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2011 Belfast West by-election

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2011 Belfast West by-election
← 2010 9 June 2011 2015 →
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Paul Maskey Alex Attwood
Party Sinn Féin SDLP
Popular vote 16,211 3,088
Percentage 70.6% 13.5%
Swing Decrease0.5% Decrease2.9%
  Third party Fourth party
  Blank
Candidate Gerry Carroll Brian Kingston
Party People Before Profit DUP
Popular vote 1,751 1,393
Percentage 7.6% 6.1%
Swing New party Decrease1.5%
MP before election

Gerry Adams
Sinn Féin

Subsequent MP

Paul Maskey
Sinn Féin

On 9 June 2011, a by-election was held for the United Kingdom constituency of Belfast West. The by-elected was prompted by the resignation of the constituency's Member of Parliament, Gerry Adams[1] in advance of his candidacy in the 2011 general election in the Republic of Ireland.

Background

Gerry Adams had held Belfast West for Sinn Féin from 1983 to 1992, and continuously since 1997.[2] 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.[3] A constituency of the same name, with boundaries identical to the Westminster constituency which existed before the 2010 election, was contested at the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election, using the single transferable vote method of election. Sinn Féin candidates won five of the six seats and the SDLP the other.[4]

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.[5] Although the UUP have not held their deposit in recent years, they held the Parliamentary seat until 1966.[6]

Vacation of the seat

Members of the House of Commons, whether or not they have taken their seats, cannot resign in form, but a legal fiction has grown up to allow Members to resign in effect. Under Section 4 of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, if an MP wishes to vacate their seat, they can request appointment to either of two 'offices of profit under the Crown' which disqualify them from membership. As an Irish republican, Gerry Adams considered a British Crown appointment politically unacceptable, and therefore submitted a letter resigning his seat to the Speaker of the House of Commons on 20 January 2011;[7] he maintained that by doing so he had simply resigned.[8] Notwithstanding that he had not requested it, Adams was on 26 January appointed as Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, a Treasury spokesperson explaining that this appointment had been made "consistent with long-standing precedent".[7] 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".[9]

Calling the by-election

In order for a by-election to take place, an MP makes 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 comes from the same party as the member that has stood down.[10] However, because Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the Commons, the writ was moved by the Government Chief Whip, Conservative Patrick McLoughlin MP on 16 May 2011.[11]

Candidates

Alex Attwood, the Environment Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party's candidate for the seat at the 2010 general election was the SDLP candidate for the by-election.[12]

Brian Kingston was the Democratic Unionist Party candidate.[13]

Paul Maskey, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, won the Sinn Féin nomination.[14] Danny Morrison, the former publicity director of Sinn Féin, had suggested that the party should stand aside and instead back a candidacy for former Respect Party MP George Galloway.[15]

Results

By-election

2011 Belfast West by-election[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Sinn Féin Paul Maskey 16,211 70.6 −0.5
SDLP Alex Attwood 3,088 13.5 −2.9
People Before Profit Gerry Carroll 1,751 7.6 New
DUP Brian Kingston 1,393 6.1 −1.5
UUP Bill Manwaring 386 1.7 −1.4
Alliance Aaron McIntyre 122 0.5 −1.4
Majority 13,123 57.1 +2.4
Turnout 22,951 37.5 −16.5
Registered electors 61,441
Sinn Féin hold Swing +1.2

Previous General Election

General election 2010: Belfast West[18]
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 −1.2
Turnout 32,133 54.0 −13.5
Registered electors 59,522
Sinn Féin hold Swing +1.1

See also

References

  1. ^ "Manor of Northstead". HM Treasury. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  2. ^ Gerry Adams resigns as West Belfast MP BBC News
  3. ^ "Constituencies in order of % Majority after the 2010 general election". Politicsresources.net. 13 January 2011. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  4. ^ West Belfast 2007, Northern Ireland Elections
  5. ^ West Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections
  6. ^ West Belfast 1950–1970, Northern Ireland Elections
  7. ^ a b "Adams 'becomes baron'". The Irish Times. 26 January 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  8. ^ Adams comments on Cameron claims Sinnfein.ie
  9. ^ "Downing Street apology for Gerry Adams". BBC Online. 26 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Microsoft Word - M07 - Parliamentary Elections.doc" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Go-ahead given for Belfast poll – Northern Ireland, Local & National". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  12. ^ "(Andersonstown News) – The Candidate". Belfast Media. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  13. ^ – DUP Nomination for West Belfast by-election, 24 May 2011
  14. ^ "Paul Maskey 'wants to run for West Belfast'". Bbc.co.uk. 11 May 2011. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  15. ^ Martina Purdy, "Galloway to run for West Belfast?", BBC News, 21 January 2011
  16. ^ Sinn Fein's Paul Maskey wins West Belfast by-election, BBC News, 10 June 2011
  17. ^ Northern Ireland Elections, Northern Ireland Elections, 6 May 2018
  18. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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