|
|
|
|
|
|
| Party / Candidate | 1st Pref Votes | 1st Pref % | (+/-) | Seats | (+/-) |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 202,567 | 29.2% | (-0.8%) | 38 seats | - |
| Sinn Fein | 166,785 | 24.0% | (-2.9%) | 28 seats | (-1) |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 87,302 | 12.6% | (-0.6%) | 16 seats | - |
| Social Democratic & Labour Party | 83,368 | 12.0% | (-2.2%) | 12 seats | (-2) |
| Alliance Party | 48,447 | 7.0% | (-0.7%) | 8 seats | - |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 23,776 | 3.4% | (+0.9%) | 1 seat | - |
| Green Party | 18,718 | 2.7% | (+1.8%) | 2 seats | (+1) |
| People Before Profit Alliance | 13,761 | 2.0% | (+1.2%) | 2 seats | (+2) |
| UK Independence Party | 10,109 | 1.5% | (+0.9%) | ||
| Progressive Unionist Party | 5,955 | 0.9% | (+0.7%) | ||
| Mary McCloskey (Foyle) | 3,410 | 0.5% | |||
| Claire Sugden (East Londonderry) | 3,270 | 0.5% | - | 1 seat | - |
| Conservatives | 2,554 | 0.4% | |||
| Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol | 2,510 | 0.4% | |||
| Cross-Community Labour Alternative | 1,939 | 0.3% | |||
| James Menagh (Strangford) | 1,840 | 0.3% | |||
| Josephine Deehan (West Tyrone) | 1,778 | 0.3% | |||
| Paul Berry (Newry & Armagh) | 1,663 | 0.2% | |||
| NI Labour Representation Committee | 1,577 | 0.2% | |||
| Workers Party | 1,565 | 0.2% | - | ||
| Brian Wilson (North Down) | 1,415 | 0.2% | |||
| Maurice Devenney (Foyle) | 1,173 | 0.2% | |||
| Samuel McCallister (South Down) | 1,156 | 0.2% | |||
| Mary Hutton (East Belfast) | 1,099 | 0.2% | |||
| Martin McAllister (Newry & Armagh) | 940 | 0.1% | |||
| Kathleen Bradley (Foyle) | 902 | 0.1% | |||
| Sorcha McAnespy (West Tyrone) | 828 | 0.1% | |||
| Jonny Orr (Lagan Valley) | 817 | 0.1% | |||
| Patsy Kelly (West Tyrone) | 661 | 0.1% | |||
| David McMaster (South Antrim) | 483 | 0.1% | |||
| Ruth Patterson (South Belfast) | 475 | 0.1% | |||
| South Belfast Unionists | 351 | 0.1% | |||
| Francis Hughes (North Belfast) | 243 | 0.03% | |||
| Animal Welfare Party | 224 | 0.03% | |||
| Corey French (West Tyrone) | 124 | 0.02% | |||
| Democracy First | 124 | 0.02% | |||
| Robert McCartney (Strangford) | 107 | 0.02% | |||
| Thomas Burns (North Belfast) | 87 | 0.01% | |||
| Susan White (West Tyrone) | 85 | 0.01% | |||
| Victor Christie (East Londonderry) | 61 | 0.01% | |||
| Stephen McCarroll (Upper Bann) | 33 | 0.005% | |||
| Northern Ireland First | 32 | 0.005% |
The image below shows the geographical distribution of seats won by each party in the election. It is worth noting that the constituency boundaries and the number of representatives returned by each constituency did not change between this election and that of the 2011 Assembly election. It therefore provides an excellent opportunity for comparison and analysis. If and when the next Assembly election occurs, it is very likely that there will be considerable change to the existing boundaries. The Boundary Commission has begun it's sixth periodical review and is due to deliver it's final recommendations no later than 1 October 2018. Northern Ireland will see its number of constituencies decrease from 18 seats to 17. In addition the number of MLAs resturned for each constituency will be five rather than the current six.
East Belfast 3 DUP, 2 Alliance, 1 UUP
North Belfast 3 DUP, 2 SF, 1 SDLP
South Belfast 2 DUP, 1 SDLP, 1 Alliance, 1
SF, 1 Green
West Belfast 4 SF, 1 PBP, 1 SDLP
East Antrim 3 DUP, 1 UUP, 1 Alliance, 1 SF
North Antrim 3 DUP, 1 TUV, 1 SF, 1 UUP
South Antrim 3 DUP, 1 UUP, 1 SF, 1 Alliance
North Down 3 DUP, 1 Alliance, 1 UUP, 1 Green
South Down 2 SDLP, 2 SF, 1 DUP, 1 UUP
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 2 SF, 2 DUP, 1
UUP, 1 SDLP
Foyle 2 SDLP, 2 SF, 1 DUP, 1 PBP
Lagan Valley 3 DUP, 2 UUP, 1 Alliance
East Londonderry 3 DUP, 1 SF, 1 Ind, 1 SDLP
Mid Ulster 3 SF, 1 DUP, 1 SDLP, 1 UUP
Newry and Armagh 3 SF, 1 SDLP, 1 DUP, 1
UUP
Strangford 3 DUP, 2 UUP, 1 Alliance
West Tyrone 3 SF, 1 DUP, 1 UUP, 1 SDLP
Upper Bann 2 DUP, 2 SF, 1 UUP
The vote for all of the established parties was down. Down only slightly, 0.7%-0.8% for the DUP, UUP and Alliance, who were each returned with the same number of seats as in 2011. Down 2.2% for the SDLP from an already low base, and down 2.9% for Sinn Fein. It was the worst ever election in vote share for both the SDLP and UUP. The beneficiaries were the smaller parties; the Assembly has two Greens rather than one and two new MLAs from the People Before Profits Alliance. Independent MLA Claire Sugden held her seat, as did Jim Allister of the TUV.
The number of seats held by the Unionist parties did not change at all. The DUP took a UUP seat in South Belfast; the UUP took a DUP seat in neighbouring Lagan Valley. Otherwise, that was it, apart from some shifting of personnel. The expectation that the DUP vote was vulnerable to the fringe Unionists TUV, PUP, UKIP and to the UUP proved to be unfounded. Turnout was up in Unionist constituencies, but not necessarily for Unionist parties.
The Nationalist vote decreased for the fourth electoral cycle in a row; the combined SF and SDLP vote fell by over 5%. Both SF and the SDLP lost seats to the People Before Profit Alliance in Foyle and West Belfast; the SDLP also lost a seat to the Greens in South Belfast; the SDLP regained the seat they should not have lost last time from SF in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, but lost to them in Upper Bann. The Assembly has only 40 members from Nationalist parties, the fewest since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
In between, Alliance had something of a damp squib, holding their own (with tight squeezes, including the party leader in South Antrim); but the Greens surged to take a South Belfast seat and hold North Down. The PBPA success demonstrated that voters in Nationalist areas are not always concerned about voting for Nationalist candidates or indeed about voting at all; turnout was down in all Nationalist-majority seats.
Overall, the lack of change among the headline figures masks a shift towards the younger generation and to a more diverse Assembly. There were 30 women elected, compared to 20 in 2011 and 23 in the outgoing Assembly after co-options are considered. In the first election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons, in 1921, two women, Dehra Chichester and Julia McMordie, were elected to its 52 seats, both Ulster Unionists. There was only one woman member of the Stormont House of Commons when it was prorogued in 1972 (Anne Dickson, later leader of the UPNI). Times have changed.
The closest results were:
See also: Jim Riley's analysis of votes and seats in the 1998 Assembly election | List of all 1998 candidates
Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey
Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.
Nicholas Whyte, 13 March 2010.
|
|
Disclaimer:© Nicholas Whyte 1998-2004 Last
Updated on Sunday,
06-Mar-2011 19:41
|