Talk:Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007

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Contents

[edit] RSF

This lot are not registered with the electoral commission so cannnot appear on the ballot paper under their own name or spend more than a few hundred £? Their candidates must be standing technically as independents unless they sign up to the electoral commission Weggie 13:11, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

[1] Thought so... Weggie 14:31, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
I accept the rationale for including the parties listed in the party table. The results announced by the returning officers will use the party names included in the list and these only.
However, for the benefit of Wikipedia users, can we come up with a solution that allows readers to see clearly the six Republican Sinn Féin performs in the election? Various media outlets recognise RSF as a party and do not refer to its candidates as independents, such as Sunday Life[2], Ireland On-Line[3], the Irish Times and others.
I've just come across a source which says that RSF candidates will not be recorded as anything as the organisation disagreed with the description 'Independent'.[4]--Damac 15:10, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

http://www.eoni.org.uk/statement_of_persons_nominiated_n_a_and_ub.pdf - note Barry Tobin - Independent should be removed and a footnote pointing to his RSF affiliation would be best. Weggie 15:31, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, Weggie. I notice that other candidates, such as Paul Berry, have also declined the description of 'Independent', this should be reflected on the table here. After all, the principle to date has been to stick with the descriptions provided by the Electoral Commission. At the same time, we should provide information on the actual (if known) political affiliations of individual Independent or 'blank' (for want of a better word) candidates.--Damac 15:49, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
I do not think we are prisoners of the Electoral Commission. They may not recognise RSF as a political party, but it clearly is. I've therefore been WP:BOLD and given RSF a separate line in the table. Sam Blacketer 14:57, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
Well done. We should not be prisoners of the Electoral Commission, as you correctly point out. You are being WP:BOLD, but I should warn you that you can expect this to be promptly reverted by a particular user who is not keen on debating the issue.--Damac 15:53, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
It's nothing to do with the Electoral Commission - RSF themselves knew the rules and chose not to register as a political party. Still it's reasonable enough to include them seperately. Valenciano 16:00, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Candidates

Surely there could be more additions to the list? No Nigel Dodds, Gerry Adams, etc? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.29.209.185 (talk) 18:34, 10 February 2007 (UTC).

It's very likely that they will stand, and as soon as there is some reference which confirms that they are standing, you can add them to the list. Warofdreams talk 00:15, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
Voila [Full list from BBC] Weggie 00:18, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Party table

Any change of an extra column (or append) to show party abbreviations - it would make the list of candidates easier to get to grips with? Weggie 11:30, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, I've added the party abbreviations. Warofdreams talk 11:14, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Appointment of FM and DFM

From the article

The St Andrews Agreement states that the First Minister will be chosen from the largest party of the largest political designation and the Deputy First Minister from the largest party from the second largest political designation. [2].

The above isn't the whole story. The legislation passed actually says it goes straight to the largest party regardless of designation. i.e. The legislation deviates from what was published as the StAA.

It's in http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/transitional/info_office/Act.pdf . That's Part2.8.1.16C.6 The page number is 11 in your pdf browser, or page 9 at the top right of the page itself. You can just search for "not the largest" and it should take you straight to it.

Aaron McDaid (talk - contribs) 18:15, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Section 16A "Appointment of First Minister, deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland Ministers following Assembly election"
states
(4) The nominating officer of the largest political party of the largest political designation shall nominate a member of the Assembly to be the First Minister.
(5) The nominating officer of the largest political party of the second largest political designation shall nominate a member of the Assembly to be the deputy First Minister.
taken from [5] Fasach Nua 14:25, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
Does anyone have a reference for an interpretation of this legislation? (Ideally not one from a political party) Fasach Nua 13:49, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
This news story has some more on this [6] from an Irish News columnist. Another link to what appears to be relevant legislation is [7]:
(6) If at any time the party which is the largest political party of the largest political designation is not the largest political party-
(a) any nomination to be made at that time under section 16A(4) or 16B(4) shall instead be made by the nominating officer of the largest political party; and
(b) any nomination to be made at that time under section 16A(5) or 16B(5) shall instead be made by the nominating officer of the largest political party of the largest political designation.
It's a pity that the legislation appears to have been written badly, with what appears to be contradictory rules. Aaron McDaid (talk - contribs) 17:12, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
Another question on this issue! When the term "nomination" is used, is that a nomination for the assembly to vote on, or is it effectively an appointment? Fasach Nua 16:46, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Category:Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly

This is probably as good a place as any to ask this, Should this category be changed to Cat...(2003-2007), and start afresh with the new membership. I suspect it will get very messy if left until after the election Fasach Nua 19:31, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Definately - also we could do with cats for the other years IMHO Weggie 20:18, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
Seems tricky enough Help:Category#Moving_a_category_page Fasach Nua 10:49, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
Suggest we create sub_categories under the currect one for the three years? Weggie 00:04, 21 February 2007 (UTC)
If we can all agree on what to rename it, I should be able to do it in just a few minutes with Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser. Warofdreams talk 01:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
How about Category:Northern Ireland Assembly MLA 2003-2007 etc..Weggie 10:08, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
We could cut out "Assembly", as it's redundant with "MLA", and make it plural - how about Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2003-2007? Warofdreams talk 11:15, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
Yep - sounds good Weggie 11:16, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

I think we will need 1998-2003 as well as I have a handful of biogs where the MLA stood down / lost seat in 2003 Weggie 11:20, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Absolutely; this would probably also be the time to create Category:Members of the Northern Ireland Forum. Unless there are any objections, I'll do these categorisations next time I'm in front of my home computer. Warofdreams talk 11:28, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Great work - much appreciated! Weggie 14:43, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] George Ennis UKUP

Is this DUP George Ennis? Not seen any news reports of a defection?

[8] Fasach Nua 12:01, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Blimey! I've updated the Ennis page and linked him. Thanks for that FN Weggie 12:10, 16 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Patsy McGlone, Mid-Ulster

I'm sure that the above will be interested to learn that he is standing for the DUP.

Aleks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.109.121.105 (talk) 13:07, 18 February 2007 (UTC).

Updated Weggie 13:18, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Constituency split

I was just wondering whether it would be a good idea to spit up the Assembly constituencies from the Westminster ones as this is what is done with the Welsh and Scottish ones so we could have a Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency) and Belfast East (Northern Ireland Assembly constituency) --Barry talk 23:21, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

While those examples are somewhat different, in that their constituencies differ from the UK Parliamentary ones, I think that the length of the articles on the constituencies would make it desirable to split the Assembly information. This might then encourage editors to add the Assembly election results to the relevant articles. I would suggest, however, that the Assembly constituency articles should also cover the Forum, 73 and 82 Assemblies and Constitutional Convention. Warofdreams talk 03:34, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
I've created Belfast West (Assembly constituency) as an example. Does anyone have any suggestions for changes, before I create other constituency articles? I'm planning to remove the relevant material from the UK Parliament constituency articles. Warofdreams talk 03:07, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Looks spot on to me Weggie 09:58, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
If you check my recent edit to it, I'd suggest two things. 1) Add a mention that the boundaries are not always the same as the Assembly boundaries sometimes don't keep pace with Westminster boundary changes. 2) add a link to the 1998 and 2003 results. Btw could someone correctly format my references to it please? Valenciano 10:03, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Thanks, those look like great changes. I've added a <references /> tag to display the references you've added. Warofdreams talk 15:35, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Since the articles have grown a lot since they were created I think a split is order, although as the constituencies have always used the Westminster boundaries (the occassional differences such as etween 1973-1974, 1983-1986 and 1996-1997 stem from when elections take place rather than the Scottish situation where the boundaries are now deliberately separate) it may be handy to keep some of the information about geography, demographics and history on a central page, rather than risk the two getting out of sync. Timrollpickering 18:35, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
For the time being, I've just added a line noting that further detail on these areas can be found in the UK Parliament constituency article. If desired, we can always split it out of that later. Warofdreams talk 03:37, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

I've now created articles on Belfast East (Assembly constituency), Belfast North (Assembly constituency) and Belfast South (Assembly constituency). If anyone else would like to help create the remaining constituency articles, or with fleshing out the historic results, please do so!

Once the boxes in which we can add the 2007 results are in all the Assembly constituency articles, should we remove them from this article? It's not usual to have detailed results for each constituency in an article on an election, and it seems that this kind of duplication may not be desirable. Warofdreams talk 03:37, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

We now have articles on all the current Assembly constituencies. Does anyone object to the detailed results by constituency now being removed from this article? Warofdreams talk 20:16, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Very good work saves me from having to do it, I think its OK to remove the results from this page now and on that note I am creating an infobox template for the Assembly constituency articles but I am not shure what to put in the date they where created do you go with 1973, the original assembly of 1999, the current one. --Barry entretien 20:30, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
"Created" isn't really a simple concept for these constituencies. Could we perhaps have "First used"? That would allow 1973 to be used for most of them, and 1996 for the newer constituencies. Warofdreams talk 00:23, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Candidate numbers

Are we sure we have the numbers of candidates right? The BBC differs somewhat having [9] :

  • DUP 46
  • UUP 38
  • SF 37
  • SDLP 35
  • IND 28
  • AP 18
  • UKUP 13
  • GP 13
  • Con 9
  • WP 6
  • MPH 4
  • PUP 3
  • Soc 2
  • SEA 1
  • LP 1
  • UKIP 1
  • PBP 1
  • PROC 1
  • Grand Total 257

I don't have time to check them now but, if someone has a little time while waiting for the results to start coming in, the individual candidates listed by the BBC are:

  • AP Stewart Dickson East Antrim
  • AP Sean Neeson East Antrim
  • AP Naomi Long East Belfast
  • AP Barney Fitzpatrick East Londonderry
  • AP Allan Leonard Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • AP Yvonne Boyle Foyle
  • AP Trevor Lunn Lagan Valley
  • AP Margaret Marshall Mid-Ulster
  • AP Máire Hendron Newry & Armagh
  • AP Jayne Dunlop North Antrim
  • AP Tommy McCullough North Belfast
  • AP Stephen Farry North Down
  • AP David Ford South Antrim
  • AP Anna Lo South Belfast
  • AP David Griffin South Down
  • AP Kieran McCarthy Strangford
  • AP Sheila McQuaid Upper Bann
  • AP Dan McGuinness West Belfast
  • Con Tim Lewis East Antrim
  • Con Glyn Chambers East Belfast
  • Con Neil Johnston Lagan Valley
  • Con James Leslie North Down
  • Con Stephen O'Brien South Antrim
  • Con Roger Lomas South Belfast
  • Con Peter Bowles South Down
  • Con Bob Little Strangford
  • Con David Fry Upper Bann
  • DUP George Dawson East Antrim
  • DUP David Hilditch East Antrim
  • DUP Sammy Wilson East Antrim
  • DUP Wallace Browne East Belfast
  • DUP Robin Newton East Belfast
  • DUP Peter Robinson East Belfast
  • DUP Gregory Campbell East Londonderry
  • DUP Adrian McQuillan East Londonderry
  • DUP George Robinson East Londonderry
  • DUP Arlene Foster Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • DUP Maurice Morrow Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • DUP William Hay Foyle
  • DUP Jonathan Craig Lagan Valley
  • DUP Jeffrey Donaldson Lagan Valley
  • DUP Paul Givan Lagan Valley
  • DUP Edwin Poots Lagan Valley
  • DUP Anne Forde Mid-Ulster
  • DUP Ian McCrea Mid-Ulster
  • DUP William Irwin Newry & Armagh
  • DUP Deirdre Nelson North Antrim
  • DUP Ian Paisley North Antrim
  • DUP Ian Paisley Jnr North Antrim
  • DUP Mervyn Storey North Antrim
  • DUP Nigel Dodds North Belfast
  • DUP William Humphrey North Belfast
  • DUP Nelson McCausland North Belfast
  • DUP Alex Easton North Down
  • DUP Alan Graham North Down
  • DUP Peter Weir North Down
  • DUP Trevor Clarke South Antrim
  • DUP Mel Lucas South Antrim
  • DUP William McCrea South Antrim
  • DUP Jimmy Spratt South Belfast
  • DUP Christopher Stalford South Belfast
  • DUP William Burns South Down
  • DUP Jim Wells South Down
  • DUP Simon Hamilton Strangford
  • DUP Michelle McIlveen Strangford
  • DUP Iris Robinson Strangford
  • DUP Jim Shannon Strangford
  • DUP John McCrum Upper Bann
  • DUP Stephen Moutray Upper Bann
  • DUP David Simpson Upper Bann
  • DUP Diane Dodds West Belfast
  • DUP Allan Bresland West Tyrone
  • DUP Thomas Buchanan West Tyrone
  • GP Mark Bailey East Antrim
  • GP Steve Agnew East Belfast
  • GP Phillippe Moison East Londonderry
  • GP Adele Corry Foyle
  • GP Michael Rogan Lagan Valley
  • GP Brendan Morgan Newry & Armagh
  • GP Peter Emerson North Belfast
  • GP Brian Wilson North Down
  • GP Peter Whitcroft South Antrim
  • GP Brenda Cooke South Belfast
  • GP Ciaran Mussen South Down
  • GP Stephanie Sim Strangford
  • GP Helen Corry Upper Bann
  • IND John Anderson East Antrim
  • IND Victor Love Christie East Londonderry
  • IND Michael McGonigle East Londonderry
  • IND Gerry McGeough Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • IND Michael McManus Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • IND Willie Frazer Foyle
  • IND Peggy O'Hara Foyle
  • IND Harry Hutchinson Mid-Ulster
  • IND Brendan McLaughlin Mid-Ulster
  • IND Paul Berry Newry & Armagh
  • IND Willie Frazer Newry & Armagh
  • IND Davy Hyland Newry & Armagh
  • IND James Gregg North Antrim
  • IND Paul McGlinchey North Antrim
  • IND Raymond McCord North Belfast
  • IND Chris Carter North Down
  • IND Alan Chambers North Down
  • IND Brian Rowan North Down
  • IND Geoffrey Wilson South Belfast
  • IND Martin Cunningham South Down
  • IND David Gregg Strangford
  • IND Cedric Wilson Strangford
  • IND David Calvert Upper Bann
  • IND Suzanne Peeples Upper Bann
  • IND Barry Toman Upper Bann
  • IND Geraldine Taylor West Belfast
  • IND Kieran Deeny West Tyrone
  • IND Joe O'Neill West Tyrone
  • LP Malachi Curran South Down
  • MPH Rainbow George East Belfast
  • MPH Rainbow George North Belfast
  • MPH Rainbow George South Belfast
  • MPH Rainbow George West Belfast
  • PBP Sean Mitchell West Belfast
  • PROC Charles Smyth South Belfast
  • PUP Dawn Purvis East Belfast
  • PUP Elaine Martin North Down
  • PUP Andrew Park South Belfast
  • SDLP Danny O'Connor East Antrim
  • SDLP Mary Muldoon East Belfast
  • SDLP Orla Beattie East Londonderry
  • SDLP John Dallat East Londonderry
  • SDLP Vincent Currie Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • SDLP Tommy Gallagher Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • SDLP Mary Bradley Foyle
  • SDLP Mark Durkan Foyle
  • SDLP Helen Quigley Foyle
  • SDLP Pat Ramsey Foyle
  • SDLP Marietta Farrell Lagan Valley
  • SDLP Kate Lagan Mid-Ulster
  • SDLP Patsy McGlone Mid-Ulster
  • SDLP Dominic Bradley Newry & Armagh
  • SDLP Sharon Haughey Newry & Armagh
  • SDLP Orla Black North Antrim
  • SDLP Declan O'Loan North Antrim
  • SDLP Pat Convery North Belfast
  • SDLP Alban Maginness North Belfast
  • SDLP Liam Logan North Down
  • SDLP Thomas Burns South Antrim
  • SDLP Noreen McClelland South Antrim
  • SDLP Carmel Hanna South Belfast
  • SDLP Alasdair McDonnell South Belfast
  • SDLP PJ Bradley South Down
  • SDLP Michael Carr South Down
  • SDLP Margaret Ritchie South Down
  • SDLP Joe Boyle Strangford
  • SDLP Dolores Kelly Upper Bann
  • SDLP Patrick McAleenan Upper Bann
  • SDLP Alex Attwood West Belfast
  • SDLP Margaret Walsh West Belfast
  • SDLP Jo Deehan West Tyrone
  • SDLP Eugene McMenamin West Tyrone
  • SDLP Seamus Shields West Tyrone
  • SEA Eamonn McCann Foyle
  • SF Oliver McMullan East Antrim
  • SF Niall Ó'Donnghaile East Belfast
  • SF Francie Brolly East Londonderry
  • SF Billy Leonard East Londonderry
  • SF Michelle Gildernew Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • SF Sean Lynch Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • SF Gerry McHugh Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • SF Martina Anderson Foyle
  • SF Lynn Fleming Foyle
  • SF Raymond McCartney Foyle
  • SF Paul Butler Lagan Valley
  • SF Martin McGuinness Mid-Ulster
  • SF Francie Molloy Mid-Ulster
  • SF Michelle O'Neill Mid-Ulster
  • SF Cathal Boylan Newry & Armagh
  • SF Mickey Brady Newry & Armagh
  • SF Conor Murphy Newry & Armagh
  • SF Daithi McKay North Antrim
  • SF Gerry Kelly North Belfast
  • SF Caral Ni Chuilin North Belfast
  • SF Deaglan Page North Down
  • SF Mitchel McLaughlin South Antrim
  • SF Alex Maskey South Belfast
  • SF Willie Clarke South Down
  • SF Eamonn McConvey South Down
  • SF Caitriona Ruane South Down
  • SF Dermot Kennedy Strangford
  • SF John O'Dowd Upper Bann
  • SF Dessie Ward Upper Bann
  • SF Gerry Adams West Belfast
  • SF Paul Maskey West Belfast
  • SF Fra McCann West Belfast
  • SF Jennifer McCann West Belfast
  • SF Sue Ramsey West Belfast
  • SF Pat Doherty West Tyrone
  • SF Barry McElduff West Tyrone
  • SF Claire McGill West Tyrone
  • Soc Tommy Black East Belfast
  • Soc Jim Barbour South Belfast
  • UKIP Henry Reilly South Down
  • UKUP Tom Robinson East Antrim
  • UKUP Leslie Cubitt East Londonderry
  • UKUP Robert McCartney Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • UKUP Robert McCartney Lagan Valley
  • UKUP Walter Millar Mid-Ulster
  • UKUP Lyle Cubitt North Antrim
  • UKUP Robert McCartney North Belfast
  • UKUP Robert McCartney North Down
  • UKUP Robert McCartney South Antrim
  • UKUP David Hoey South Belfast
  • UKUP Nelson Wharton South Down
  • UKUP George Ennis Strangford
  • UKUP Robert McCartney West Tyrone
  • UUP Roy Beggs East Antrim
  • UUP Mark Dunn East Antrim
  • UUP Ken Robinson East Antrim
  • UUP Michael Copeland East Belfast
  • UUP Reg Empey East Belfast
  • UUP Jim Rodgers East Belfast
  • UUP Norman Hillis East Londonderry
  • UUP David McClarty East Londonderry
  • UUP Edwin Stevenson East Londonderry
  • UUP Kenny Donaldson Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • UUP Tom Elliott Fermanagh & South Tyrone
  • UUP Peter Munce Foyle
  • UUP Billy Bell Lagan Valley
  • UUP Ronnie Crawford Lagan Valley
  • UUP Basil McCrea Lagan Valley
  • UUP Billy Armstrong Mid-Ulster
  • UUP Danny Kennedy Newry & Armagh
  • UUP Robert Coulter North Antrim
  • UUP Robin Swann North Antrim
  • UUP Fred Cobain North Belfast
  • UUP Leslie Cree North Down
  • UUP Alan McFarland North Down
  • UUP Marion Smith North Down
  • UUP David Burnside South Antrim
  • UUP Danny Kinahan South Antrim
  • UUP Stephen Nicholl South Antrim
  • UUP Esmond Birnie South Belfast
  • UUP Michael McGimpsey South Belfast
  • UUP Bob Stoker South Belfast
  • UUP John McCallister South Down
  • UUP Angus Carson Strangford
  • UUP Michael Henderson Strangford
  • UUP David McNarry Strangford
  • UUP Sam Gardiner Upper Bann
  • UUP Arnold Hatch Upper Bann
  • UUP George Savage Upper Bann
  • UUP Louis West West Belfast
  • UUP Derek Hussey West Tyrone
  • WP Joe Bell East Belfast
  • WP John Magee Lagan Valley
  • WP John Lavery North Belfast
  • WP Marcella Delaney South Antrim
  • WP Paddy Lynn South Belfast
  • WP John Lowry West Belfast

--Cavrdg 06:54, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know but I can feel a mass deletion coming on. The WP:AFD has always been that a person must pass WP BIO to have their own page, and being elected leader or some local region apparently wasn't notable enough and USA candidates were all removed, getting on the front page may well cause a serious of AFD's. Look at the list of all the people who lost their seat/stepped down, i don't think anyone of them would pass WP:BIO o_O but who knows...--155.144.251.120 02:31, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Table of results

We a large table of results. I'd like to remove the 2003 results, which can be found by checking the 2007 results and the change, or from our article on the 2003 election. In their place, I'd like to a column for the first preference votes received by each party. Warofdreams talk 14:24, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

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