Coade

Dec 5, 2022

Sign Up In the 2016 Assembly election, the Alliance candidate had trailed in twelfth on less than 500 votes. The following year when Coade ran for the first time, she trebled his tally. In May’s Assembly election, she added on another 2,000 votes, winning 3,345 first preferences. Although deeply upset about leaving the party, she says she had no other choice: “I gave six years of my life working exceptionally hard for Alliance in Newry and Armagh. “I built relationships with community and voluntary organisations, with the Southern Trust, the PSNI and so many other individuals and groups. “I helped develop the local association and bring in members from across the community. I’ve had to walk away from all that because Alliance refused to take action against a party stalwart who treated me in a crass and derogatory manner. “But I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. I’m someone who actually believes what they say when speaking out against the abuse of women and girls. “If we fail to call out this behaviour — if we let it go unchallenged — we fail the next generation.” Read More Ms Coade said that, after she had resigned from the party, she was invited to an interview with David Ford and deputy Assembly whip Paula Bradshaw to discuss her concerns. “They asked me if I was going to join another party,” she said. “I told them I’d no such plans, that I felt politically homeless. I couldn’t even vote for Alliance now. How could I vote for a party that says one thing and does another? I’m still shell-shocked at what has happened. “I did absolutely nothing wrong, yet I’m the one who has had to leave the party while the man who behaved badly remains a member. “I’m stunned that a party I thought was different from the rest has done this. I expected much more from Alliance. I just hope lessons have been learnt for the future so no other female member has to go through this again.”