Being elected is ‘the icing on the cake’: McAfee

Mr McAfee who is best known for his active community work was standing for the first time yet polled a very impressive 347 votes, second only to established DUP MLA Mervyn Storey.

He said: “The whole event has been a great experience and to be elected is the icing on the cake. I cannot thank the electorate and my family enough for their encouragement and support. I stood on a number of issues that local people obviously identified with and commit myself to work tirelessly to achieve them.

“While I effectively canvassed and organised my campaign alone with the support from my family, I had the backing of a number of prominent people from the community/voluntary, statutory and private sectors who shared my concern on a number of issues.”

Mr McAfee added that he felt that elected members have a job to win back the confidence of local communities and will be encouraging greater engagement and consultation.

He added: “The fact that over 50% of the electorate in the town did not vote paints a very telling picture. On the doorsteps I found major disillusionment and this was visibly demonstrated by the low turn out.

“In the next few weeks I will be proactively engaging will a wide range of groups and individuals from all sectors, as I did prior to the elections to further judge how best to proceed.”