2011 Belfast West by-election

The Belfast West by-election, 2011 will be a by-election for the United Kingdom constituency of Belfast West following the resignation of the constituency's Member of Parliament (MP), Gerry Adams in advance of his candidacy in the 2011 general election in the Republic of Ireland. The election will be called when the Government "moves the writ" in the House of Commons, but so far this has not happened.

Background

Gerry Adams had held Belfast West for Sinn Féin from 1983 to 1992, and continuously since 1997. At the 1992 UK general election and in the 1974 and 1979 elections, the seat was won instead by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), an Irish nationalist party, but by the 2010 general election, they were a long way behind Adams, the seat being the safest in Northern Ireland and the fourth safest anywhere in the UK. A constituency of the same name, with boundaries identical to the Westminster constituency which existed before the 2010 election, was contested at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007, using the single transferable vote method of election. Sinn Féin candidates won five of the six seats and the SDLP the other.

In 2010, the two main unionist parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), both stood candidates in the seat, but took only 10.7% of the vote between them. The DUP did hold one of the six Assembly seats until 2007. Although the UUP have not held their deposit in recent years, they held the Parliamentary seat until 1966.

Resignation from the House of Commons

It is not technically possible for an MP to resign his/her seat. A member may only leave the house by death, disqualification or by acceptance of a paid office of the Crown. These rules apply to all MPs, regardless as to whether they have or, as in Adams' case, they have not taken the oath. Sinn Féin MPs adopt an abstentionist policy of refusing to sit in the House of Commons. On 20 January 2011, Adams submitted a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the House of Commons, but did not apply for a Crown office, which he said would be politically unacceptable for a Sinn Féin politician. On 26 January, a Treasury spokesperson said "Consistent with long-standing precedent, the Chancellor has taken [the letter] as a request to be appointed the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead and granted the office." Although David Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions that Adams had "accepted an office for profit under the Crown", Adams denied this and received an apology from the Prime Minister's Office for not informing him of the procedure and for stating that he had applied for the "post". A statement released by HM Treasury later clarified the situation by stating that it had taken Gerry Adams' resignation letter to the Speaker as an application for a Crown appointment, and consequently he had been appointed as the Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Although this has been disputed, it has not been challenged legally and Gerry Adams does consider himself to have resigned.

Notwithstanding Gerry Adams' public statement rejecting his new position, the Parliamentary authorities in Westminster have removed him from the list of MPs and the seat of Belfast West is now considered vacant.

Calling the by-election

In order for a by-election to take place, an MP will make a motion in the House of Commons to the Speaker to issue a warrant to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, who then issues the writ ordering that the election take place. Traditionally, the MP moving the writ for a by-election comes from the same party as the member that has stood down. However, because Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the Commons, responsibility for moving the writ falls to the government.

Candidates

Danny Morrison, the former publicity director of Sinn Féin, suggested that the party should stand aside and instead back a candidacy for former Respect Party MP George Galloway.

2010 result

General Election 2010: Belfast West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	22,840	71.1	+2.5
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	5,261	16.4	+0.3
	DUP	William Humphrey	2,436	7.6	-3.3
	UCU-NF	Bill Manwaring	1,000	3.1	+0.6
	Alliance	Máire Hendron	596	1.9	+1.8
Majority			17,579	54.7
Turnout			32,133	54.0	-13.5
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+1.1

See also

• Belfast West by-election, 1903
• Belfast West by-election, 1943
• Belfast West by-election, 1950