Election to the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly
The 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on March 2, 2017. It was the sixth election of the Northern Ireland Assembly since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The election was an early election, as the legislative term of the assembly elected only the previous year would have lasted until 2021.
prehistory
The last election to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on May 5, 2016. The election changed the majority structure only insignificantly. Furthermore, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) remained the strongest party in Northern Ireland and thus had the right to the post of First Minister , which they filled with Arlene Foster . Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin , the second largest party , received the post of deputy . The other two larger parties, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) voluntarily renounced the ministerial posts to which they were properly entitled and declared that they would remain in the opposition in the future. The Alliance Party also refused to participate in the government. There was a dispute between Sinn Féin and DUP over the appointment of the justice department, which was finally settled when the independent unionist Claire Sugden took this post.
After there had repeatedly been minor friction between the government partners Sinn Féin and DUP (including the opposing stance on “ Brexit ”), a scandal broke out on January 9, 2017 when Martin McGuinness announced his resignation. The official reason for resignation was the scandal surrounding the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI, “Initiative for the Promotion of Renewable Energies ”), occasionally called “Cash for Ash” in the press . In its endeavor to promote the conversion of outdated heating systems to renewable energies, the Northern Irish government launched the RHI program in 2012. Arlene Foster was the minister responsible for this program at the time. However, the funding conditions were so incorrectly set that a much larger group of people than originally intended could take advantage of this funding. According to various estimates, this could lead to additional costs of up to 400 or 500 million pounds in the next 20 years. Arlene Foster was later accused of failing to take early warnings seriously and was asked to resign from the post of First Minister through Sinn Féin, UUP and SDLP, which she declined.
After the resignation of McGuinness, who some suspected was at least partly due to a serious illness about which some details leaked in the press, Sinn Féin declared that he did not want to fill the post of Deputy Minister again. After the agreements on the division of political power in Northern Ireland, this meant that Arlene Foster could no longer remain in office permanently. In earlier times it was still possible for the British government in London to suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly, that is to say in fact to dissolve it and to have the country governed directly from London. However, this option was abolished in the 2006 St. Andrews Agreement . For their reintroduction it would have required a special law by the Parliament of Westminster, which the British government rejected. Therefore, the only way left was to hold new elections.
- Northern Irish leaders
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Electoral mode, reducing the number of elected MPs
Like the previous elections, the election took place according to a preferential voting system (single transferable vote) . Five MPs were elected in each of the 18 constituencies for Parliament in Westminster in Northern Ireland . In the previous elections there had been 6 MPs, but the number has now been reduced to 5 by law, so that the Northern Ireland Assembly will now have 90 instead of the previous 108 MPs. A total of 228 candidates applied for the 90 mandates.
All UK nationals residing in Northern Ireland over the age of 18 who had registered on the electoral roll by February 14, 2017 were eligible to vote. The election took place on March 2, 2017 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Development before the choice
→ For the general political positions of the Northern Irish parties, see Political positions of the parties
On January 19, 2017, Martin McGuinness stated that for health reasons he would not run again in the upcoming election. Sinn Féin announced on January 23, 2017 that Michelle O'Neill would take over the chairmanship of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland. The Renewable Heat Incentive became a major topic of the election campaign . Not only Arlene Foster was criticized here, but also the new Sinn Féin parliamentary group leader O'Neill, who had been the RHI Minister of Agriculture when it came into force and who had advertised intensively for RHI. Alliance and SDLP MPs asked O'Neill to publicly explain their role at the time.
According to a survey by the Electoral Reform Society , voting behavior is still very much determined by the contradictions of the Northern Ireland conflict. Only 4% of all Catholics surveyed said they would choose a Unionist as their first preference and only 2% of Protestants wanted to choose an Irish Republican . Around 20% of both groups wanted to give their vote to a candidate who was not bound by these blocs (e.g. from the Alliance Party, the Green Party, independents). In the case of the votes of subordinate preference, this voting behavior was somewhat weakened, but still pronounced.
In its election manifesto of February 20, 2017, the DUP warned against an election victory for Sinn Féin. This would mean a "very important worldwide propaganda success" and bring economic disadvantages for Northern Ireland with it. The important justice department could possibly be filled by Sinn Féin.
Result
The voter turnout was 64.78%, almost 10 percentage points above that of the last election. There was only an even higher turnout in the 1998 election .
| Election to the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political party | Party leader | Voices 1st preference | Seats | ||||||||
| number | % | +/- | number | +/- | % | ||||||
| DUP | Arlene Foster | 225,413 | 28.1% | 1.1% | 28 | 10 | 31.1% | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 224.245 | 27.9% | 3.9% | 27 | 1 | 30.0% | ||||
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood | 95,958 | 11.9% | 0.1% | 12 | 13.4% | |||||
| UUP | Mike Nesbitt | 103.314 | 12.9% | 0.3% | 10 | 6 | 11.1% | ||||
| Alliance | Naomi Long | 72,717 | 9.1% | 2.1% | 8th | 8.9% | |||||
| Greens | Steven Agnew | 18,527 | 2.3% | 0.4% | 2 | 2.2% | |||||
| TUV | Jim Allister | 20,523 | 2.6% | 0.9% | 1 | 1.1% | |||||
| PBPA | Eamonn McCann | 14,100 | 1.8% | 0.2% | 1 | 1 | 1.1% | ||||
| PUP | Billy Hutchinson | 5,590 | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Conservatives | Theresa May | 2,399 | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Labor alternative | Owen McCracken | 2,009 | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| UKIP | Paul Nuttall | 1,579 | 0.2% | 1.3% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| CISTA | Paul Birch | 1,273 | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Workers' party | John Lowry | 1,261 | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Independent | 14,407 | 1.8% | 1.5% | 1 | 1.1% | ||||||
| Valid votes | 803.315 | 100.0% | 90 | 18 | 100.0% | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 9,468 | ||||||||||
| Votes cast | 812.783 | ||||||||||
| Number of eligible voters and turnout | 1,254,709 | 64.78% | 9.8% | ||||||||
rating
In contrast to the election in the previous year, there were more significant changes in the 2017 election. Most noticeable was the gain in votes by Sinn Féin and the simultaneous loss of votes by the DUP. For the first time in Northern Ireland's history, unionist parties no longer have a majority. DUP and Sinn Féin are almost equally represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly; However, the DUP remained the strongest party in terms of mandates and votes and is therefore entitled to the post of First Minister. The UUP remained constant in terms of the percentage of votes, but lost a significant proportion of the number of mandates, so that it only came in fourth place. The Alliance Party performed relatively well and was able to increase its share of votes and mandates. The only non-party candidate to be re-elected was the unionist Claire Sugden in the constituency of East Londonderry. In response to the unsatisfactory performance of his party, UUP party leader Mike Nesbitt resigned on election evening.
Development according to the choice
Within three weeks of the election, the parties have to agree on a new proportional government. Otherwise a new election will take place automatically. Negotiations about forming a government turned out to be difficult. Even after the last election last year, when the dispute was mainly about the post of Justice Minister, an agreement was reached literally at the last minute. One day before the end of the three-week period, on March 26, 2017, there still seemed no agreement in sight, Sinn Féin stated that she would not nominate her party leader Michelle O'Neill as a candidate for the post of Deputy First Minister, which implied that no government would come about. DUP and Sinn Féin accused each other of being responsible for the lack of progress in the negotiations. The smaller parties UUP and SDLP criticized the intransigence of the two large negotiating partners DUP and Sinn Féin. With no agreement in sight on March 26, 2017, Northern Ireland Minister James Brokenshire said the deadline for forming a government would be extended.
A government was formed on January 11, 2020, almost three years after the election.
| Office | Surname | Political party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Minister | Arlene Foster | DUP | |
| Deputy First Minister | Michelle O'Neill | Sinn Féin | |
| Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs | Edwin Poots | DUP | |
| education | Peter Weir | DUP | |
| economy | Diane Dodds | DUP | |
| Social Communities ( Communities ) | Deirdre Hargey | Sinn Féin | |
| Finances | Conor Murphy | Sinn Féin | |
| health | Robin Swann | UUP | |
| Judiciary | Naomi Long | Alliance | |
| Infrastructure | Nichola Mallon | SDLP | |
Web links
- Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Results. BBC News, March 3, 2017, accessed March 3, 2017 .
- ↑ NI Assembly Election date set for March 2. BBC News, January 16, 2017, accessed January 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Timeline: Renewable Heating Scheme scandal. January 13, 2017, accessed January 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Mark Devenport: McGuinness quits - what happens next? January 9, 2017, accessed January 18, 2017 . }
- ^ North looking at a new election landscape. The Irish Times, January 10, 2017, accessed January 22, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Sinn Féin close the gap on DUP in NI Assembly. BBC News, March 4, 2017, accessed March 4, 2017 .
- ↑ NI Assembly Election 2017: Guide to voting. March 1, 2017, accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Michelle O'Neill is Sinn Féin's new leader north of the border. BBC News, January 23, 2017, accessed January 23, 2017 .
- ↑ RHI scandal: Michelle O'Neill defends her role promoting scheme. BBC News, January 30, 2017, accessed February 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Mark Devenport: NI voters loyal to parties linked to own community, says survey. February 17, 2017, accessed February 18, 2017 .
- ^ Gareth Gordon: DUP launches manifesto with 'Sinn Féin victory warning'. BBC News, February 20, 2017, accessed February 20, 2017 .
- ^ Assembly election 'a brutal result for unionism'. BBC News, March 4, 2017, accessed March 4, 2017 .
- ^ East Londonderry Northern Ireland Assembly constituency. BBC News, March 4, 2017, accessed March 5, 2017 .
- ↑ NI political talks have run their course, says Sinn Fein. BBC News, March 26, 2017, accessed March 26, 2017 .
- ^ Henry McDonald: Northern Ireland secretary rules out snap election. The Guardian, March 27, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017 .
