Row over ‘sectarian’ Kelly election leaflet
Election literature circulated by Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly has been branded “sectarian”.
The leaflet includes figures for north Belfast’s religious breakdown from the 2011 census, saying the area is 46.94% Catholic and 45.67% Protestant.
It adds: “Make the change, make history”.
Nigel Dodds of the DUP, who is also standing in the constituency, said: “Publicly Sinn Féin talk about challenging sectarianism, but then produce leaflets which rely on blatant sectarian head counting in north Belfast.”
Tom Elliott of the UUP said: “In their headlong rush to try and win the Westminster seat of north Belfast, they have resorted to the lowest common denominator – sectarianism.”
Nuala McAllister from Alliance said: “This amounts to nothing more than trying to make the election a sectarian headcount rather than about the issues.”
Mr Kelly has defended the leaflet saying it reflects official census numbers and offers “compelling official evidence of significant demographic change”.
The other candidates standing in north Belfast include Alban Maginness of the SDLP, Jason O’Neill of Alliance, Gemma Weir of the Workers’ Party and the Independent candidate Fra Hughes.
A full list of candidates across all 18 constituencies is available on the Electoral Office for NI website.
The General Election will be held on Thursday.
