Can't buy you power
"I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me... power"? Well that might be far from true in US politics, but according to the latest Electoral Commission figures on the March assembly election campaign the sentiment may hold true closer to home. The figures show that of the four biggest parties, the one who spent the most emerged with the least seats.
The SDLP spent nearly £370,000 during the campaign, after which they held on to only 16 seats. (That includes more than £120,000 on advertising which apparently covered some pretty expensive billboards and Sunday newspaper adverts). The Ulster Unionists spent more than £260,000 for their 18 seats. The DUP spent just over £250,000 for their 36 seats, whilst Sinn Fein spent nearly £220,000 for their 28 seats.
The Electoral Commission has fined the Ulster Unionists £500 for making a late return on their campaign spending. It has also fined the Workers Party and the Socialist Environmental Alliance £500 each for failing to submit a return.
The Commission will now start going through the figures submitted by the parties with its fine tooth comb to try to establish that everything which should have been declared has been declared.
I've tried to boil the figures down into a value for money chart, revealing who took a seat for the least expenditure. So here goes with the figure representing how much the election cost per seat won.
1. Kieran Deeney £5,985
2. DUP £6,984
3. Sinn Fein £7,824
4. PUP £12,375
5. Alliance £14,061
6. UUP £14,556
7. SDLP £22,922
8. Green £98,432
I'm 
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Mark: You quoted the figure of £98,432 to elect one Green Party member to the Assembly! I wonder how many trees were cut down to produce all the campaign literature and how many parties actually used recycled paper?
Mark
You’ll find that Sinn Fein’s election expenditure does not include, inter alia, the donations (loans?) from the Northern Bank and the FARC guerrilla group. These omissions won’t trouble the Electoral Commission which will give all the Parties a clean bill of financial health. Like the rest of the Establishment, the Commission will play its part in shoring up a faux democracy.
By the way, someone should point out to the Alliance Party that there was no need to include the cost of replacing stolen Laptops in its figures; another Alliance howler that provides more ammunition for Cruella de Ville (aka Iris Robinson) to fire at poor old Kieran McCarthy. Kieran, Baby, we feel your pain!
Frank
Carryduff