Election to the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly
The choice for the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016 took place on May 5, 2016, the same day as the elections of the Mayor of London and the Parliament of Scotland and the Welsh Assembly .
As a result, the two major Irish Republican parties, Sinn Féin and the SDLP, lost one or two parliamentary seats. Northern Ireland's strongest party remained the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The Northern Ireland Green Party won a second mandate and two members of the left-wing Socialist People Before Profit Alliance were elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time. The distribution of seats remained largely unchanged, however.
prehistory
Politics in Northern Ireland has been shaped by a forced consensus since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The regional government is made up of unionists and Irish Republicans , representatives of parties who pursue completely opposite goals. The Good Friday Agreement provided for such equal participation of all political parties represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly. A purely majority government was deliberately rejected because it would likely have meant that the Protestant Unionist majority would have ruled the Catholic Republican minority, as had been the case for decades in Northern Ireland's history . This compulsory consensus that has been imposed may have pacified Northern Ireland , but it has various disadvantages. For one thing, there is no clear separation between government and opposition - almost all political parties are represented in the government. On the other hand, government work has often been paralyzed in the past because the political positions of cabinet members were too incompatible.
Since the last election, Peter Robinson ( Democratic Unionist Party , DUP) served as First Minister of Northern Ireland and Martin McGuinness ( Sinn Féin ) as his deputy.
In August / September 2015, a government crisis in Northern Ireland occurred in connection with the murder of Kevin McGuigan, a former IRA member, in Belfast on August 12, 2015. Kevin McGuigan was one of the suspects for the murder of ex-IRA man Gerard Davison , also in Belfast on May 5th of that year. The Northern Irish police suspected that McGuigan's murder was carried out by the Provisional IRA ( IRA for short). This wanted to punish the personally motivated murder of Davison disciplinary. This was an explosive assumption because the Provisional IRA as an organization has actually not officially existed anymore since the Good Friday Agreement and is considered to be dissolved. Unionist politicians saw their fears confirmed that republican terror networks would continue to exist underground in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin , considered the political arm of the IRA, denied that the Provisional IRA continued to exist. As a result, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which was represented there by a cabinet member ( Danny Kennedy ), announced its withdrawal from the joint Northern Irish government on August 29, 2015. Under these circumstances, she could no longer work with Sinn Féin. On September 10, 2015, the three DUP ministers including First Minister Peter Robinson resigned in protest. The only remaining DUP minister in the cabinet was Arlene Foster , who also temporarily took over the office of First Minister. The DUP justified Foster's remaining in the cabinet by stating that they did not want to leave the office of First Minister to Sinn Féin. From October 20, 2015 to January 11, 2016, Robinson served as first minister again temporarily and then finally handed over the office to Arlene Foster.
- Northern Irish leaders
_2.jpg)
Election date
The Northern Ireland Assembly's legislative term was originally four years. Since the last election was in 2011, the next election should actually have taken place in 2015. However, the election date clashed with the election date for the House of Commons , which since the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 is the first Thursday in May, every 5 years. Since there were objections to holding both elections, which are held according to different suffrage, so close together, the election date was postponed by one year to May 5, 2016. The legislative period for future elections was set at five years.
In February 2016, there were increasing signs that the nationwide referendum on membership of the United Kingdom in the European Union, promised by Prime Minister Cameron , would take place in June 2016. Not only did the First Ministers of the three regions of Northern Ireland ( Arlene Foster ), Scotland ( Nicola Sturgeon ) and Wales ( Carwyn Jones ) speak out against this , but also the Northern Irish parties DUP and the SDLP . The main argument against the June date was the concern that the issues of Northern Ireland politics would be mixed up with those of EU politics in an undesirable way. The different voting modes for the Northern Ireland Assembly and the referendum could also cause difficulties for voters. Regardless, Prime Minister Cameron set the referendum date for June 23, 2016.
End of the double mandate
The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 broadened the practice of dual mandates , which allowed a member elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly to simultaneously sit in another parliament (the UK House of Commons or the Dáil Éireann of the Republic of Ireland ), put an end to it. This is no longer possible in the future.
Political positions of the parties
The following table summarizes the main political positions of the Northern Irish parties. The main differentiator is the viewpoint on the nationality of Northern Ireland, which mostly runs along the denominational lines. " Republican " (Catholic) parties favor affiliation with the Republic of Ireland, " Unionist " (Protestant) parties want to remain in the United Kingdom.
| Political party | Abbreviation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party | DUP | The DUP was founded by the radical unionist Protestant pastor Ian Paisley at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict in the 1970s. She was originally against the Good Friday Agreement. After the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, it rose to the highest-voting party in Northern Ireland, mainly at the expense of the UUP. The DUP represents uncompromising unionist positions and has spoken out in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the EU |
| Ulster Unionist Party | UUP | For a long time the UUP was the largest unionist party and was the leading negotiating partner on the Protestant-unionist side in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. After the Northern Ireland Assembly was established in 1997, it lost many voters to the more radical DUP. |
| Sinn Féin | SF | SF is the only major party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. She represents a resolute Irish republicanism and was formerly considered the political arm of the terrorist organization IRA . To date, SF takes part in general elections, but their elected MPs do not take their seats in Westminster because they refuse to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown. SF sees itself as a socialist, "left" party. |
| Social Democratic and Labor Party | SDLP | The SDLP was the leading party on the Catholic-Republican side in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. After it came into force in 1997, it increasingly lost voters to the more radical Sinn Féin. Programmatically, the SDLP has many similarities to the British Labor Party . |
| Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | Alliance | The Alliance is one of the few larger parties that is avowedly non-denominational. On the question of the nationality of Northern Ireland, she takes an indifferent position and wants to comply with the majority of the population in this regard. She has close ties with the British Liberal Democrats . Most of her voters are in Belfast. |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | TUV | TUV was created in 2007 as a radical spin-off from the DUP. The party would like to end the “compulsory consensus” prescribed by the Good Friday Agreement, as this would be at the expense of the Protestant side. |
| Green Party in Northern Ireland | GPNI | The GPNI has so far not achieved any major political importance in Northern Ireland politics. She works closely with the green parties in England and Wales and Scotland , but advocates the annexation of Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. |
| United Kingdom Independence Party | UKIP | UKIP is one of the few all-UK parties running in Northern Ireland. So far, UKIP has had little impact. The main topic is the intended exit from the European Union. Otherwise the party takes unionist positions. |
Result
Nationwide result
| Election to the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political party | Party leader | Voices 1st preference | Seats | ||||||||
| number | % | +/- | number | +/- | % | ||||||
| DUP | Arlene Foster | 202,567 | 29.2% | 0.8% | 38 | 35.2% | |||||
| Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 166,785 | 24.0% | 2.9% | 28 | 1 | 25.9% | ||||
| UUP | Mike Nesbitt | 87,302 | 12.6% | 0.6% | 16 | 14.8% | |||||
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood | 83.364 | 12.0% | 2.2% | 12 | 2 | 11.1% | ||||
| Alliance | David Ford | 48,447 | 7.0% | 0.7% | 8th | 7.4% | |||||
| Greens | Steven Agnew | 18,718 | 2.7% | 1.8% | 2 | 1 | 1.9% | ||||
| PBPA | Eamonn McCann | 13,761 | 2.0% | 1.2% | 2 | 2 | 1.9% | ||||
| TUV | Jim Allister | 23,776 | 3.4% | 0.9% | 1 | 0.9% | |||||
| UKIP | Nigel Farage | 10,109 | 1.5% | 0.8% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| PUP | Billy Hutchinson | 5,955 | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Conservatives | David Cameron | 2,554 | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| CISTA | Paul Birch | 2,510 | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Labor alternative | Owen McCracken | 1.939 | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Labor in NI | Kathryn Johnston | 1,577 | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Workers' party | John Lowry | 1,565 | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| South Belfast Unionists | William Dickson | 351 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson | 224 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Democracy First | Frazer McCammond | 124 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Northern Ireland First | Geoff Dowey | 32 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Independent | 22,650 | 3.3% | 0.9% | 1 | 0.9% | ||||||
| Valid votes | 694.310 | 100.0% | 108 | 100.0% | |||||||
| Invalid votes | 9.434 | ||||||||||
| Votes cast | 703.744 | ||||||||||
| Number of eligible voters and voter participation | 1,281,595 | 54.9% | |||||||||
With regard to the distribution of seats, there were changes in 6 of the 18 constituencies: Belfast South (DUP +1 seat, UUP -1 seat, SDLP -1 seat, Greens +1 seat), Belfast West (SF -1, PAPA +1), Fermanagh and South Tyrone (SDLP +1, SF -1), Foyle (SDLP -1, PAPA +1), Lagan Valley (DUP -1, UUP +1), Upper Bann (SF +1, SDLP -1).
First preference votes by constituency
The following table lists the first preference votes in percent by constituency and party. The party with the strongest vote is highlighted in color.
| Constituency | DUP | SF | UUP | SDLP | Alliance | TUV | Green | PBPA | UKIP | PUP | Other | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast East | 36.7 | 2.5 | 11.1 | 0.4 | 28.7 | 2.4 | 5.9 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 100 |
| Belfast North | 35.0 | 26.5 | 5.4 | 10.6 | 7.0 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 100 |
| Belfast South | 22.0 | 14.2 | 6.7 | 20.0 | 16.4 | 1.3 | 9.6 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 6.4 | 100 |
| Belfast West | 10.4 | 54.5 | 1.8 | 7.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 22.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 100 |
| East Antrim | 36.1 | 8.1 | 20.2 | 3.8 | 14.6 | 5.1 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 100 |
| East Londonderry | 36.8 | 21.8 | 8.3 | 9.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 10.5 | 100 |
| Fermanagh & South Tyrone | 32.7 | 40.0 | 12.8 | 8.5 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 100 |
| Foyle | 11.9 | 28.5 | 3.6 | 30.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 14.6 | 100 |
| Lagan Valley | 47.2 | 2.7 | 21.2 | 7.5 | 9.5 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 100 |
| Mid Ulster | 18.1 | 46.7 | 11.9 | 15.2 | 1.2 | 4.6 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 100 |
| Newry & Armagh | 16.7 | 40.9 | 14.1 | 18.2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 7.6 | 100 |
| North Antrim | 43.1 | 12.9 | 10.7 | 7.5 | 3.2 | 17.9 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 100 |
| North Down | 41.7 | 1.0 | 15.5 | 1.3 | 16.8 | 1.9 | 12.7 | 0.0 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 100 |
| South Antrim | 37.5 | 13.2 | 22.2 | 9.6 | 8.9 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 100 |
| South Down | 12.3 | 31.1 | 8.5 | 31.4 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 100 |
| Strangford | 43.0 | 2.0 | 19.5 | 8.3 | 10.7 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 6.9 | 100 |
| Upper spell | 31.1 | 24.9 | 21.6 | 9.5 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 100 |
| West Tyrone | 22.0 | 42.0 | 11.4 | 11.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.1 | 100 |
| All of Northern Ireland | 29.2 | 24.0 | 12.6 | 12.0 | 7.0 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 100 |
Government formation
On May 25, 2016, the composition of the new Northern Irish regional government was announced. The law stipulates that ministerial posts will be given to the parties represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly using the D'Hondt procedure . According to this, DUP, Sinn Féin, SDLP and UUP would have been entitled to ministerial posts, while the Alliance Party with its 8 seats and the smaller parties would not have formally had any claim. However, both the SDLP and the UUP decided not to claim a ministerial post and instead to go into the opposition - a first in the history of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
A controversy arose over the question of filling the important justice department, which DUP and Sinn Féin did not want to leave the other party. This department had previously been filled by David Ford (Alliance), to whom it has now been offered again. However, the Alliance Party presented a list of five conditions it required to meet before entering government. On May 18, 2016, Northern Ireland Minister Theresa Villiers warned that new elections would be required by law if the government was not fully formed by May 25, 2016. The party leader of Sinn Féin, Martin McGuinness, also expressed concern. Ultimately, the Alliance Party refused to take over the justice department on the terms offered. Literally at the last minute, an agreement was reached on May 25, 2016, when Claire Sugden , independent unionist elected in the constituency of East Londonderry , took over the judiciary. Sinn Féin also agreed with this personnel decision. The SDLP, which accused Sinn Féin of having given in to pressure from the DUP, expressed dissatisfaction, as did the UUP, which spoke of a “corruption of the Good Friday Agreement” and expressed their astonishment that a single member of parliament without a party would get a ministerial post. The two Green MPs refused to participate in government as long as they could not implement their political agenda.
| Office | Surname | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Minister | Arlene Foster | DUP | |
| Deputy First Minister | Martin McGuinness | Sinn Féin | |
| Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs | Michelle McIlveen | DUP | |
| education | Peter Weir | DUP | |
| economy | Simon Hamilton | DUP | |
| Social Communities ( Communities ) | Paul Givan | DUP | |
| Finances | Máirtín Ó Muilleoir | Sinn Féin | |
| health | Michelle O'Neill | Sinn Féin | |
| Judiciary | Claire Sugden | independent unionist | |
| Infrastructure | Chris Hazzard | Sinn Féin | |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Results. BBC News, May 6, 2016, accessed May 6, 2016 .
- ↑ Kevin McGuigan murder. Ex-IRA man shot dead in east Belfast. BBC News, August 13, 2015, accessed December 30, 2015 .
- ^ UUP decides to withdraw from Northern Ireland Executive. BBC News, August 29, 2015, accessed December 30, 2015 .
- ↑ Northern Ireland Assembly elections put back to 2016. BBC News, May 10, 2013, accessed December 30, 2015 .
- ↑ David Cameron urged to delay EU referendum by first ministers. BBC News, February 3, 2016, accessed February 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Ruadhan Mac Cormaic: United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum Q & A: Everything you need to know. The Irish Times, February 15, 2016, accessed February 24, 2016 .
- ^ The new Northern Ireland Bill. Agenda NI magazine, September 2, 2013, accessed December 30, 2015 .
- ^ Raymond Russell: Research and Information Service Research Paper: Election Report: Northern Ireland Assembly Election, May 5, 2016; Table 7.1 Seats by Party and Constituency: 2016 (v 2011). (PDF) Research and Information Service, Northern Ireland Assembly, May 12, 2016, accessed May 14, 2016 .
- ^ Raymond Russell: Research and Information Service Research Paper: Election Report: Northern Ireland Assembly Election, May 5, 2016; Annex B: Share of First Preference Vote (%) by Party and Constituency. (PDF) Research and Information Service, Northern Ireland Assembly, May 12, 2016, accessed May 14, 2016 .
- ^ Alliance Party reveals 'wish list' conditions over justice ministry. Belfast Telegraph, May 17, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016 .
- ^ Justice ministry: Villiers warns of fresh elections if deadline for appointment lapses. BBC News, May 25, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016 .
- ^ Claire Williamson: Northern Ireland Executive ministers named: Independent Sugden named Justice Minister - DUP and Sinn Fein choose ministries. Belfast Telegraph, May 25, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016 .
- ^ Stormont: New NI power-sharing executive formed. BBC News, May 25, 2016, accessed May 25, 2016 .
