2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

United Kingdom general election, 2010

2005 ← members 6 May 2010 (2010-05-06) Members elected → 2015

All 18 Northern Irish seats to the House of Commons   First party Second party Third party   Leader Peter Robinson Gerry Adams Margaret Ritchie Party Democratic Unionist Sinn Féin SDLP Leader since 31 May 2008 13 November 1983 7 February 2010 Last election 9 Seats 5 Seats 3 Seats Seats before 9 5 3 Seats won 8 5 3 Seat change 1 0 0 Popular vote 168,216 171,942 110,970 Percentage 25.0% 25.5% 16.5% Swing 8.7% 1.2% 1.0%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader David Ford Reg Empey Party Alliance Conservatives and Unionists Leader since 6 October 2001 24 June 2005 Last election 0 Seats 1 Seat Seats before 0 1 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 42,762 102,361 Percentage 6.3% 15.2% Swing 2.4% 2.6%

Colours on map indicate winning party for each constituency.

Prime Minister before election Gordon Brown Labour Subsequent Prime Minister David Cameron Conservative

Northern Ireland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Northern Ireland

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The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010. The election saw Sinn Féin win the most votes and the Democratic Unionist Party win most seats. The election also resulted in the non-sectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland gaining its first seat. The Ulster Unionist Party fought the election as allies of the UK Conservative Party, under the banner "Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force". They failed to win any seats for the first time in their history (Lady Sylvia Hermon, their only incumbent MP, had declined to join the new pact in the run-up to the election. She retained her seat of North Down as an Independent).

Contents 1 Results 2 MPs elected 3 Constituencies 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further reading 7 See also

Results

e • d Summary of the May 2010 House of Commons of the United Kingdom election results

	Political Party	Candidates	Number of Votes	Elected	Seats Gained	Seats Lost	Net Change in seats	% of Seats	% of Votes	Change in % of vote
	Sinn Féin	17	171,942	5	0	0	0	27.8	25.5	+1.2
	Democratic Unionist	16	168,216	8	0	1	-1	44.4	25.0	-8.7
	SDLP	18	110,970	3	0	0	0	16.7	16.5	-1.0
	Conservatives and Unionists	17	102,361	0	0	1	-1	0	15.2	-2.6
	Alliance	18	42,762	1	1	0	+1	5.6	6.3	+2.4
	Traditional Unionist Voice	10	26,300	0	0	0	0	0	3.9	N/A
	Green (NI)	4	3,542	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	N/A
	Others	7	47,778	1	1	0	+1	5.6	7.1	+4.7

MPs elected

MP	Constituency	Party
Naomi Long	Belfast East	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Nigel Dodds	Belfast North	Democratic Unionist Party
Alasdair McDonnell	Belfast South	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Gerry Adams[nb 1]	Belfast West	Sinn Féin
Sammy Wilson	East Antrim	Democratic Unionist Party
Gregory Campbell	East Londonderry	Democratic Unionist Party
Michelle Gildernew	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	Sinn Féin
Mark Durkan	Foyle	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Jeffrey Donaldson	Lagan Valley	Democratic Unionist Party
Martin McGuinness	Mid Ulster	Sinn Féin
Conor Murphy	Newry and Armagh	Sinn Féin
Ian Paisley Jr	North Antrim	Democratic Unionist Party
Sylvia Hermon	North Down	Independent[nb 2]
William McCrea	South Antrim	Democratic Unionist Party
Margaret Ritchie	South Down	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Jim Shannon	Strangford	Democratic Unionist Party
David Simpson	Upper Bann	Democratic Unionist Party
Pat Doherty	West Tyrone	Sinn Féin

Italics indicates a new member and/or party representing the seat. Bold indicates an MP who did not complete a full term.

Constituencies

General Election 2010: Belfast East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Naomi Long	12,839	37.2	+26.2
	Democratic Unionist	Peter Robinson	11,306	32.8	-19.6
	Conservatives and Unionists	Trevor Ringland	7,305	21.2	-8.3
	Traditional Unionist Voice	David Vance	1,856	5.4	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Niall Ó Donnghaile	817	2.4	-0.1
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	365	1.1	-1.1
Majority			1,533	4.4
Turnout			34,488	58.4	-0.3
	Alliance gain from Democratic Unionist		Swing	+22.9

General Election 2010: Belfast North[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Nigel Dodds	14,812	40.0	-2.9
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly	12,588	34.0	+7.1
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	4,544	12.3	-4.5
	Conservatives and Unionists	Fred Cobain	2,837	7.7	-1.8
	Alliance	Billy Webb	1,809	4.9	+2.0
	Independent	Martin McAuley	403	1.1	+1.1
Majority			2,224	6.0
Turnout			36,993	56.5	-1.1
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Candidates for the General Election 2010: Belfast South[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	14,026	41.0	+10.9
	Democratic Unionist	Jimmy Spratt	8,100	23.7	-5.9
	Conservatives and Unionists	Paula Bradshaw[3]	5,910	17.3	-4.9
	Alliance	Anna Lo	5,114	15.0	+7.7
	Green (NI)	Adam McGibbon	1,036	3.0	N/A
Majority			5,926	17.3
Turnout			34.186	57.4	-5.1
	SDLP hold		Swing

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
	Democratic Unionist	William Humphrey	2,436	7.6	-3.3
	Conservatives and Unionists	Bill Manwaring	1,000	3.1	+0.6
	Alliance	Maíre Hendron	596	1.9	+1.8
Majority			17,579	54.7
Turnout			32,133	54.0	-13.5
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+1.1

General Election 2010: East Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Sammy Wilson	13,993	45.9	-1.0
	Conservatives and Unionists	Rodney McCune[4]	7,223	23.7	-1.4
	Alliance	Gerry Lynch[5]	3,377	11.1	-3.6
	Sinn Féin	Oliver McMullan	2,064	6.8	+1.4
	SDLP	Justin McCamphill	2,019	6.6	-0.8
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Sammy Morrison[6]	1,826	6.0	+6.0
Majority			6,770	22.2
Turnout			30,502	50.7
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing	0.2%

General Election 2010: East Londonderry [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Gregory Campbell	12,097	34.6	-6.3
	Sinn Féin	Cathal Ó hOisín	6,742	19.3	+1.9
	Conservatives and Unionists	Lesley Macaulay	6,218	17.8	-1.9
	SDLP	Thomas Conway	5,399	15.4	-3.9
	Traditional Unionist Voice	William Ross	2,572	7.4	+7.4
	Alliance	Barney Fitzpatrick	1,922	5.5	+3.1
Majority			5,355	15.3
Turnout			34,950	55.3	-8.4
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Fermanagh and South Tyrone[8][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Michelle Gildernew	21,304	45.5	+7.3
	Independent	Rodney Connor	21,300	45.5	N/A
	SDLP	Fearghal McKinney	3,574	7.6	-7.2
	Alliance	Vasundhara Kamble	437	0.9	N/A
	Independent	John Stevenson	188	0.9	N/A
Majority			4	0.0	-9.4
Turnout			46,803	68.9	-6.9
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

Note: Rodney Connor had the support of the Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force^[10]

General Election 2010: Foyle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Mark Durkan[11]	16,922	44.7	-1.7
	Sinn Féin	Martina Anderson[12]	12,098	31.9	-1.4
	Democratic Unionist	Maurice Devenney[13]	4,489	11.8	-2.2
	People Before Profit	Eamonn McCann[14]	2,936	7.7	N/A
	Conservatives and Unionists	David Harding[15]	1,221	3.2	+0.9
	Alliance	Keith McGrellis[16]	223	0.6%	+0.6
Majority			4,824	12.7
Turnout			37,889	57.5	-12.5
	SDLP hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Lagan Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Jeffrey Donaldson[17]	18,199	49.8	-8.5
	Conservatives and Unionists	Daphne Trimble[18]	7,713	21.1	-1.8
	Alliance	Trevor Lunn[19]	4,174	11.4	+0.5
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Keith Harbinson	3,154	8.6	+8.6
	SDLP	Brian Heading[20]	1,835	5.0	-1.1
	Sinn Féin	Paul Butler[21]	1,465	4.0	-3.5

General Election 2010: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	21,239	52.0	+2.4
	Democratic Unionist	Ian McCrea[22]	5,876	14.4	-9.1
	SDLP	Tony Quinn[23]	5,826	14.3	-3.1
	Conservatives and Unionists	Sandra Overend[24]	4,509	11.0	+0.3
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Walter Millar[25]	2,995	7.3	+7.3
	Alliance	Ian Butler[26]	397	1.0	+1.0
Majority			15,363	37.6	+13.4
Turnout			40,842	63.2	-10.0
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+5.8

General Election 2010: Newry and Armagh[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Conor Murphy	18,857	42.0	+0.6
	SDLP	Dominic Bradley	10,526	23.4	-1.8
	Conservatives and Unionists	Danny Kennedy	8,558	19.1	+5.2
	Democratic Unionist	William Irwin	5,764	12.8	-5.6
	Independent	Willie Frazer	656	1.5	+1.5
	Alliance	Andrew Muir	545	1.2	+1.2
Majority			8,331	18.6	+2.4
Turnout			44,906	60.4	-9.6
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

General Election 2010: North Antrim[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley Jr	19,672	46.4	-10.4
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Jim Allister	7,114	16.8	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Daithí McKay	5,265	12.4	-1.8
	Conservatives and Unionists	Irwin Armstrong	4,634	10.9	-4.1
	SDLP	Declan O'Loan	3,738	8.8	-2.2
	Alliance	Jayne Dunlop	1,368	3.2	+0.2
	Independent	Lyle Cubitt	606	1.4	N/A
Majority			12,558	29.6
Turnout			42,397	57.8	-7.3
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing	0.0

General Election, 2010: North Down[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sylvia Hermon	21,181	63.3	+12.4
	Conservatives and Unionists	Ian Parsley	6,817	20.4	-30.0
	Alliance	Stephen Farry	1,876	5.6	-2.0
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Kaye Kilpatrick	1,634	4.9	N/A
	Green (NI)	Steven Agnew	1,043	3.1	N/A
	SDLP	Liam Logan	680	2.0	-1.1
	Sinn Féin	Vincent Parker	250	0.7	+0.1
Majority			14.364	42.9
Turnout			33.481	55.2	-1.1
	Independent gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 2010: South Antrim[30]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	11,536	33.9	-4.3
	Conservatives and Unionists	Reg Empey	10,353	30.4	+1.3
	Sinn Féin	Mitchel McLaughlin[31]	4,729	13.9	+2.3
	SDLP	Michelle Byrne[32]	2,955	8.7	-3.7
	Alliance	Alan Lawther	2,607	7.7	-0.9
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Mel Lucas	1,829	5.4	+5.4
Majority			1,183	3.5	-5.6
Turnout			34,009	53.9	-3.4
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 2010: South Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Margaret Ritchie[33]	20,648	48.5	1.6
	Sinn Féin	Caitríona Ruane[34]	12,236	28.7	1.7
	Democratic Unionist	Jim Wells[35]	3,645	8.6	-7.6
	Conservatives and Unionists	John McCallister[36]	3,093	7.3	-1.5
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Ivor McConnell[37]	1,506	3.5	3.5
	Green (NI)	Cadogan Enright[38]	901	2.1	2.1
	Alliance	David Griffin[39]	560	1.3	0
Majority			8,412	19.8
Turnout			42,589	60.2	-8.5
	SDLP hold		Swing	0.1

General Election 2010: Strangford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Jim Shannon	14,926	45.9	-8.8
	Conservatives and Unionists	Mike Nesbitt	9,050	27.8	+2.6
	Alliance	Deborah Girvan	2,828	8.7	+0.5
	SDLP	Claire Hanna	2,164	6.7	-1.8
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Terry Williams	1,814	5.6	+5.6
	Sinn Féin	Michael Coogan	1,161	3.6	-0.1
	Green (NI)	Barbara Haig	562	1.7	+1.7
Majority			5,876	18.1
Turnout			32.505	53.7	-3.4
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Upper Bann[40][41][42]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	David Simpson	14,000	33.8	-3.8
	Conservatives and Unionists	Harry Hamilton	10,639	25.7	+0.2
	Sinn Féin	John O'Dowd	10,237	24.7	+3.7
	SDLP	Dolores Kelly	5,276	12.8	-0.2
	Alliance	Brendan Heading	1,231	3.0	+0.8
Majority			3,361	8.1
Turnout			41,383	55.3
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 2010: West Tyrone[43]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Pat Doherty	18,050	48.4	+9.5
	Democratic Unionist	Tom Buchanan	7,365	19.8	+2.0
	Conservatives and Unionists	Ross Hussey	5,281	14.2	N/A
	SDLP	Joe Byrne	5,212	14.0	+4.9
	Alliance	Michael Bower	859	2.3	N/A
	Independent	Ciaran McClean	508	1.4	N/A
Majority			10,685	28.7
Turnout			37,275	61.0	-14.2
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+3.8

Notes

1. ^ Adams resigned his seat after being elected to the Dáil Éireann in the 2011 election.
2. ^ Hermon had previously held the seat for the Ulster Unionist Party

References

1. ^ Election 2010: Belfast North, BBC News
2. ^ South Belfast UK Polling
3. ^ Westminster Candidates, Ulster Unionist Party, 20 March 2010
4. ^ Westminster Candidates, Ulster Unionist Party, 20 March 2010
5. ^ "Lynch is picked for East Antrim". BBC News. 2010-02-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8538950.stm. 
6. ^ http://www.tuv.org.uk/press-releases/view/630/battle-of-the-sammys-in-east-antrim
7. ^ Londonderry Statement of Persons Nominated Elections Office of Northern Ireland
8. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated Electoral Office for Northern Ireland
9. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Fermanagh & South Tyrone". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/707.stm. 
10. ^ "Unionist 'unity' candidate agreed". BBC News. 9 April 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/northern_ireland/8610725.stm. 
11. ^ "Durkan selected as Foyle Westminster candidate", SDLP
12. ^ Foyle, UKPollingReport
13. ^ Harding named UUP candidate in forthcoming election, Londonderry Sentinel, 1 April 2010
14. ^ Vote People Before Profit Alliance in May's Westminster Election, People Before Profit Alliance, 24 March 2010
15. ^ Westminster Candidates, Ulster Unionist Party, 20 March 2010
16. ^ Alliance List of Candidates, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, 6 May 2010
17. ^ "Politics". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/constituency/1063/lagan-valley. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
18. ^ "Tories and UUP agree candidates". BBC News. 2010-02-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8535662.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 
19. ^ "Lunn selected for Alliance for Lagan Valley Westminster election", APNI
20. ^ "Heading heading for Westminster", SDLP
21. ^ Sinn Féin (2009-12-10), Lagan Valley selects Paul Butler MLA as Westminster candidiate (sic), http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/17888, retrieved 2010-03-14 
22. ^ "DUP select Ian McCrea to stand in Mid Ulster". BBC News. 2010-02-25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/northern_ireland_politics/8537363.stm. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
23. ^ Published on Thu Mar 18 10:17:31 GMT 2010. "Quinn confirmed as SDLP candidate - Local". Tyrone Times. http://www.tyronetimes.co.uk/2617/Quinn-confirmed-as-SDLP-candidate.6169185.jp. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
24. ^ "Tories and UUP agree candidates". BBC News. 2010-02-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8535662.stm. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
25. ^ Millar for Mid Ulster, TUV
26. ^ "Twitter / Alliance Party: Ian Butler selected to sta". Twitter.com. 2010-03-16. http://twitter.com/allianceparty/statuses/10563769137. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
27. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated
28. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated
29. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated
30. ^ South Antrim UKPolling
31. ^ Candidates, Sinn Féin
32. ^ Byrne: It's time for real change in South Antrim, SDLP
33. ^ "Ritchie confirmed as candidate". BBC News. 2010-03-22. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8579493.stm. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
34. ^ "The Devenport Diaries: Eddie McGrady retires". BBC. 2010-02-25. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markdevenport/2010/02/eddie_mcgrady_retires.html. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
35. ^ DITM. "Wells for South Down". Dup.org.uk. http://www.dup.org.uk/articles.asp?ArticleNewsID=1996. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
36. ^ "Tories and UUP agree candidates". BBC News. 2010-02-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8535662.stm. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
37. ^ "McConnell for South Down", TUV
38. ^ "Green Party selection for South Down". BBC News. 2010-03-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8544116.stm. Retrieved 2010-11-21. 
39. ^ "Alliance selects Griffin for South Down", Alliance Party
40. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated Electoral Office for Northern Ireland
41. ^ General Election 2010 - Upper Bann BBC News
42. ^ Upper Bann ARK - Access Research Knowledge
43. ^ Statement of Persons Nominated

Further reading

• Tonge, Jon (2010) Northern Ireland: Unionism Loses More Leaders, Parliamentary Affairs, 63/4: 742-59

See also

• Politics of Northern Ireland
• Elections in Northern Ireland

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