‘Crowded NW fieldmade further gainsfor DUP difficult’

“The European Election result was exceptional, despite so many Unionist type candidates standing, the DUP were the only main Party that increased it’s share of the vote,” he said.

He added: “SF, UUP, SDLP and TUV all had a drop. The UUP suffered its worst euro performance in history. When looking at a range of Council areas it is very clear that we as a Party have performed well, but there are areas where we need to look at the number of candidates we put up.

“The new boundaries made it very difficult to assess the breakdown and the impact of the absence of a number of high profile outgoing Councillors was also hard to gauge.

“The sheer number of candidates from the pro Union voting base made it inevitable that we as the largest Party would have our work cut out to continue on an upward trajectory, despite the competing demands that’s precisely what happened in the North West.

“The Londonderry/Strabane Council has a Unionist make up of 8 DUP and 2 UUP Councillors. Thanks are due to the thousands of voters and the many supporters who made the victories possible.

“The hard work now resumes, to deliver a better today and tomorrow for all our people.”