2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

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All 90 seats to theNorthern Ireland Assembly
Turnout	63.61% (1.2%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Michelle O'Neill[n 1] Jeffrey Donaldson Naomi Long Party Sinn Féin DUP Alliance Leader since 23 January 2017[n 2] 30 June 2021 26 October 2016 Leader's seat Mid Ulster Lagan Valley(resigned)[a] Belfast East Last election 27 seats, 27.9% 28 seats, 28.1% 8 seats, 9.1% Seats won 27 25 17 Seat change 3 9 Popular vote 250,388 184,002 116,681 Percentage 29.0% 21.3% 13.5% Swing 1.1% 6.7% 4.5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Doug Beattie Colum Eastwood Jim Allister Party UUP SDLP TUV Leader since 17 May 2021 14 November 2015 7 December 2007 Leader's seat Upper Bann Did not stand[b] North Antrim Last election 10 seats, 12.9% 12 seats, 11.9% 1 seat, 2.6% Seats won 9 8 1 Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 96,390 78,237 65,788 Percentage 11.2% 9.1% 7.6% Swing 1.7% 2.9% 5.0%   Seventh party   Leader Eamonn McCann[n 3] Party People Before Profit Leader since N/A Leader's seat Did not stand Last election 1 seat, 1.8% Seats won 1 Seat change Popular vote 9,798 Percentage 1.1% Swing 0.6%
First Minister and deputy First Minister before election vacant positions First Minister and deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill (SF) & Emma Little-Pengelly (DUP)

The2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to theNorthern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after theNorthern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of theFirst Minister,Paul Givan of theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against theNorthern Ireland Protocol.^[2]

In the sixth assembly, elected in 2017, eight parties hadMembers of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs): the DUP, latterly led byJeffrey Donaldson;Sinn Féin, led byMichelle O'Neill; theUlster Unionist Party (UUP), latterly led byDoug Beattie; theSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), led byColum Eastwood;Alliance, led byNaomi Long; theGreens, led byClare Bailey;People Before Profit (PBP), which has a collective leadership; and theTraditional Unionist Voice (TUV), led byJim Allister.

Sinn Féin became the largest party, marking the first time anIrish nationalist/republican party won the most seats in an assembly election inNorthern Ireland, and has the right to nominate Northern Ireland's first nationalist First Minister. The DUP's vote share dropped almost 7% and it lost three seats; despite this,unionists won two more seats than nationalists—37 seats to 35—and a marginally higher share of the vote.^[3] Alliance made large gains, as the only party to gain seats at the election, overtaking the UUP and the SDLP to become the third-largest party in the Assembly. The Greens lost both seats they held before the election and were unrepresented in the Assembly for the first time since 2003.^[4][5]

As Northern Ireland's government is based onpower-sharing, the DUP (the largest unionist party) was required to nominate a deputy First Minister for the Executive to be formed and the Assembly to conduct business; however, they refused to do so due to their opposition to theNorthern Ireland Protocol and post-Brexit trading arrangements.^[6] It wasn't until 31 January 2024 that the DUP andUK Government announced a deal had been struck to revive the Executive,^[7] and on 3 February 2024 the Assembly swore in Sinn Féin First MinisterMichelle O'Neill and DUP deputy First MinisterEmma Little-Pengelly.^[8]

In May 2013,Theresa Villiers,Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that the next Assembly election would be postponed to May 2016, and would be held at fixed intervals of five years thereafter.^[9] Section 7 of theNorthern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 specifies that elections will be held on the first Thursday in May on the fifth calendar year following that in which its predecessor was elected,^[10] which would be 5 May 2022; however, there are several circumstances in which the Assembly can be dissolved before the date scheduled by virtue of section 31(1) of theNorthern Ireland Act 1998.

In June 2016,the UK voted to leave theEuropean Union, although Northern Ireland voted to remain.^[11]The process of withdrawal held particular uncertainty for Northern Ireland due to thepotential for customs on theUK–Ireland border.^[12] Meanwhile, anearly election was held to the Northern Ireland Assembly in March 2017. After the election, Sinn Féin stated that it would not return to a power-sharing arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party without significant changes in the party's approach, includingArlene Foster not becomingFirst Minister until an investigation into theRenewable Heat Incentive scandal was complete.^[13] Over the next few years,^[14][15] the deadline to form an executive was repeatedly extended as negotiations continued with no success.^[16][17][18]

On 18 April 2017,Theresa May,Prime Minister of the UK, called for a general election to beheld on 8 June 2017.^[19] TheConservative Party lost its parliamentary majority and sought aconfidence and supply agreement with the DUP in order to remain in government. The DUP and the Conservatives reached an agreement on 26 June.^[20]

In2019, the UK experienced significant political turbulence over the question of how to proceed with Brexit. TheEuropean Parliament election in May 2019 saw theAlliance Party take the third MEP place from theUlster Unionist Party (UUP). DUP support for the Conservative government broke down with disagreements over the government's Brexit plans. The Conservative government sought a new election, held inDecember 2019, which they won with a large majority. In Northern Ireland, for the first time, traditionalIrish nationalist parties won more seats than traditionalunionist parties. The SDLP and Alliance returned to the House of Commons, while the DUP and Sinn Féin saw vote share declines of more than 5%.^[21]

A DUP/Sinn Féinexecutive was re-established on 10 January 2020 with theNew Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement, forestalling an immediate new election.^[22] By the end of February 2020, theCOVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Northern Ireland.^[23]

On 15 January 2022, the UK government was accused of interfering in the election by reintroducingdual mandates, which had been abolished in 2016. This would enable MPs like Donaldson to have seats in Stormont as well as Westminster,^[24] but plans were withdrawn four days later.^[25]

On 28 April 2021, Arlene Foster announced that she would be resigning as DUP leader on 28 May and First Minister in June 2021 after more than 20 DUP MLAs and four DUP MPs signed a letter "...voicingno confidence in her leadership".^[26]Edwin Poots narrowly won the subsequentMay 2021 DUP leadership election, but announced his resignation 21 days later.^[27] The runner-up in the election,Jeffrey Donaldson, stood unopposed in theJune 2021 DUP leadership election and with no other candidates the party chose not to hold a ballot (some parties still do a leadership vote or ballot with one candidate with the other option to re-open nominations). Donaldson was ratified as the party's leader on 30 June 2021.^[28] Meanwhile, after Poots elected not to replace Foster as First Minister,^[29]Paul Givan took up the position on 17 June 2021.^[30]

Steve Aiken announced his resignation as leader of the UUP on 8 May 2021,^[31] withDoug Beattie taking up the post nine days later after standing unopposed.^[32]

TheNorthern Ireland Protocol is aprotocol to theBrexit Withdrawal Agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island ofIreland between theUnited Kingdom and theEuropean Union, and on some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and therest of the United Kingdom.^[33]Its terms were negotiated in 2019 and agreed and concluded in December 2020. Due to a thirty-year internecine conflict in Northern Ireland known asThe Troubles, theUK–Ireland border has had a special status since that conflict was ended by theBelfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement of 1998. As part of theNorthern Ireland Peace Process, the border has been largely invisible, without any physical barrier or customs checks on its many crossing points; this arrangement was made possible by both countries' common membership of both theEuropean Single Market andEU Customs Union, and of theirCommon Travel Area.

The DUP threatened to pull out of Stormont's power-sharing government on 9 September 2021, triggering a snap election "within weeks" unless the protocol was scrapped. Donaldson warned: "I say not as a threat but as a matter of political reality that our political institutions will not survive a failure to resolve the problems the Protocol has created."^[34] The following week, SDLP leaderColum Eastwood accused the DUP of having a "petulant strop" and called for a new law to stop an early election. He told peers that the "delicate constitutional balance" in Northern Ireland was "too fragile for people to play games with".^[35]

On 3 February 2022, Givan resigned as First Minister in protest over the protocol, which automatically resulted in the Deputy First Minister losing her role and theNorthern Ireland Executive collapsing.^[36][37] Conservative MPJacob Rees-Mogg said that the UK government would "reform" the protocol if the EU did not,^[38] whilst it was also reported that Westminster was planning legislation that would give ministers powers to abolish the protocol altogether.^[39] During a rally inBallymena on 30 April, TUV leader Jim Allister said that the Executive would not be returning unless the protocol was removed.^[40]

Following the collapse of the Assembly, Sinn Féin and the DUP both called for the election to be brought forward, but the UUP, SDLP and Alliance Party opposed the idea.^[41][42] Northern Ireland SecretaryBrandon Lewis ruled out an early election,^[43] saying that the priority was to get the Assembly up and running again.^[44] Two weeks later, however, Lewis claimed there was "a real risk" that the Executive would not return after the election.^[45]

Nominations opened on 29 March 2022 for the assembly election and closed on 8 April 2022.^[46]

A total of 239 candidates contested the 90 available seats in the Assembly, an increase from 228 in 2016.^[46] Eighty-seven women ran as candidates in the election, which is the highest number in history.^[47] The seats were spread over 18 constituencies, with each constituency having five seats. The election was conducted using thesingle transferable vote system.

The table below lists all of the nominated candidates.^[48][49]

The following MLAs announced that they would not stand for re-election.^[51]

TheSinn Féin campaign avoided talk of aunited Ireland,^[63] instead focusing on "bread and butter" issues.^[64] Sinn Féin called for a £230 payment to help people with thecost of living.^[65] A threat to destroy a Sinn Féin billboard was reported to the police.^[66] TheSocial Democratic and Labour Party's campaign had reportedly been difficult.^[67] Candidate Elsie Trainor was attacked by youths in Belfast who also hurledsectarian abuse.^[68] LeaderColum Eastwood urgedtactical voting.^[69]Aontú was the only Irish nationalist party to campaign on ananti-abortion platform.^[70]

TheDemocratic Unionist Party campaign focused on their opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, Sinn Féin and the prospect of a referendum onIrish unity.^[71] TheTraditional Unionist Voice said that opposing the Northern Ireland Protocol is "top priority".^[72] They received a number of defections from the DUP.^[73] In contrast to the DUP, theUlster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said a united Ireland would not happen in his or his children's lifetime, thus "we can set it aside in order to concentrate on the issues affecting the daily lives of our people who live here".^[74] All three unionist leaders attended a series of rallies against the Protocol. In March, Beattie announced he would continue to oppose the Protocol but would no longer take part in the rallies. Beattie said they had been hijacked byloyalists to raise tensions "that now see a resurgence inUVF activity". Following this, his constituency office in Portadown was attacked,^[75] and an election poster with a noose around his neck appeared at a loyalist rally inLurgan.^[76]

TheAlliance Party advocated reform of the Stormont institutions to remove the designation system and avoid a "cycle of collapse". It also advocated health reform and the introduction of a child payment scheme to support people with the cost of living.^[77] The party further promised to buildCasement Park,^[78] positioned itself as the "centre ground" and campaigned in constituencies west of theRiver Bann, where they have never won any seats.^[79]

TheGreen Party pledged the establishment of a bill of rights, an independent Environmental Protection Agency, and rent controls.^[80] ThePeople Before Profit manifesto was launched on 22 April. In it, they promised a £1,000 to help with cost of living.^[81] On 30 April, PBP candidate Hannah Kenny was attacked by three men inEast Belfast, who also subjected her to "sectarian and misogynistic" abuse.^[82]

On 13 April, it was reported that thePolice Service of Northern Ireland had been notified of 41 political poster incidents.^[83]

Televised debates between the party leaders were held on 1 May and 3 May.^[84][85]

Local regression of polls conducted

* (U): Unionist, (N): Nationalist, (O): Other

Votes were counted on 6 and 7 May.^[97] Sinn Féin became the largest party, marking the first time anIrish nationalist/republican party had won the most seats in an election in Northern Ireland, and has the right to nominate Northern Ireland's first nationalist First Minister. As Northern Ireland's government is based onpower-sharing, the DUP (as second-largest party) must nominate a deputy First Minister for the Executive to be formed; however, they said they will not do so until their issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol are dealt with.^[6]

The DUP's vote share dropped almost 7% and lost three seats; despite this,unionists won two more seats than nationalists—37 seats to 35—and a marginally higher share of the vote.^[3] This being said, socialist party People Before Profit—who returned one candidate to the Assembly—favour a united socialist Ireland, though they officially designated themselves as Socialist, rather than Nationalist or Unionist, on the electoral register. Indeed, both nationalist parties (4) and unionist parties (3) lost seats overall to 'Others', who gained 7 seats for their highest ever proportion of seats in the assembly, 18 seats, or 20% of those available, despite both Green candidates losing their seat. Unionist parties lost greater combined vote share, losing just over 2.5% of the total vote, whereas nationalist parties (including newcomers Aontú) lost only around 0.5% of vote share combined.

Alliance achieved their highest ever first-preference vote share in an Assembly election, becoming the third-largest party in the Assembly and adding over 50% to their vote share, going from 9% to over 13.5%. They overtook the UUP (who lost one seat) and the SDLP (who lost four), who both received their lowest ever vote shares. The TUV also achieved their highest vote share, tripling their share and up 5% from the last election, but they did not win any more seats.^[98] The Greens lost both seats they held before the election and were shut out of the Assembly for the first time since 2003.^[4][5]Alex Easton, who left the DUP in 2021, was re-elected as an independent unionist, as was the returning former Justice Minister,Claire Sugden.Colum Eastwood believed SDLP voters gave their support to Sinn Féin in this election, saying "there's a tide there and people wanted to send a message, they wanted to kick the DUP and I think this is how they decided to do it".^[47]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats
					Assembly	+/–	Executive	+/–
	Sinn Féin	250,388	29.02	+1.1	27	–	5	+1
	Democratic Unionist Party	184,002	21.33	-6.7	25	-3	4	-1
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	116,681	13.53	+4.5	17	+9	2	+1
	Ulster Unionist Party	96,390	11.17	-1.7	9	-1	1	–
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	78,237	9.07	-2.9	8	-4	0	-1
	Traditional Unionist Voice	65,788	7.63	+5.0	1	–	–	–
	Green Party Northern Ireland	16,433	1.90	-0.4	–	-2	–	–
	Aontú	12,777	1.48	New	–	New	–	–
	People Before Profit	9,798	1.14	-0.6	1	–	–	–
	Progressive Unionist Party	2,665	0.31	-0.4	–	–	–	–
	Irish Republican Socialist Party	1,869	0.22	New	–	New	–	–
	Workers' Party	839	0.10	-0.1	–	–	–	–
	Cross-Community Labour Alternative	602	0.07	-0.3	–	–	–	–
	Socialist Party	524	0.06	New	–	New	–	–
	Northern Ireland Conservatives	254	0.03	-0.3	–	–	–	–
	Heritage Party	128	0.01	New	–	New	–	–
	Resume Party	13	0.00	New	–	New	–	–
	Independent	25,315	2.93	+1.1	2	+1	–	–
Total		862,703	100.00	–	90	0	12	0
Valid votes		862,703	98.73
Invalid/blank votes		11,078	1.27
Total votes		873,781	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,373,731	63.61

Party affiliation of the five Assembly members returned by each constituency. The first column indicates the party of the Member of theHouse of Commons (MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in the2019 United Kingdom general election under thefirst-past-the-post voting method.

Percentage of each constituency's first-preference votes. Absolute majorities are inbold. 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.

All constituencies were five-seat constituencies, with members elected under theSingle transferable vote system. The quota in each constituency was therefore approximately 16.67% of the vote in the constituency. However, in some cases, despite a party gaining more than that share of the vote, imperfect transfer discipline between candidates meant that a seat was not automatically gained.

Shortly before the final results were announced, O'Neill said: "Today ushers in a new era. Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work."^[101] Donaldson stated that the Executive would not sit unless theNorthern Ireland Protocol was removed. He later announced that he would not take his Assembly seat, which was co-opted byEmma Little-Pengelly,^[102] and the DUP would not be nominating aSpeaker until the UK government took "decisive action".^[103]

The SDLP responded by accusing the DUP of treating voters with contempt and "mak[ing] our electoral process look like a bad joke".^[104] Naomi Long, leader of Alliance, said DUP Assembly Members should not be allowed to claim their salary while they prevented the Assembly from functioning.^[105] These disagreements continued apolitical crisis from before the election, prompting Prime MinisterBoris Johnson to visit Northern Ireland to discuss amendments to the Protocol.^[106][107]

TheDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to resume power sharing due to its stance on the protocol.^[108][109] In the absence of an executive being formed, a new election should be called. However, the UK government got primary legislation passed three times to extend the deadline. Multiple negotiations with the DUP and the agreement of theWindsor Framework with the EU failed to produce a resolution.

However, on 30 January 2024, the DUP announced that it had accepted a deal (conditional on legislation being passed by the UK government) that saw it agreeing to form an executive. The Assembly first met on 3 February 2024, which sawEmma Little-Pengelly confirmed as Deputy First Minister, andMichelle O'Neill confirmed as First Minister, with a new executive formed the same day.^[110][111]

Other elections in the UK that were held on the same day:

• 2022 United Kingdom local elections
• 2022 Scottish local elections
• 2022 Welsh local elections

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election manifestos:

• Democratic Unionist Party (5- Point Plan)
• Sinn Féin(English)(Irish/Gaeilge)
• Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Ulster Unionist Party
• Alliance Party
• Green Party Northern Ireland
• People Before Profit
• Traditional Unionist Voice

• Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
• 2022 elections in Northern Ireland
• May 2022 in the United Kingdom

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