Could more independents stand and be elected in council elections?
The majority of councils in Northern Ireland have at least one independent elected councillor. Around half have two or more. Independents received just over 5% of first preference votes in the May 2011 elections, less than Alliance’s 7.4%, but more than the TUV, Green, PUP and UKIP combined. In the last Scottish council elections, independents picked up 10.9% of the votes and over 15% of the seats. Many independent councillors seem to align to parties – often having left them …