2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election

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All 108 seats to theNorthern Ireland Assembly
Turnout	55.7% (6.6%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Peter Robinson Martin McGuinness[a] Tom Elliott Party DUP Sinn Féin UUP Leader since 31 May 2008 8 May 2007 22 September 2010 Leader's seat Belfast East Mid Ulster Fermanagh and South Tyrone Last election 36 seats, 30.1% 28 seats, 26.2% 18 seats, 14.9% Seats won 38 29 16 Seat change 2 1 2 Popular vote 198,436 178,224 87,531 Percentage 30.0% 26.9% 13.2% Swing 0.1% 0.7% 1.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Margaret Ritchie David Ford Jim Allister Party SDLP Alliance TUV Leader since 7 February 2010 6 October 2001 7 December 2007 Leader's seat South Down South Antrim North Antrim Last election 16 seats, 15.2% 7 seats, 5.2% Not established Seats won 14 8 1 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 94,286 50,875 16,480 Percentage 14.2% 7.7% 2.5% Swing 1.0% 2.5% New party   Seventh party   Leader Steven Agnew Party Green (NI) Leader since 10 January 2011 Leader's seat North Down Last election 1 seat, 1.7% Seats won 1 Seat change Popular vote 6,031 Percentage 0.9% Swing 0.8%
Seats won by each party and combined first preference vote share of the largest party. Break down of each party and community's seats in constituencies Election results. Voters elect 6 assembly members from the 18 constituencies.
First Minister and deputy First Minister before election Peter Robinson (DUP) & Martin McGuinness (SF) First Minister and deputy First Minister after election Peter Robinson (DUP) & Martin McGuinness (SF)

The2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of theNorthern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.

It was held on the same day as elections for Northern Ireland's 26local councils, theScottish Parliament andWelsh Assembly elections, a number of local elections in England and theUnited Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum. As in the past, the 2011 election to the Assembly was conducted using thesingle transferable vote (STV) system ofproportional representation. The 108 seats were contested in 18 constituencies by218 candidates, including 15 independents and the nominees of14 separate political parties.

1,210,009 individuals were registered to vote in the 2011 Assembly election (representing an increase of 9.2% compared to the 2007 Assembly election).^[1][2] Turnout in the 2011 Assembly election was 55.7%, a decline of almost seven percentage points from the previous Assembly election and down over 14 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly in 1998.

As in the 2007 election, theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) andSinn Féin (SF) remained the two largest parties in the Assembly, with the DUP winning 38 and Sinn Féin winning 29 of the Assembly's 108 seats. TheUlster Unionist Party (UUP) won 16 seats, theSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) 14 and theAlliance 8, while one seat each was won by theGreen Party,Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and anindependent candidate.

Following the results of the election,Peter Robinson of the DUP andMartin McGuinness of Sinn Féin were nominated and subsequently re-elected asFirst Minister and deputy First Minister on 12 May 2011. The sole change to theNorthern Ireland Executive was that the UUP lost a ministerial post to the Alliance.

The election was the first since the devolution of policing and justice powers to the assembly. In contrast to previous elections, it was relatively uncontroversial. The turnout was one of the lowest ever in a Northern Ireland election.Sinn Féin and theDemocratic Unionist Party both continued to make gains, although the DUP vote share was slightly down. The election was a disaster for theUlster Unionist Party, which came behind theSocial Democratic and Labour Party in terms of first preference vote, although the UUP won more seats. The Ulster Unionist vote collapsed in Belfast, where it was eclipsed by theAlliance Party's, and in a number of other constituencies considered safe such as North Down.^[3] The election was also poor for the SDLP, which lost two seats.

The Alliance Party performed well, gaining a second seat inEast Belfast (which a formerProgressive Unionist Party member lost and the PUP failed to regain), while increasing the Alliance vote share significantly.Traditional Unionist Voice secured a single seat in North Antrim; its vote share was down from the May 2010 elections to the UK Parliament. Despite their first preference vote halving, the Green Party held their sole seat in North Down while thePeople before Profit Alliance narrowly failed to take the final seat in theFoyle constituency. The only member elected as an independent in 2007 (inWest Tyrone) retired, leaving a single independent in the new Assembly (after three independents first elected on other tickets had retired or lost re-election), compared to five at the end of the previous one.

As in the previous Assembly, the DUP's voting strength was reduced by one with the re-election on 12 May ofWillie Hay (DUP, Foyle) to the non-partisan office of Speaker.^[4][5]

Ten seats on theNorthern Ireland Executive were filled by the new Assembly on 16 May according to party strength under thed'Hondt method ofproportional representation.

In addition, in separate votes on 12 and 16 May, the Assembly as a whole re-elected party leadersDavid Ford (Alliance),Peter Robinson (DUP) andMartin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) to their seats on the Executive as, respectively,Minister of Justice andFirst Minister and deputy First Minister. Thus the Executive's total membership, as in the past, is 13.^[6][7]

Numbers as reported by Wednesday, 11 May 2011.

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Assembly	+/–	Executive	+/–
	Democratic Unionist Party	198,436	29.99	-0.1	38	+2	4	–
	Sinn Féin	178,222	26.93	+0.7	29	+1	3	–
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	94,286	14.25	-1.0	14	-2	1	–
	Ulster Unionist Party	87,531	13.23	-1.7	16	-2	1	-1
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	50,875	7.69	+2.5	8	+1	1	+1
	Traditional Unionist Voice	16,480	2.49	New	1	+1	–	–
	Green Party in Northern Ireland	6,031	0.91	-0.8	1	–	–	–
	People Before Profit Alliance	5,438	0.82	+0.7	–	–	–	–
	United Kingdom Independence Party	4,152	0.63	+0.4	–	–	–	–
	Progressive Unionist Party	1,493	0.23	-0.4	–	-1	–	–
	British National Party	1,252	0.19	New	–	–	–	–
	Workers' Party	1,155	0.17	+0.1	–	–	–	–
	Socialist Party	819	0.12	+0.1	–	–	–	–
	Pro Capitalism	29	0.00	New	–	–	–	–
	Independent	15,535	2.35	-0.5	1	–	–	–
Total		661,734	100.00	–	108	0	10	0
Source:[8]

Party affiliation of the six Assembly members returned by each constituency.^[9][10][11] The first column indicates the party of the Member of theHouse of Commons (MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in thegeneral election of 6 May 2010 (under the "first past the post" method).^[12]

(The constituencies are arranged here in rough geographical order aroundLough Neagh from Antrim to Londonderry. To see them in alphabetical order, click the small square icon after "Constituency"; to restore this geographical order, click the icon after "No." at the left.)

• Three of the four independents elected in 1998 ran asIndependent Unionists
• NIWC =Northern Ireland Women's Coalition;Prog. U. =Progressive Unionist Party;TUV =Traditional Unionist Voice;UKUP =United Kingdom Unionist Party

Percentage of each constituency's first-preference votes.^[13] Four highest percentages in each constituency shaded; absolute majoritiesunderlined. The constituencies are arranged in the geographic order described for the table above; click the icon next to "Constituency" to see them in alphabetical order.

• [The totals given here are the sum of all valid ballots cast in each constituency, and the percentages are based on such totals. The turnout percentages in the last column, however, are based upon all ballots cast, which also include anything from twenty to a thousand invalid ballots in each constituency. The total valid ballots' percentage of the eligible electorate can correspondingly differ by 0.1% to 2% from the turnout percentage.]

• Independent Unionist vote in 1998 (2.8%) included in the Independent column (not "others").TUV =Traditional Unionist Voice.

Out of the 22 candidates from the seven parties which won no seats in 2011, the four candidates who won more than 1,000 first-preference votes (and more than 4% of the total first preferences) in their respective constituencies were:

1. Eamonn McCann of thePeople Before Profit Alliance inFoyle: 3,120 (8.0%),
2. Henry Reilly of theUK Independence Party inSouth Down: 2,332 (5.6%),
3. Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit inBelfast West: 1,661(4.8%), and
4. Brian Ervine of theProgressive Unionist Party inBelfast East: 1,493 (4.6%)^[14]

Three-fifths, or 8,606 (60%), of the 14,338 first preferences cast for the seven minor parties went to these four candidates.

Of the 15 independent candidates, running in 9 separate constituencies, the 8 who won more than 1,000 first-preference votes (and over 2.5% of the first-preference total) were:

1. David McClarty,MLA, formerlyUlster Unionist, re-elected inEast Londonderry: 3,003(8.6%),
2. Alan McFarland, MLA, formerly Ulster Unionist, defeated inNorth Down:1,879 (6.7%),
3. Alan Chambers, also losing inNorth Down:1,765(6.3%),
4. Dawn Purvis, MLA, formerly Progressive Unionist, defeated inBelfast East (see above): 1,702(5.3%),
5. Paul McFadden inFoyle: 1,280(3.3%),
6. Raymond McCord inBelfast North: 1,176 (3.5%),
7. Paddy McGowaninWest Tyrone:1,145(2.9%), and
8. Eugene McMenamin, also inWest Tyrone:1,096(2.8%)

A majority (8,395 or 54%) of the 15,535 first-preference votes cast for independents went to the first four of these candidates, three of whom had been elected by other parties in 2007. David McClarty was the only successful independent candidate.

• TheAlliance gained a seat inBelfast East (fromDawn Purvis, an independent elected as a Progressive Unionist). Net gain +1.
• TheDemocratic Unionist Party gained seats from the UUP inBelfast North andNorth Down, but lost one to the UUP inStrangford. The DUP also gained seats in theLagan Valley (from SF) andSouth Antrim (from SDLP), but lost a seat inWest Tyrone (to UUP or SDLP). Net gain +2.
• Anindependent elected in 2007 fromWest Tyrone did not run again in 2011 (seat won by SDLP or DUP). An Ulster Unionist elected in 2007 fromEast Londonderry, who was not re-nominated by his party, won election in 2011 as an independent. (After his re-election, he decided to remain an independent outside the UUP.)^[15][16] Three other independents elected in 2007 by different parties were not returned in 2011: a former Ulster Unionist inNorth Down (to DUP), a former Progressive Unionist inBelfast East (to Alliance), and a former Sinn Féin member inFermanagh & South Tyrone (regained by SF). No net change from 2007; net change from the outgoing Assembly:–4.
• TheProgressive Unionist Party elected a single member in 2007 fromEast Belfast who resigned from the party in 2010 (and whose seat was gained by the Alliance in 2011). The PUP failed to elect its only candidate in 2011. Net change from 2007 –1; no net change from the outgoing Assembly.
• Sinn Féin gained seats inEast Antrim (from UUP) andFermanagh & South Tyrone (from SDLP), but lost one in theLagan Valley (to DUP). It also regained a second seat inFermanagh & South Tyrone that had been held by an independent originally elected as Sinn Féin. Net gain +2 from the outgoing Assembly and +1 from 2007.
• TheSocial Democratic & Labour Party gained a seat fromWest Tyrone (from Ind. or DUP) but lost seats inFermanagh & South Tyrone (to SF),North Antrim (to Traditional Unionist Voice) andSouth Antrim (to DUP). Net loss –2.
• Traditional Unionist Voice won its first and only seat, inNorth Antrim (from the SDLP). Net gain +1.
• TheUlster Unionist Party gained seats inStrangford (from DUP) andWest Tyrone (from DUP or Ind.), but lost seats inBelfast North (to DUP) andEast Antrim (to SF). Another two members elected as Ulster Unionists inNorth Down andEast Londonderry left the UUP before the 2011 election. Net loss from 2007: –2. (No net change from the outgoing Assembly.)

Thirty-one members of the previous Assembly during all of part of its term (2007–2011) did not offer themselves for re-election in May 2011. Another eight who did seek re-election were unsuccessful.

Several of the 14 members who retired early from the Northern Ireland Assembly did so either after being elected or re-elected to theBritish House of Commons on6 May 2010 (as MPs), or else in anticipation of being elected to theDáil Éireann (lower house of the Irish parliament) on25 February 2011 (as a TD). [Three retired or retiring members arePrivy Counsellors of the United Kingdom (PC).]

These are the 25 changes in membership that occurred between the third Assembly's dissolution in March 2011 and the fourth Assembly's election in May. Seventeen sitting members did not present themselves for re-election and another eight were defeated at the polls. One re-elected member had been elected with a different affiliation in 2007.

The numbers indicate the percentage of votes each member received in the first round of counting under theSingle Transferable Vote in the 2011 election, and the round which decided his or her election or defeat.

In some constituencies (Foyle, West Tyrone and Fermanagh & South Tyrone), it is not possible to couple a single outgoing member by party with a single successor. The pairs of outgoing and incoming members in those seats are presented in arbitrary order.

Most of these changes occurred due to a member's retirement, although one defeated member of the SDLP, in Foyle, was succeeded by another member of the SDLP.

Note that the party changes in Lagan Valley, Strangford and East Antrim cancelled each other out.

David McClarty, originally elected fromEast Londonderry as an Ulster Unionist, although not re-nominated by the UUP in 2011, stood successfully for re-election as an independent. This reduced the UUP's strength from 2007, while keeping independent strength in the Assembly at one (asKieran Deeny, the retiring independent member, was not succeeded in West Tyrone by another independent). McClarty decided not to re-join the UUP after his re-election.^[16]

The presiding officer of the Northern Ireland's Assembly (like those forScotland andWales, but unlike those for theUnited Kingdom or theRepublic of Ireland) does not remain impartial during the election period. The sitting Speaker, in this instanceWilliam Hay (DUP,Foyle), must revert to his or her party colours and campaign for a seat on its manifesto. Once re-elected as an MLA (as Hay was), he or she becomes eligible for re-election as Speaker to resume unbiased authority over the Assembly.^[17] The regional media reported thatSinn Féin'sFrancie Molloy, an outgoing Deputy Speaker, had hoped to win election as Speaker when the 2011 Assembly first met;^[18] in the event, following inter-party negotiations, Hay was re-elected and Molloy was nominated by his party for, and elected to, a newly created position of Principal Deputy Speaker with a presumed right of succession.^[5]

European Union (EU) andCommonwealth citizens aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote. The deadline for voters to register to vote in 5 May elections was midnight on 14 April 2011. All voters had to present one piece of photographic identification in order to cast a vote at the polling station: accepted forms of ID were anElectoral Identity Card, aphotographic Northern Ireland or Great Britain driving licence, aEuropean Union member state passport, aTranslink 60+ SmartPass, a Translink Senior SmartPass, a Translink Blind Person's SmartPass or a Translink War Disabled SmartPass.^[19] Voters who didn't have an accepted type of photographic ID had until 22 April 2011 to apply for anElectoral Identity Card from theElectoral Office. Ajudicial review brought by candidates in the simultaneous local government elections, challenging the non-acceptance of EU national identity cards as a proof of identity, failed on 4 May 2011.^[20]

In the days following the 2011 Assembly election concerns were raised by politicians and others about the time it took for ballots to be verified and counted. The first result came in at 7:00 p.m. on Friday 6 May, nine hours after counting began and 21 hours after polls closed.^[21] The announcement of the final results for some constituencies came two days after the polls closed. In contrast, the first result for elections held in Scotland on the same day as the Assembly election came in at 12:54 a.m., just under three hours after counting began, and the final result came in at 5:21 p.m. on the same day (Friday 6 May). In response to the criticisms about the speed of counting, Northern Ireland's Chief Electoral Officer, Graham Shields, defended the process, saying that it was "about accuracy, not about speed", adding that "This is a complicated process and people have to accept that. We will take as long as it takes to get it right."^[22]

• Candidates nominated to run for the 2011 election of the Northern Ireland Assembly
• 4th Northern Ireland Assembly
• 2011 Irish general election
• 2011 Northern Ireland local elections
• 2011 National Assembly for Wales election
• 2011 Scottish Parliament general election
• 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum

• Electoral Office for Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Assembly

• Summary and comparison of the principal parties' views on the main issues atthe BBC andUlster TV
• "A view from around the 18 Assembly constituencies",The Belfast Telegraph, Saturday, 7 May 2011(retrieved 11 May 2011)

The party election broadcasts (PEBs) in this table are at the BBC News site. Almost every individual party web site below also shows a copy of or a link to at least one of the party's own election broadcasts.

• Televised debate between the leaders of the Alliance, DUP, Sinn Féin, SDLP and UUP on BBC Northern Ireland for 90 minutes on Tuesday 3 May (this link includes a written synopsis)

• Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
• 2011 elections in the United Kingdom
• 2011 elections in Northern Ireland
• May 2011 in the United Kingdom

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