Elections in Northern Ireland explained

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.

Election	SF (N)	DUP (U)	UUP (U)	SDLP (N)	APNI (O)	TUV (U)	UKUP (U)	UPUP (U)	UUUP (U)	VUPP (U)	RLP (N)	PUP (U)	Unity (N)	NP (N)	Lab (O)				Total			Total O
			11											2					13	11	2
			11											2					13	11	2
			13																13	13
			11											2					13	11	2
			11											2					13	11	2
			11											2					13	11	2
			9											2		1		1	13	10	2	1
			10											2					12	10	2
			9											2	1				12	9	2	1
	2		10																12	10	2
			12																12	12
			12																12	12
1966			11								1								12	11	1
1970			8								1	1	2						12	9	3
		1	7	1						3									12	11	1
		1	6	1						3							1		12	10	2
1979		3	5	1					1							1	1		12	10	2
1983	1	3	11	1				1											17	15	2
1987	1	3	9	3				1											17	13	4
1992		3	9	4				1											17	13	4
1997	2	2	10	3			1												18	13	5
2001	4	5	6	3															18	11	7
2005	5	9	1	3															18	10	8
2010	5	8		3	1											1			18	9	8	1
2015	4	8	2	3												1			18	11	7
2017	7	10														1			18	11	7
2019	7	8		2	1														18	8	9	1
2024	7	5	1	2	1	1										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		James Lonsdale		Henry Armstrong		Death
Belfast Duncairn		Edward Carson		Thomas McConnell		Appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
North Down		Thomas Watters Brown		Thomas Watters Brown		Appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland
Mid Down		James Craig		Robert Sharman-Crawford		Elected Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
West Down		Daniel Martin Wilson		Thomas Browne Wallace		Appointed Recorder of Belfast
South Londonderry		Denis Henry		Robert Chichester		Appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
South Londonderry		Robert Chichester		William Pain		Death
West Down		Thomas Browne Wallace		Hugh Hayes		Appointed Chief Clerk to the High Court of Northern Ireland
North Down		Thomas Watters Brown		Sir Henry Wilson, Bt		Appointed to the High Court of Northern Ireland
North Londonderry		Hugh T. Barrie		Malcolm Macnaghten		Death
North Down		Sir Henry Wilson, Bt		John Simms		Killed by the IRA
Londonderry		Malcolm Macnaghten		Ronald Ross		Appointment to High Court of Justice of England and Wales
Fermanagh and Tyrone		Thomas Harbison		Cahir Healy		Death
Fermanagh and Tyrone		Joseph Devlin		Joe Stewart		Death
Down		David Reid		James Little		Death
Belfast East		Herbert Dixon		Henry Harland		Elevation to the Peerage
Queen's University of Belfast		Thomas Sinclair		Douglas Savory		Resignation
Belfast West		Alexander Browne		Jack Beattie		Death
Antrim		Sir Joseph McConnell, Bt		John Dermot Campbell		Death
Down		James Little		C. H. Mullan		Death
Armagh		Sir William Allen		James Harden		Death by road accident
Belfast West		J. G. MacManaway		Thomas Teevan		Disqualified under the House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act 1801
Londonderry		Ronald Ross		William Wellwood		Appointment as Northern Ireland Government Agent in London
North Antrim		Sir Hugh O'Neill		Phelim O'Neill		Resignation
Belfast South		Conolly Gage		David Campbell		Resignation
North Down		Walter Smiles		Patricia Ford		Died in MV Princess Victoria ferry disaster
Armagh		James Harden		C. W. Armstrong		Resignation
Mid Ulster		Tom Mitchell		Tom Mitchell		Disqualification
Mid Ulster		Charles Beattie		George Forrest		Disqualification
Belfast East		Alan McKibbin		Stanley McMaster		Death
Belfast South		Sir David Campbell		Rafton Pounder		Death
Mid Ulster		George Forrest		Bernadette Devlin		Death
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Frank Maguire		Bobby Sands		Death
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Bobby Sands		Owen Carron		Death from hunger strike
Belfast South		Robert Bradford		Martin Smyth		Killed by the IRA
Antrim North		Ian Paisley		Ian Paisley		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Antrim East		Roy Beggs		Roy Beggs		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Antrim South		Clifford Forsythe		Clifford Forsythe		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast East		Peter Robinson		Peter Robinson		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast North		Cecil Walker		Cecil Walker		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Belfast South		Martin Smyth		Martin Smyth		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Down North		James Kilfedder		James Kilfedder		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Down South		Enoch Powell		Enoch Powell		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Ken Maginnis		Ken Maginnis		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Lagan Valley		James Molyneaux		James Molyneaux		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
East Londonderry		William Ross		William Ross		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Mid Ulster		William McCrea		William McCrea		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Strangford		John Taylor		John Taylor		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Newry and Armagh		James Nicholson		Seamus Mallon		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Upper Bann		Harold McCusker		Harold McCusker		Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement
Upper Bann		Harold McCusker		David Trimble		Death
North Down		Sir James Kilfedder		Robert McCartney		Death
South Antrim		Clifford Forsythe		William McCrea		Death
Belfast West		Gerry Adams		Paul Maskey		Resignation to contest the Louth constituency in the Irish general election
Mid Ulster		Martin McGuinness		Francie Molloy		Resignation to end dual mandate as Member of Parliament and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
West Tyrone		Barry McElduff		Órfhlaith Begley		Resignation

Recall petition

• 2018 North Antrim recall petition

Referendums

Northern Ireland-specific referendums

• 1973 Northern Ireland border poll
• 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum

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 & Gibraltar

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 O	Total			Total O
	8		31	19	8				7		1					4			78	50	19	9
	12		19	17	8				14	5	1					2			78	52	17	9
	21	5	26	14	10		1									1			78	49	19	10
	20	18	28	24	6	5		2				2				3			108	58	42	8
	30	24	27	18	6	1		1										1	108	59	42	7
	36	28	18	16	7			1					1					1	108	55	44	9
	38	29	16	14	8								1	1		1			108	56	43	9
	38	28	16	12	8								2	1	2	1			108	56	40	12
	28	27	10	12	8								2	1	1	1			90	40	39	11
2022	25	27	9	8	17									1	1	2			90	37	35	18

• 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

Elections to the European Parliament

See 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
					SDLP
	1	0	0	1	1
	1	0	0	1	1
	1	0	0	1	1
	1	0	0	1	1
	1	0	0	1	1
	1	1	0	1	0
	1	1	0	1	0
	1	1	0	1	0
	1	1	1	0	0

Ad hoc elections

• 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 1975 Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election
• 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election

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

• List of Northern Ireland Parliament by-elections

External links

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Parties and elections
• Northern Ireland Elections

Notes and References

1. Web site: Whyte. Nicholas. The Single Transferable Vote (STV). Northern Ireland Elections. 28 June 2016.