2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election

none April 2022 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election parliamentary no 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election 1st Northern Ireland Assembly 1998 MLAs elected 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election 2007 All 108 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly 26 November 2003 63.1% 6.7% Ian Paisley, 1994 2 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party 30 September 1971 North Antrim 20 seats, 18.5% 20 30 10 177,944 25.7% 7.2% Gerry Adams, October 2005 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Gerry Adams Sinn Féin 13 November 1983 Belfast West 18 seats, 16.7% 18 24 6 162,758 23.5% 6.8% David Trimble Washington D.C.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 David Trimble 8 September 1995 Ulster Unionist Party Upper Bann 28 seats, 21.3% 27 27 1 156,931 22.7% 1.4% MarkDurkan.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Mark Durkan 10 November 2001 Social Democratic and Labour Party Foyle 24 seats, 22.0% 23 18 6 117,547 17.0% 5.0% David Ford.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 David Ford 6 October 2001 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland South Antrim 6 seats, 5.6% 5 6 0 25,372 3.7% 1.9% David Ervine 2002 Progressive Unionist Party Belfast East 2 seats, 2.6% 2 1 1 8,032 1.2% 1.4% Robert McCartney 1995 UK Unionist Party North Down 5 seats, 4.5% 1 1 4 5,700 0.8% 3.7% 350px Seats won by each party and combined first preference vote share of the largest party. 350px Break down of each party and community's seats in constituencies Election results. Voters elect 6 assembly members from the 18 constituencies. First Minister First Minister after election Suspended Suspended The 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 26 November 2003, after being suspended for just over a year. It was the second election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. Each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constituencies elected six members by single transferable vote, giving a total of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The election was contested by 18 parties and many independent candidates. Background The election was originally planned for May 2003,http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032697.htm The Northern Ireland (Date of Next Assembly Poll) Order 2003 2006-01-04 2007-05-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20070503122815/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032697.htm live but was delayed by Paul Murphy, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Several sitting MLAs stood under a different label to the one they had used in the 1998 election. Some had failed to be selected by their parties to stand and so stood as independents, whilst others had changed parties during the course of the assembly. Most of these realignments occurred within the unionist parties, with several defections between existing parties, and two new parties being formed – the United Unionist Coalition (formed by the three MLAs elected as independent unionists, though one later joined the DUP) and the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (formed by four of the five MLAs elected as the UK Unionist Party, though one later left them, joined the DUP for a period, then contested the election as an independent unionist). The SDLP, which had been Northern Ireland's dominant Irish nationalist party during the 1980s and 1990s, went into this election with concerns that they could lose numerous seats to fellow nationalists Sinn Féin, who had overtaken the SDLP in terms of votes and seats at the 2001 United Kingdom general election.2001 General Election - the last election in Northern Ireland http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/today/westminster_2001.html 2023-03-03 WesleyJohnston.comhttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/13/uk.northernireland Sinn Fein builds on success while SDLP licks wounds Rosie Cowan 13 June 2001 The GuardianMurray Gerard Sinn Féin and the SDLP: From Alienation to Participation 2005 Hurst Jonathan Tonge 1-85065-648-7 London 48784064 Commentator, Brian Feeney, said: "The SDLP has a series of baronial figures - John Hume, Seamus Mallon, Eddie McGrady - who hung on to power and didn't groom their successors early enough. They just don't have enough people on the ground in some areas of the province. Sinn Féin, by contrast, has deliberately cultivated collective leadership, bringing forward wave after wave of young, articulate, highly politicised heirs apparent, and their grassroots organisation is awesome."https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/nov/24/uk.northernireland Poll could put SDLP on the road to oblivion, say critics Cowan Rosie 24 November 2003 The Guardian 3 March 2023 Once secure as the mainstream nationalist group, the party is being warned that Sinn Féin has stolen its thunder Results On the unionist side, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) became Northern Ireland's biggest party for the first time in any election, overtaking the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). They gained ten seats, primarily at the expense of smaller unionist parties, to become the largest party both in seats and votes, winning thirty overall.https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/election/ra2003.htm CAIN: Issue: Politics: Elections: Assembly Election (NI) Wednesday 26 November 2003 cain.ulster.ac.uk 11 March 2023 The UUP increased their vote slightly, despite slipping to third place in first preference votes, and won 27 seats, a net loss of one. Shortly after the election three Ulster Unionist MLAs, Jeffrey Donaldson, Norah Beare and Arlene Foster, quit the partyMoriarty Gerry 19 December 2003 Donaldson quits UUP for place on DUP talks team https://www.irishtimes.com/news/donaldson-quits-uup-for-place-on-dup-talks-team-1.400928 3 March 2023 The Irish Times enhttps://www.itv.com/news/utv/2022-02-24/jeffrey-donaldsons-past-with-the-uup-dup-and-defections Would DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson have defected to the UUP? McNaney James 24 February 2022 UTV 3 March 2023 and later defected to the DUP.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jan/05/northernireland.devolution Ulster Unionist rebels defect to DUP Tempest Matthew 5 January 2004 The Guardian 3 March 2023 On the nationalist side, Sinn Féin saw a big increase in their vote, gaining six seats at the net expense of the Social Democratic and Labour Party,https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61363696 NI election 2022: How UUP and SDLP lost their place as Northern Ireland's top parties Sproule Luke 11 May 2022 BBC News NI 3 March 2023 for a total of 24 seats.Elliott Sydney 2007 Sinn Féin: Is There Any Limit to Its Electoral Ambitions? DUP: An Increase in Electoral Advantage over the UUP? https://www.jstor.org/stable/25561856 Fortnight 450 6–8 25561856 0141-7762 The minor parties all saw a significant fall in their support. The Alliance Party managed to hold all six of its seats despite their vote falling by a third, the Women's Coalition, United Unionist Coalition and Northern Ireland Unionist Party were all wiped out, and the Progressive Unionist Party and UK Unionist Party won just one seat each. Neither the United Unionist Assembly Party nor the Northern Ireland Unionists won any seats. The biggest surprise of the election came in West Tyrone with the election of the independent Kieran Deeny, a doctor campaigning on the single issue of hospital provision in Omagh.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3485079.stm Hospital campaigner forms party 13 February 2004 BBC News 3 March 2023 thumb|Result by constituencies right|thumb|Preferable vote. File:Northern Irish general election 2003.svg DUP 177944 30 10 Sinn Féin 162758 24 6 UUP 156931 27 1 SDLP 117547 18 6 Alliance 25372 6 0 PUP 8032 1 1 NI Women's Coalition 5785 0 2 UK Unionist 5700 1 4 United Unionist Council 2705 Green (NI) 2688 Socialist Environmental Alliance 2394 Workers' Party 1881 NI Conservatives 1604 NI Unionist 1350 Socialist Party 343 Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket 124 Ulster Third Way 16 Independent 20234 1 1 1097526 63.05 ARK Distribution of seats by constituency Party affiliation of the six Assembly members returned by each constituency. The first column indicates the party of the Member of the House of Commons (MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in the 2001 United Kingdom general election under the first-past-the-post voting method. Party of MP, 2001 Constituency Northern Ireland Assembly seats TotalGained byFormerly held by APNI DUP PUP SDLP SinnFéin UKU UUP Ind. Independent Democratic Unionist PartyNorth Antrim6–3–11–1–SFUUP 2 Ulster Unionist Party UUP East Antrim 6 1 3 – – – – 2 – DUP UKU DUP SDLP Ulster Unionist Party UUP South Antrim612–1––2–DUPUKU 2 Democratic Unionist Party Belfast North 6 – 2 – 1 2 – 1 – DUP Ind. U. Independent unionist SF PUP Sinn FéinBelfast West6–1–14–––DUPSDLP Ulster Unionist Party UUPBelfast South6–1–21–2–SF NIWC Democratic Unionist PartyBelfast East6121–––2––– 2 Ulster Unionist Party UUPNorth Down 6 1 2 – – – 1 2 – DUP UUP DUP NIWC Democratic Unionist PartyStrangford613––––2–DUP UKU Ulster Unionist Party UUP Lagan Valley611–1––3– UUP UKU Ulster Unionist Party UUP Upper Bann6–2–11–2– DUP Ind. U. Independent unionist Social Democratic and Labour Party South Down6–1–22–1– SF SDLP Social Democratic and Labour Party Newry and Armagh6–1–13–1– SF SDLP Sinn Féin Fermanagh & South Tyrone6–1–12–2––– Sinn Féin West Tyrone6–1–12–11 Ind. O. Independent Other SDLP Sinn Féin Mid Ulster6–1–13–1––– Social Democratic and Labour Party Foyle6–1–32––––– 2 Democratic Unionist Party East Londonderry 6 – 2 – 1 1 – 2 – DUP Ind. U. Independent Unionist SF SDLP ZZA Total108630118241271ZZB Change since 1998––+ 10– 1 – 6 + 6– 4− 1– 2–2 NIWC–ZZI Elected on 25 June 1998108620224185283 2 NIWC– References Manifestos Alliance Works, Alliance Fair Deal Manifesto 2003, Democratic Unionist Party Meeting the Challenges - Seizing the Opportunities, Green Party Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2003, Northern Ireland Conservatives Change the Face of Politics, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition 2003 Election Manifesto, Progressive Unionist Party Agenda for Government, Sinn Féin Reshaping Government, Rebuilding Public Services, Social Democratic and Labour Party Turn the Tide, Socialist Environmental Alliance Manifesto 2003, Ulster Unionist Party It Wont Work... Without the Workers' Party, Workers' Party 2003 Category:2003 elections in the United Kingdom Category:2003 in Northern Ireland Category:November 2003 in the United Kingdom Category:2003 elections in Northern Ireland