Stewart held his council seat in the 1997 and 2001 local elections.[2] In 2001/2, he served as Deputy Mayor of Coleraine, then in 2003/4 as the borough's Mayor.[4][5]
Following the 2005 Northern Ireland local elections, in which Stewart was again re-elected, he was accused of electoral fraud. He was subsequently convicted of taking fifteen electoral votes from a care home and using them to vote for himself.[6] He admitted the charges and resigned from both his party and the council,[7] and was sentenced to four months in prison.[6] During his trial, he punched a press photographer, for which he was fined £300.[8] The subsequent council by-election was won by the Alliance Party, which has held the seat ever since.
