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On 9 June 2011, a by-election was held for the United Kingdom constituency of Belfast West . The by-election was prompted by the resignation of the constituency's Member of Parliament, Gerry Adams [1] in advance of his candidacy in the 2011 general election in the Republic of Ireland.
Gerry Adams had held Belfast West for Sinn Féin from 1983 to 1992, and continuously since 1997. [2] At the 1992 UK general election and in the 1974 and 1979 elections, the seat was won instead by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), an Irish nationalist party, but by the 2010 general election, they were a long way behind Adams, the seat being the safest in Northern Ireland and the fourth safest anywhere in the UK. [3] A constituency of the same name, with boundaries identical to the Westminster constituency which existed before the 2010 election, was contested at the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election, using the single transferable vote method of election. Sinn Féin candidates won five of the six seats and the SDLP the other. [4]
In 2010, the two main unionist parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), both stood candidates in the seat, but took only 10.7% of the vote between them. The DUP did hold one of the six Assembly seats until 2007. [5] Although the UUP have not held their deposit in recent years, they held the Parliamentary seat until 1966. [6]
Members of the House of Commons, whether or not they have taken their seats, cannot resign in form, but a legal fiction has grown up to allow Members to resign in effect. Under Section 4 of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, if an MP wishes to vacate their seat, they can request appointment to either of two 'offices of profit under the Crown' which disqualify them from membership. As an Irish republican, Gerry Adams considered a British Crown appointment politically unacceptable, and therefore submitted a letter resigning his seat to the Speaker of the House of Commons on 20 January 2011; [7] he maintained that by doing so he had simply resigned. [8] Notwithstanding that he had not requested it, Adams was on 26 January appointed as Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, a Treasury spokesperson explaining that this appointment had been made "consistent with long-standing precedent". [7] Although David Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions that Adams had "accepted an office for profit under the Crown", Adams denied this and received an apology from the Prime Minister's Office for not informing him of the procedure and for stating that he had applied for the "post". [9]
In order for a by-election to take place, an MP makes a motion in the House of Commons to the Speaker to issue a warrant to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, who then issues the writ ordering that the election take place. Traditionally, the MP comes from the same party as the member that has stood down. [10] However, because Sinn Féin MPs do not take their seats in the Commons, the writ was moved by the Government Chief Whip, Conservative Patrick McLoughlin MP on 16 May 2011. [11]
Alex Attwood, the Environment Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party's candidate for the seat at the 2010 general election was the SDLP candidate for the by-election. [12]
Brian Kingston was the Democratic Unionist Party candidate. [13]
Paul Maskey, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, won the Sinn Féin nomination. [14] Danny Morrison, the former publicity director of Sinn Féin, had suggested that the party should stand aside and instead back a candidacy for former Respect Party MP George Galloway. [15]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | Paul Maskey | 16,211 | 70.6 | −0.5 | |
| SDLP | Alex Attwood | 3,088 | 13.5 | −2.9 | |
| People Before Profit | Gerry Carroll | 1,751 | 7.6 | New | |
| DUP | Brian Kingston | 1,393 | 6.1 | −1.5 | |
| UUP | Bill Manwaring | 386 | 1.7 | −1.4 | |
| Alliance | Aaron McIntyre | 122 | 0.5 | −1.4 | |
| Majority | 13,123 | 57.1 | +2.4 | ||
| Turnout | 22,951 | 37.5 | −16.5 | ||
| Registered electors | 61,441 | ||||
| Sinn Féin hold | Swing | +1.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | 22,840 | 71.1 | +2.5 | |
| SDLP | Alex Attwood | 5,261 | 16.4 | +0.3 | |
| DUP | William Humphrey | 2,436 | 7.6 | −3.3 | |
| UCU-NF | Bill Manwaring | 1,000 | 3.1 | +0.6 | |
| Alliance | Máire Hendron | 596 | 1.9 | +1.8 | |
| Majority | 17,579 | 54.7 | −1.2 | ||
| Turnout | 32,133 | 54.0 | −13.5 | ||
| Registered electors | 59,522 | ||||
| Sinn Féin hold | Swing | +1.1 | |||
West Tyrone is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Órfhlaith Begley, a member of Sinn Fein, since the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
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Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is John Finucane.
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency (seat) in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The current MP is Paul Maskey of Sinn Fein.
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Alex Maskey is an Irish former politician who served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2020 to 2024 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor, representing the Laganbank electoral area of Belfast. He was also an MLA for Belfast West for two periods, and also for Belfast South. He reportedly retired "from frontline politics" in early 2024.
Frank McCoubrey is a Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist, as well as a community activist and researcher. McCoubrey is a Belfast City Councillor for the Court DEA since 1997, sitting as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member since 2012. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG). McCoubrey is a native of Highfield, Belfast.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 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).
The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.
Events during the year 2011 in Northern Ireland.
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The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.
A by-election for the UK House of Commons constituency of Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland was held on 7 March 2013. The election was triggered by the resignation of Martin McGuinness, who had been elected to the seat in 1997 as the Sinn Féin candidate. The election was won by Francie Molloy, also of Sinn Féin.
The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 18 seats were contested. 1,236,765 people were eligible to vote, up 67,581 from the 2010 general election. 58.45% of eligible voters turned out, an increase of half a percentage point from the last general election. This election saw the return of Ulster Unionists to the House of Commons, after they targeted 4 seats but secured 2.
The 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 2 March 2017. The election was held to elect members (MLAs) following the resignation of deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. McGuinness' position was not filled, and thus by law his resignation triggered an election.
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
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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. For the first time in history, nationalist parties won more seats than unionist parties.
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