Ian Paisley retains North Antrim seat as petition of recall falls short by 444 signatures

Ian Paisley retains North Antrim seat as petition of recall falls short by 444 signatures BelfastTelegraph.co.uk The petition of recall to unseat MP Ian Paisley has failed. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ian-paisley-retains-north-antrim-seat-as-petition-of-recall-falls-short-by-444-signatures-37335977.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/article37326801.ece/a84eb/AUTOCROP/h342/2018-09-18_new_44178927_I2.JPG Email The petition of recall to unseat MP Ian Paisley has failed. In the early hours of Thursday morning it was announced 7,099 people signed the petition over the past six weeks – that was 9.4% of the electorate and 444 short of the required number. Fourteen of the papers lodged were deemed void or rejected for uncertainty. Ten percent of the North Antrim electorate was required. That was 7,543 voters. Mr Paisley did not attend the announcement. He was informed of the result by text message. The petition of recall process opened after Mr Paisley was given a 30-sitting day ban from the Commons – the longest on record for any MP. A parliamentary watchdog found in August that a year after receiving luxury holidays, Mr Paisley lobbied then prime minister David Cameron not to support a UN probe into alleged Sri Lankan human rights abuses. As well as not declaring the holidays, the MP was found to have broke Commons lobbying rules. Three centres were opened in North Antrim for the last six weeks to give voters the opportunity to sign the petition. Constituents were also able to put their name to the petition by post. Chief Electoral Officer Virginia McVea declared the results on Thursday morning just after 1am. Ms McVea communicated the outcome to Speaker John Bercow’s… [Read full story]