2019_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Northern_Ireland

2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

Result of Northern Ireland element of the UK General Election

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on 12 December 2019 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, including 18 seats in Northern Ireland. 1,293,971 people were eligible to vote, up 51,273 from the 2017 general election. 62.09% of eligible voters turned out, down 3.5 percentage points from the last general election.[1] For the first time in history, nationalist parties won more seats than unionist parties.[2]

For broader coverage of this topic, see Elections in Northern Ireland.
Quick Facts All 18 Northern Ireland seats to the House of Commons, Turnout ...

Electoral system

MPs were elected in 18 Single Member constituencies by first-past-the-post.

Background

The election was called on 29 October 2019 under the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019. At the 2017 election, the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) lost all of their seats. The DUP won 10 seats, Sinn Féin won 7 seats, and Independent Unionist Sylvia Hermon was also elected. The election ended in a hung parliament, and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) signed a confidence and supply agreement with the Conservative Party.[3]

In 2018, Sinn Féin MP for West Tyrone, Barry McElduff, resigned after a social media post he made caused controversy regarding perceived sectarianism on the Kingsmill massacre.[4] The party won a by-election later, but with a plurality instead of a majority.[5]

In the 2019 European Parliament election, Sinn Féin, the DUP, and the Alliance Party each won a seat.[6]

Participating parties

102 candidates stood in the general election.[7] The Alliance Party was the only party standing in all 18 seats. The DUP stood in 17 seats, the UUP in 16, and both Sinn Féin and the SDLP in 15 seats. Aontú stood in 7 seats, the Northern Ireland Conservatives in 4, the Green Party of Northern Ireland in 3, and People Before Profit and the UK Independence Party in 2. Traditional Unionist Voice did not stand in this election. There were also three independent candidates. Sylvia Hermon did not contest this election.[8]

Sinn Féin operates on an all-Ireland basis. Their MPs in Westminster practice abstentionism, meaning they do not take their seats in the House of Commons. Aontú, who like Sinn Féin are an abstentionist all-Ireland party, was formed in January 2019.[9][10]

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2019 United Kingdom general election § Northern Ireland
More information Pollster/client(s), Date(s) conducted ...
Individual seats by winner vote share

Results

More information Party, Seats ...

Results by constituency

More information Constituency, 2017 result ...
More information Parliamentary seats ...

See also

Footnotes

  1. "Party leader in the North" and vice president of Sinn Féin. Mary Lou McDonald is the party president and leader of the opposition in the Dáil of the Republic of Ireland.
  2. An MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
  3. An MEP for Northern Ireland.
  4. An MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Antrim.
  5. Aontú (1.2%), People Before Profit (0.9%) and the Conservative Party (0.7%) outpolled the Greens despite not being measured separately in pre-election polling.
  6. Including 1% for Traditional Unionist Voice, 1% for People Before Profit and 3% for Sylvia Hermon.

References

  1. [1]
    "UK Parliamentary Election 2019 - Turnout". EONI. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  2. [2]
    McClements, Freya (13 December 2019). "North returns more nationalist than unionist MPs for first time". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  3. [3]
    Maidment, Jack (26 June 2017). "DUP agrees £1bn deal with Conservatives to prop up Theresa May's minority Government". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  4. [4]
    "Barry McElduff resigns as MP for West Tyrone". BBC News. 15 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. [5]
    "SF's Begley wins West Tyrone by-election". BBC News. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  6. [6]
    Leahy, Pat; Kelly, Fiach; Bray, Jennifer (28 May 2019). "Elections 2019: Greens the big winners while Sinn Féin slumps". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  7. [7]
    "General Election 2019: Northern Ireland candidates". BBC News. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  8. [8]
    "Sylvia Hermon to stand down as MP for North Down". BBC News. 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  9. [9]
    "Aontu in battle to 'take thousands of votes' off Sinn Fein and SDLP in Foyle". Derry Daily. 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. [10]
    "General Election 2019: Republican pro-life party Aontu out to give SF bloody nose in a number of seats". Belfast Telegraph. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  11. [11]
    "By-elections since the 2017 General Election". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  12. [12]
    "Mary Lou McDonald confirmed as new leader of Sinn Féin". Irish Times. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  13. [13]
    "Results of the 2019 General Election in Northern Ireland". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. [14]
    [clarification needed]

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