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2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election: Difference between revisions

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| leader_since2 = 13 November 1983
| leader_since2 = 13 November 1983
| leaders_seat2 = N/A
| leaders_seat2 = N/A
| last_election2 = 28 seats, 24.2%
| last_election2 = 29 seats, 26.9%
| seats2 = 29
| seats2 = 29
| seat_change2 = {{increase}}1
| seat_change2 = {{increase}}2
| popular_vote2 = 178,224
| popular_vote2 = 178,224
| percentage2 = 26.9
| percentage2 = 26.9

Revision as of 21:48, 7 May 2011

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2011
← 2007 5 May 2011 2015 →
All 108 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly
55 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Peter Robinson Gerry Adams Tom Elliott
Party DUP Sinn Féin UUP
Leader since 31 May 2008 13 November 1983 22 September 2010
Leader's seat Belfast East N/A Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Last election 36 seats, 30.1% 29 seats, 26.9% 18 seats, 14.9%
Seats won 38 29 16
Seat change Increase2 Increase2 Decrease2
Popular vote 198,436 178,224 87,531
Percentage 30% 26.9 13.2
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Margaret Ritchie David Ford Steven Agnew
Party SDLP Alliance Green (NI)
Leader since 7 February 2010 6 October 2001 10 January 2011
Leader's seat South Down South Antrim N/A
Last election 16 seats, 15.2% 7 seats, 5.2% 1 seat, 1.7%
Seats won 14 8 2
Seat change Decrease2 Increase1
Popular vote 94,286 50,875
Percentage 14.2 7.7
First Minister before election

Peter Robinson
DUP

First Minister-designate

TBD

The 2011 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on Thursday 5 May 2011, following the dissolution of the Northern 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 26 local councils, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections, a number of local elections in England and the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum.

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] A record number of people abstained from voting. Turnout in the 2011 Assembly election was 54.5%, a decline of almost eight percentage points from the previous Assembly election and down over 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly in 1998.


Eligibility and proof of identity

European Union and Commonwealth citizens aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote. The deadline for voters to register to vote in the 5 May elections was midnight on 14 April 2011. All voters had to present one piece of photographic ID in order to cast a vote at the polling station: accepted forms of ID were an Electoral Identity Card, a photographic NI or GB driving licence, a European Union member state passport, a Translink 60+ SmartPass, a Translink Senior SmartPass, a Translink Blind Person’s SmartPass or a Translink War Disabled SmartPass.[3] Voters who didn't have an accepted type of photographic ID had until 22 April 2011 to apply for an Electoral Identity Card from the Electoral Office.

Outgoing Speaker

Unlike the UK Parliament and the Irish Dáil, the Northern Ireland Speaker does not remain impartial during the election period. The sitting Speaker must revert to their party colours and campaign for a seat on their manifesto. If subsequently elected as an MLA and then elected Speaker, he or she will resume unbiased authority over the Assembly. This is also the case in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.[4]

Retiring members

The following incumbent MLAs did not offer themselves for re-election:

Contesting parties

The election of the Speaker will effectively reduce the strength of the party from which the successful candidate comes.

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0C3A6A;" data-sort-value="Traditional Unionist Voice" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #8dc63f;" data-sort-value="Green Party in Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E91D50;" data-sort-value="People Before Profit Alliance" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #6D3177;" data-sort-value="UK Independence Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2B45A2;" data-sort-value="Progressive Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2e3b74;" data-sort-value="British National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F8F9FA;" data-sort-value="Workers' Party of Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF3300;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" |
Party Leader Candidates Seats Change from 2007
1st Pref Votes[5][6] 1st Pref % Change from 2007
 Executive Seats
DUP Peter Robinson 44 38 +2 198,418 30.0 -0.1
Sinn Féin Gerry Adams 40 29 +1 178,249 26.9 +0.7
SDLP Margaret Ritchie 28 14 -2 94,295 14.2 -1.0
UUP Tom Elliott 29 16 -2 87,258 13.2 -1.7
Alliance David Ford 22 8 +1 50,879 7.7 +2.5
TUV Jim Allister 12 1 +1 16,480 2.5 N/A
Green (NI) Steven Agnew 6 1 0 6,031 0.9 -0.8
People Before Profit N/A 4 0 5,438 0.8 +0.7
UKIP Nigel Farage 6 0 4,152 0.6 +0.4
PUP Brian Ervine 1 0 -1 1,493 0.2 -0.4
BNP Nick Griffin 3 0 1,253 0.2 N/A
Workers' Party of Ireland Mick Finnegan 4 0 1,155 0.2 +0.1
Socialist Party N/A 3 0 819 0.1 0.0
Procapitalism Charles Smyth 1 0 29 0.0 0.0
Independent N/A 15 1


Constituency results[7][8]

Constituency Candidates Seats Alliance DUP Green Sinn Féin SDLP UUP Other Turnout
East Antrim 13 6 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 46.8%
East Belfast 17 6 2 3 0 0 0 1 0 52.8%
East Londonderry 12 6 0 3 0 1 1 0 1 52.9%
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 11 6 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 67.8%
Foyle 12 6 0 1 0 2 3 0 0 56.4%
Lagan Valley 11 6 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 52.4%
Mid Ulster 13 6 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 63.8%
Newry and Armagh 11 6 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 59.7%
North Antrim 11 6 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 53.4%
North Belfast 11 6 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 49.1%
North Down 13 6 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 44.9%
South Antrim 10 6 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 49.3%
South Belfast 14 6 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 52.0%
South Down 11 6 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 56.8%
Strangford 11 6 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 47.5%
Upper Bann 12 6 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 54.0%
West Belfast 14 6 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 56.7%
West Tyrone 11 6 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 62.2%
Total 218 108 8 38 1 29 14 16 2 54.5%


Speed of counting of votes

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 p.m. on Friday May 6, nine hours after counting began and 21 hours after polls closed.[9] The announcement of the final results for some constituencies came three 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. 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."[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Electoral Office for Northern Ireland: Eligible Electorate Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Electoral Office for Northern Ireland: Registered Voter Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Electoral Office for Northern Ireland: Electoral Identity Card" (PDF). Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Lord Alderdice calls for Stormont Speaker rules change". Bbc.co.uk. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  5. ^ NI Assembly: Latest 2011 Election results, UTV
  6. ^ Vote 2011: Northern Ireland Elections, BBC News
  7. ^ Vote 2011: Northern Ireland Elections, BBC News
  8. ^ [1], UTV
  9. ^ NI Stormont Assembly election results: day two as it happened, BBC News
  10. ^ Electoral chief defends staff over results delays, BBC News

Party manifestos

Party election broadcasts

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