Election to the Northern Ireland Assembly 2003
In the election for the Northern Ireland Assembly 2003 on November 26, 2003, the Northern Ireland Assembly ("Northern Ireland Assembly") was newly elected. The election ended with gains for the more radical parties, both on the side of the unionists and the Irish Republicans.
background
After the election of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, a coalition government led by David Trimble ( UUP ) was formed. In the following period, however, there were disputes, particularly in connection with the agreed disarmament of the IRA , so that the Northern Irish executive was temporarily suspended by the then Minister for Northern Ireland Peter Mandelson and direct rule was decreed from London. Ultimately, the disputes over the IRA disarmament led to David Trimble's resignation on July 1, 2001, followed by the resignation of other UUP ministers in October 2001. Trimble was re-elected First Minister on November 5, 2001 . In October 2002 there was a scandal known as Stortmontgate . Three members of the Sinn Féin faction were arrested on suspicion of belonging to a spy ring of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . On October 14, 2002, the Minister for Northern Ireland, John Reid, suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly. The assembly was officially dissolved on April 28, 2003, pending new elections in May, but the election date was postponed to November by the Minister for Northern Ireland.
Suffrage
The election was based on a preference voting system (single transferable vote) . Six MPs were elected in each of the 18 North Irish constituencies for Parliament in Westminster . The entire parliament thus consisted of 108 members.
Spectrum of parties
The following table gives a rough overview of the political orientation of the largest parties. The spectrum of parties was divided fairly largely along denominational lines. Protestants were mostly associated with the unionist parties and Catholics with the republican side.
| Political party | Abbreviation | Political Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Ulster Unionist Party | UUP | conservative unionist |
| Social Democratic and Labor Party | SDLP | republican-social-democratic |
| Democratic Unionist Party | DUP | radical unionist, originally opposed the Good Friday Agreement |
| Sinn Féin | SF | political arm of the IRA , Republican |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | Alliance | liberal, originally unionist, later increasingly "neutral" |
| Northern Ireland Unionist Party | NIUP | unionist-conservative, rejected the Good Friday Agreement |
| UK Unionist Party | UKUP | radical unionist, opposed the Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland self-government |
| Progressive Unionist Party | PUP | Unionism, the political arm of the Ulster Volunteer Force , socio-politically more in the center-left spectrum, supported the Good Friday Agreement |
Results
The following table shows the election results. The votes in the table correspond to the votes of first preference. The turnout was 63.05%, significantly lower than in the last election in 1998 (then 70.0%).
| Political party | be right | Votes (in%) |
Seats | Seats (in%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party | 177.944 | 25.7% | 30th | 27.8% |
| Sinn Féin | 162,758 | 23.5% | 24 | 22.2% |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 156.931 | 22.7% | 27 | 25.0% |
| Social Democratic and Labor Party | 117,547 | 17.0% | 18th | 16.7% |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 25,372 | 3.7% | 6th | 5.6% |
| Independent candidates | 19,328 | 2.8% | 1 | 0.9% |
| Progressive Unionist Party | 8,032 | 1.2% | 1 | 0.9% |
| Northern Ireland Women's Coalition | 5,785 | 0.8% | 0 | |
| UK Unionist Party | 5,700 | 0.8% | 1 | 0.9% |
| United Unionist Coalition | 2,705 | 0.4% | 0 | |
| Green Party in Northern Ireland | 2,688 | 0.4% | 0 | |
| Socialist Environmental Alliance | 2,394 | 0.3% | 0 | |
| Conservative Party in Northern Ireland | 1,604 | 0.2% | 0 | |
| Workers' Party of Ireland | 1,407 | 0.2% | 0 | |
| Northern Ireland Unionist Party | 1,350 | 0.2% | 0 | |
| Socialist Party | 343 | 0.0% | 0 | |
| Vote For Yourself | 124 | 0.0% | 0 | |
| Ulster Third Way | 16 | 0.0% | 0 | |
| total | 692.028 | 100.0% | 108 | 100.00% |
Evaluation of the election result
The main election winner was the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which rose to become the strongest unionist party with 25.7% of the vote and 30 seats. Irish Republican Sinn Féin followed in second position, also with significant votes. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which had been the strongest party in the unionist-Protestant camp to date, only came in third place and the moderate Republican-Catholic SDLP lost significantly in votes and seats. The UUP leader David Trimble warned in an initial reaction that the DUP could not keep its promises of a better deal than the Good Friday Agreement. The Liberal Alliance suffered a significant loss of votes. The election victory of the independent candidate Dr. Kieran Deeny in the West Tyrone constituency . Deeny's only election goal was to maintain the threatened closure of Tyrone County Hospital .
Unionist parties won 59 of the 108 seats, Irish Republican parties (Sinn Féin and SDLP) won 42, and on this issue largely neutral parties (Alliance, Dr. Deeny) won 7. Shortly after the election, three MPs, elected under the UUP party banner ( Jeffrey Donaldson, Arlene Foster and Norah Beare) to the DUP camp; a DUP member left the party and acted as an independent in the future. Since the DUP refused to allow Sinn Féin to participate in the exercise of political power without further guarantees, the Northern Ireland Assembly remained suspended after the 2003 election. It remained in this state for the entire legislative period until May 7, 2007, when new elections were held. From January 2004, new talks took place between the parties about the structure of the Good Friday Agreement.
Web links
- Northern Ireland Assembly results, 2003 , BBC News website
- The Northern Ireland Assembly elections 2003: The official report on the Northern Ireland Assembly elections November 26, 2003 (pdf) April 2004, accessed on March 7, 2015 (English, official results and election analyzes of the Electoral Commission ).
- Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2003. arc.ac.uk, accessed March 7, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b The Northern Ireland Assembly elections 2003: The official report on the Northern Ireland Assembly elections November 26, 2003 (pdf) Electoral Commission, April 2004, accessed March 7, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e History of the Assembly. Northerin Ireland Assembly, accessed March 9, 2015 .
- ^ Police raid Sinn Fein offices. BBC News, October 4, 2002, accessed March 9, 2015 .
- ^ The Northern Ireland (Date of Next Assembly Poll) Order 2003. legislation.gov.uk, 2003, accessed on March 9, 2015 .
- ^ Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Northern Ireland Assembly, accessed March 7, 2015 .
- ↑ Paisley's party tops NI poll. BBC News, November 28, 2003, accessed March 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Hospital campaigner tops poll. BBC News, November 27, 2003, accessed March 9, 2015 .
- ^ Matthew Tempest: Ulster Unionist rebels defect to DUP. The Guardian, January 5, 2004, accessed September 27, 2015 .
