist votes in a seat which the SDLP hopes to take with its candidate Dr Alasdair McDonnell.

Dr McDonnell, an Assembly member for the area, will be hoping to build on the 9,601 votes his party polled in the 1997 General Election. The party also won two seats in the constituency at the 1998 Assembly election.

However, Mr Maskey will want to increase Sinn Fein’s tally of 2,019 votes from 1997 when Councillor Hayes was the candidate.

Ulster Unionist MP, the Rev Martin Smyth is defending a 4,600 majority over the SDLP from 1997.

The anti-Good Friday Agreement South Belfast MP saw off a challenge from Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister Michael McGimpsey for his party’s nomination.

Mr Maskey today hoped his party would continue to make ‘‘steady progress’’ in South Belfast in the local government and Westminster elections.

‘‘We will be standing more candidates than ever before in the forthcoming local government elections,’’ he said.

‘‘Stephen Long will be challenging in Balmoral and Councillor Sean Hayes will be running in Castlereagh South. It is our intention to run an additional candidate in Castlereagh West.

‘‘I am honoured to have been selected to challenge Martin Smyth for the Westminster seat. South Belfast is a growing nationalist constituency and Sinn Fein are confident that we will make gains in the forthcoming polls.’’