Elections in Northern Ireland

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Elections in Northern Ireland are held on a regular basis to local councils, the Northern Ireland Assembly and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 members, elected in 18 five-member constituencies by the single transferable vote (STV) method.[1] Northern Ireland is represented at Westminster by 18 single-member constituencies elected by the first-past-the-post method.

Unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom, elections in Northern Ireland are administered centrally by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland rather than by local authorities.

Elections to the United Kingdom House of Commons[]

Legend
U: Unionist; N: Nationalist; O: Other.
Results over time(Northern Irish seats for parliament)
Election DUP (U) SF (N) UUP (U) SDLP (N) APNI (O) UKUP (U) UPUP (U) UUUP (U) VUPP (U) RLP (N) PUP (U) Unity (N) NP (N) Lab (O) Ind U Ind N Ind Lab Total Total U Total N Total O
1922 11 2 13 11 2
1923 11 2 13 11 2
1924 13 13 13
1929 11 2 13 11 2
1931 11 2 13 11 2
1935 11 2 13 11 2
1945 9 2 1 1 13 10 2 1
1950 10 2 12 10 2
1951 9 2 1 12 9 2 1
1955 2 10 12 10 2
1959 12 12 12
1964 12 12 12
1966 11 1 12 11 1
1970 8 1 1 2 12 9 3
Feb. 1974 1 7 1 3 12 11 1
Oct. 1974 1 6 1 3 1 12 10 2
1979 3 5 1 1 1 1 12 10 2
1983 3 1 11 1 1 17 15 2
1987 3 1 9 3 1 17 13 4
1992 3 9 4 1 17 13 4
1997 2 2 10 3 1 18 13 5
2001 5 4 6 3 18 11 7
2005 9 5 1 3 18 10 8
2010 8 5 3 1 1 18 9 8 1
2015 8 4 2 3 1 18 11 7
2017 10 7 1 18 11 7
2019 8 7 2 1 18 8 9 1
  • Sinn Féin have never taken their seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons due to their policy of abstentionism.
  • UUP MPs sat as members of the Conservative Party until 1972.

By-elections[]

Gains are marked with a grey background.

Constituency Date Incumbent Party Winner Party Cause
Mid Armagh 23 June 1921 James Lonsdale UUP Henry Armstrong UUP Death
Belfast Duncairn 23 June 1921 Edward Carson UUP Thomas McConnell UUP Appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
North Down 23 June 1921 Thomas Watters Brown UUP Thomas Watters Brown UUP Appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland
Mid Down 2 July 1921 James Craig UUP Robert Sharman-Crawford UUP Elected Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
West Down 5 July 1921 Daniel Martin Wilson UUP Thomas Browne Wallace UUP Appointed Recorder of Belfast
South Londonderry 29 August 1921 Denis Henry UUP Robert Chichester UUP Appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
South Londonderry 18 January 1922 Robert Chichester UUP William Pain UUP Death
West Down 17 February 1922 Thomas Browne Wallace UUP Hugh Hayes UUP Appointed Chief Clerk to the High Court of Northern Ireland
North Down 21 February 1922 Thomas Watters Brown UUP Sir Henry Wilson, bt UUP Appointed to the High Court of Northern Ireland
North Londonderry 4 June 1922 Hugh T. Barrie UUP Malcolm Macnaghten UUP Death
North Down 21 July 1922 Sir Henry Wilson, bt UUP John Simms UUP Killed by the IRA
Londonderry 29 January 1929 Malcolm Macnaghten UUP Ronald Ross UUP Appointment to High Court of Justice of England and Wales
Fermanagh and Tyrone 7 March 1931 Thomas Harbison Nationalist Cahir Healy Nationalist Death
Fermanagh and Tyrone 27 June 1934 Joseph Devlin Nationalist Joe Stewart Nationalist Death
Down 10 May 1939 David Reid UUP James Little UUP Death
Belfast East 8 February 1940 Herbert Dixon UUP Henry Harland UUP Elevation to the Peerage
Queen's University of Belfast 2 November 1940 Thomas Sinclair UUP Douglas Savory UUP Resignation
Belfast West 9 February 1943 Alexander Browne UUP Jack Beattie NI Labour Death
Antrim 11 February 1943 Sir Joseph McConnell, Bt UUP John Dermot Campbell UUP Death
Down 2 June 194 James Little Ind U C. H. Mullan UUP Death
Armagh 5 March 1948 Sir William Allen UUP James Harden UUP Death by road accident
Belfast West 29 November 1950 J. G. MacManaway UUP Thomas Teevan UUP Disqualified under the House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act 1801
Londonderry 19 May 1951 Ronald Ross UUP William Wellwood UUP Appointment as Northern Ireland Government Agent in London
North Antrim 27 October 1952 Sir Hugh O'Neill UUP Phelim O'Neill UUP Resignation
Belfast South 4 November 1952 Conolly Gage UUP David Campbell UUP Resignation
North Down 15 April 1953 Walter Smiles UUP Patricia Ford UUP Died in MV Princess Victoria ferry disaster
Armagh 20 November 1954 James Harden UUP C. W. Armstrong UUP Resignation
Mid Ulster 11 August 1955 Tom Mitchell Sinn Féin Tom Mitchell Sinn Féin Disqualification
Mid Ulster 8 May 1956 Charles Beattie UUP George Forrest Ind U Disqualification
Belfast East 19 March 1959 Alan McKibbin UUP Stanley McMaster UUP Death
Belfast South 22 October 1963 Sir David Campbell UUP Rafton Pounder UUP Death
Mid Ulster 17 April 1969 George Forrest UUP Bernadette Devlin Unity Death
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 9 April 1981 Frank Maguire Independent Nationalist Bobby Sands Anti H-Block Death
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 20 August 1981 Bobby Sands Anti H-Block Owen Carron Anti H-Block Death from hunger strike
Belfast South 4 March 1982 Robert Bradford UUP Martin Smyth UUP Killed by the IRA
Antrim North 23 January 1986 Ian Paisley DUP Ian Paisley DUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Antrim East 23 January 1986 Roy Beggs UUP Roy Beggs UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Antrim South 23 January 1986 Clifford Forsythe UUP Clifford Forsythe UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast East 23 January 1986 Peter Robinson DUP Peter Robinson DUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast North 23 January 1986 Cecil Walker UUP Cecil Walker UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast South 23 January 1986 Martin Smyth UUP Martin Smyth UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Down North 23 January 1986 James Kilfedder UPUP James Kilfedder UPUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Down South 23 January 1986 Enoch Powell UUP Enoch Powell UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 23 January 1986 Ken Maginnis UUP Ken Maginnis UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Lagan Valley 23 January 1986 James Molyneaux UUP James Molyneaux UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
East Londonderry 23 January 1986 William Ross UUP William Ross UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Mid Ulster 23 January 1986 William McCrea DUP William McCrea DUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Strangford 23 January 1986 John Taylor UUP John Taylor UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Newry and Armagh 23 January 1986 James Nicholson UUP Seamus Mallon SDLP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Upper Bann 23 January 1986 Harold McCusker UUP Harold McCusker UUP Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Upper Bann 17 May 1990 Harold McCusker UUP David Trimble UUP Death
North Down 15 June 1995 Sir James Kilfedder UPUP Robert McCartney UK Unionist Death
South Antrim 21 September 2000 Clifford Forsythe UUP William McCrea DUP Death
Belfast West 9 June 2011 Gerry Adams Sinn Féin Paul Maskey Sinn Féin Resignation to contest the Louth constituency in the Irish general election
Mid Ulster 7 March 2013 Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin Francie Molloy Sinn Féin Resignation to end dual mandate as Member of Parliament and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
West Tyrone 3 May 2018 Barry McElduff Sinn Féin Órfhlaith Begley Sinn Féin Resignation

Recall petition[]

Referendums[]

Northern Ireland–specific referendums[]

United Kingdom–wide referendums[]

  • 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum#Results by United Kingdom constituent countries
  • 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum#Results by constituent countries
  • 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum#Results by constituent countries

Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly[]

Legend
U: Unionist; N: Nationalist; O: Other.
Election DUP (U) SF (N) UUP (U) SDLP (N) APNI (O) UKUP (U) UPUP (U) PUP (U) VUPP (U) UPNI (U) NILP (O) NIWC (O) GPNI (O) TUV (U) PBP (O) Ind U Ind N Ind O Total Total U Total N Total O
1973 8 31 19 8 7 1 4 78 50 19 9
1975 12 19 17 8 14 5 1 2 78 52 17 9
1982 21 5 26 14 10 1 1 78 49 19 10
1998 20 18 28 24 6 5 2 2 3 108 58 42 8
2003 30 24 27 18 6 1 1 1 108 59 42 7
2007 36 28 18 16 7 1 1 1 108 55 44 9
2011 38 29 16 14 8 1 1 1 108 56 43 9
2016 38 28 16 12 8 2 1 2 1 108 58 40 12
2017 28 27 10 12 8 2 1 1 1 90 40 39 11

Elections to the European Parliament[]

Main article: Northern Ireland (European Parliament constituency)

From 1979 to 2020, three of the seats in the European Parliament allocated to the United Kingdom formed a three-seat constituency elected by single transferable vote. It differed from European Parliament constituencies elsewhere in the United Kingdom which used the D'Hondt method. The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and the constituency was abolished.

Year
DUP SF APNI UUP SDLP
1979 1 0 0 1 1
1984 1 0 0 1 1
1989 1 0 0 1 1
1994 1 0 0 1 1
1999 1 0 0 1 1
2004 1 1 0 1 0
2009 1 1 0 1 0
2014 1 1 0 1 0
2019 1 1 1 0 0

Ad hoc elections[]

Elections to the Northern Ireland House of Commons[]

  • 1921 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1925 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1929 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1933 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1938 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1945 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1949 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1953 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1958 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1962 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1965 Northern Ireland general election
  • 1969 Northern Ireland general election

By-elections[]

Local elections[]

References[]

  1. ^ Whyte, Nicholas. "The Single Transferable Vote (STV)". Northern Ireland Elections. Retrieved 28 June 2016.

External links[]

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