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| Northern Ireland |
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NI in the UK
NI in the EU
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Other countries · Atlas |
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their support, with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Contents |
At the 2003 election the DUP and Sinn Féin became the largest parties so there was no prospect of the assembly voting for the first and deputy first ministers. Therefore the British Government did not restore power to the Assembly and the elected members never met. Instead there commenced a protracted series of negotiations. During these negotiations a legally separate assembly, known as The Assembly consisting of the members elected in 2003 was formed in May 2006[1] to enable the parties to negotiate and to prepare for government.
Eventually, in October 2006, the Governments and the parties, including the DUP and Sinn Féin made the St Andrews Agreement and a new transitional assembly came into effect on 24 November 2006.[2] The Government agreed to fresh elections and the transitional assembly was dissolved on 30 January 2007, after which campaigning began.[3]
The election was conducted using the single transferable vote applied to six-seat constituencies, each of which corresponds to a UK parliamentary seat. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister were chosen by the largest parties from the two different political designations. Parties who won seats were then allocated places on the executive committee in proportion to their seats in the Assembly using the D'Hondt method.
The major parties standing were the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) on the Unionist side, and Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) on the Nationalist side. The largest cross-community party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, contested the election in 17 of 18 constituencies. Smaller parties also included the Progressive Unionist Party, the Green Party and the UK Unionist Party. Some independent Unionists also stood.
Among the other parties that stood, the Conservatives nominated nine and there were six candidates for the Workers' Party. Also there were four candidates for Make Politicians History and two for the Socialist Party. Six Republican Sinn Féin-aligned candidates also stood. As the party had chosen not to register as a political party with the electoral commission, the party name did not appear alongside its candidates on ballot papers.[4]
One of the key issues in the election was which two political parties would gain the largest number of Assembly seats. The St Andrews Agreement stated 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;[5] however, the actual legislation states that the largest party shall make the nomination regardless of designation.[6]
The DUP remained the largest party in the Assembly, making significant gains from the UUP. Sinn Féin made gains from the SDLP and was the largest party among the Nationalists. The only other Assembly Party to make gains was the liberal Alliance Party (winning seven seats, a gain of one), while the Progressive Unionist Party and independent health campaigner Dr Kieran Deeny retained their single seats, and were joined by the Green Party, which won its first Assembly seat, and increased its first preference votes fourfold from 2003. The UK Unionist Party lost its representation in the Assembly. They had contested 12 seats, with Robert McCartney standing in six of them.[7]
Overall, Unionist parties were collectively down 4 seats, Nationalist parties were collectively up 2 seats, and others were up 2 seats.
The election was notable as it saw the first Chinese-born person to be elected to a parliamentary institution in Europe: Anna Lo of the Alliance Party.[8][9]
(in order of first preference vote)
| Party | Leader | Candidates | Seats | Change from 2003 |
1st Pref Votes | 1st Pref % | Change from 2003 |
Executive seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist | Ian Paisley | 46 | 36 | +6 | 207,721 | 30.1 | +4.4 | 5[1] | |
| Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 37 | 28 | +4 | 180,573 | 26.2 | +2.6 | 4[2] | |
| SDLP | Mark Durkan | 35 | 16 | −2 | 105,164 | 15.2 | −1.8 | 1 | |
| Ulster Unionist | Reg Empey | 38 | 18 | −9 | 103,145 | 14.9 | −7.7 | 2 | |
| Alliance | David Ford | 18 | 7 | +1 | 36,139 | 5.2 | +1.5 | — | |
| Independent | N/A | 20 | 1 | ±0 | 19,471 | 2.8 | +1.9 | — | |
| Green (NI) | John Barry[10] | 13 | 1 | +1 | 11,985 | 1.7 | +1.3 | — | |
| UK Unionist | Bob McCartney | 13 | 0 | −1 | 10,452 | 1.5 | +0.7 | — | |
| Progressive Unionist | Dawn Purvis | 3 | 1 | ±0 | 3,822 | 0.6 | −0.6 | — | |
| Conservative | David Cameron | 9 | 0 | — | 3,457 | 0.5 | +0.3 | — | |
| Republican Sinn Féin† | Ruairí Ó Brádaigh | 6 | 0 | — | 2,522 | 0.4 | N/A | — | |
| Socialist Environmental | Goretti Horgan[11] | 1 | 0 | — | 2,045 | 0.3 | −0.1 | — | |
| UKIP | Nigel Farage | 1 | 0 | — | 1,229 | 0.2 | N/A | — | |
| Workers' Party | John Lowry[12] | 6 | 0 | — | 975 | 0.1 | −0.1 | — | |
| People Before Profit | Gordon Hewitt | 1 | 0 | — | 774 | 0.1 | N/A | — | |
| Socialist Party | Peter Hadden[13] | 2 | 0 | — | 473 | 0.1 | +0.1 | — | |
| Make Politicians History | Ronnie Carroll | 4 | 0 | — | 221 | 0.0 | N/A | — | |
| Labour Party NI | Malachi Curran | 1 | 0 | — | 123 | 0.0 | N/A | — | |
| Procapitalism | Samuel Charles Smyth | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 0.0 | N/A | — |
Parties who won seats are allocated places on the Executive Committee using the D'Hondt method and under the St Andrews agreement the largest party gets the right to nominate the first minister and the largest party perceived to be from "the other side" nominates the deputy first minister. Despite the name these offices are in fact of equal right. Note that they are both ministers in the same department (Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister). Using this system, the executive appointed in 2007 was as follows:
| Department | Minister | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Minister | Ian Paisley[17] | Democratic Unionist | |
| Deputy First Minister | Martin McGuinness[17] | Sinn Féin | |
| Enterprise, Trade and Investment | Nigel Dodds | Democratic Unionist | |
| Finance & Personnel | Peter Robinson | Democratic Unionist | |
| Regional Development | Conor Murphy[18] | Sinn Féin | |
| Education | Caitríona Ruane[18] | Sinn Féin | |
| Employment and Learning | Sir Reg Empey | Ulster Unionist | |
| Environment | Arlene Foster | Democratic Unionist | |
| Culture, Arts & Leisure | Edwin Poots | Democratic Unionist | |
| Health, Social Services & Public Safety | Michael McGimpsey | Ulster Unionist | |
| Agriculture | Michelle Gildernew[18] | Sinn Féin | |
| Social Development | Margaret Ritchie[18] | SDLP |
There are two junior ministers in OFMDFM who are, at present, Jeffery Donaldson (DUP) and Gerry Kelly (SF). In April 2010, the Department of Justice was formed, being led by David Ford from the Alliance Party. This is the Alliance Party's first ministerial role.
An opinion poll by Ipsos MORI, published in The Belfast Telegraph on 1 March 2007, reported the voting intentions of those who intended to vote and had decided which party to vote for:[19]
| Party | Percentage | Actual Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist | 25 | 30 | |
| Sinn Féin | 22 | 26 | |
| SDLP | 20 | 15 | |
| Ulster Unionist | 16 | 15 | |
| Alliance | 9 | 5 | |
| Green (NI) | 3 | 2 | |
| Conservative | 1 | 0.5 | |
| UK Unionist | 1 | 1.5 | |
| Progressive Unionist | 1 | 0.5 | |
| Independent | 1 | 3 | |
Notes: Berry and Ennis were originally elected as DUP candidates, Hyland was originally elected as a Sinn Féin candidate.
†Patricia Lewsley stood down prior to the dissolution of the assembly
↑ As a sitting MLA, Norah Beare defected from the UUP to the DUP, and is therefore unselected rather than deselected
Following their de-selection, both Ennis and Hyland unsuccessfully sought election under the UKUP and independent labels respectively.
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