2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

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2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
←  2017 12 December 2019 (2019-12-12) 2024  →
All 18 Northern Ireland seats to the House of Commons
Turnout62.1% (Decrease2.svg)
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Arlene Foster election infobox.jpg
Michelle O'Neill (cropped from Martin McGuinness, Michelle O'Neill, Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams).jpg
Colum Eastwood MLA.JPG
Leader Arlene Foster Michelle O'Neill [a] Colum Eastwood
Party DUP Sinn Féin SDLP
Leader since17 December 201523 January 201714 November 2015
Leader's seatDid not stand [b] Did not stand Foyle
Last election10 seats, 36.0%7 seats, 29.4%0 seats, 11.7%
Seats won872
Seat changeDecrease2.svg2Steady2.svgIncrease2.svg2
Popular vote244,127181,853118,737
Percentage30.6%22.8%14.9%
SwingDecrease2.svg5.4%Decrease2.svg6.7%Increase2.svg3.1%
 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Naomi Long MLA.jpg
Steve Aiken (2020).png
Leader Naomi Long [c] Steve Aiken [d]
Party Alliance UUP
Leader since26 October 20169 November 2019
Leader's seatStood in Belfast East (lost)Stood in East Antrim (lost)
Last election0 seats, 7.9%0 seats, 10.3%
Seats won10
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Steady2.svg
Popular vote134,11593,123
Percentage16.8%11.7%
SwingIncrease2.svg8.8%Increase2.svg1.4%
United Kingdom general election, 2019 (Northern Ireland).svg
A map presenting the results of the election, by party of the MP elected from each constituency.

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]

Contents

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

Pollster/client(s)Date(s)
conducted		Sample
size		 DUP SF SDLP UUP Alliance Green OtherLead
2019 general election12 Dec 2019–30.6%22.8%14.9%11.7%16.8%0.2%3.1% [e] 7.8%
Lucid Talk/Remain United 27–30 Nov 20192,42230%25%13%11%16%0%5%5%
9 November 2019 Steve Aiken officially becomes leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
Lucid Talk/Remain United 30 Oct–1 Nov 20192,38628%24%14%9%16%1%8% [f] 4%
Lucid Talk 9–12 Aug 20192,30229%25%8%9%21%1%7%4%
21 November 2018 Clare Bailey officially becomes leader of NI Green Party
Survation/Channel 4 20 Oct–2 Nov 201855531%27%11%15%12%–4%4%
3 May 2018 West Tyrone by-election [11]
10 Feb 2018 Mary Lou McDonald becomes leader of Sinn Féin [12]
2017 general election 8 Jun 2017–36.0%29.4%11.7%10.3%7.9%0.9%3.7%6.6%

Results

Party [13] SeatsAggregate Votes
TotalGainsLossesNet +/-Of all (%)TotalOf all (%)Difference
DUP 802Decrease2.svg244.4244,12830.6Decrease2.svg5.4
Sinn Féin 711Steady2.svg38.9181,85322.8Decrease2.svg6.7
SDLP 220Increase2.svg211.1118,73714.9Increase2.svg3.1
Alliance 110Increase2.svg15.6134,11516.8Increase2.svg8.8
UUP 000Steady2.svg0.093,12311.7Increase2.svg1.4
Aontú 000Steady2.svg0.09,8141.2New
People Before Profit 000Steady2.svg0.07,5260.9Increase2.svg0.2
NI Conservatives 000Steady2.svg0.05,4330.7Increase2.svg0.2
Green (NI) 000Steady2.svg0.01,9960.2Decrease2.svg0.7
Independent 001Decrease2.svg10.01,6870.2Decrease2.svg1.8
UKIP 000Steady2.svg0.06230.1New
Total18799,03561.8Decrease2.svg3.6

Results by constituency

Constituency 2017
result		2019 winning partyTurnout [14] Votes
PartyVotes [13] ShareMajority DUP SF APNI SDLP UUP Con Grn Other [14] Total
Belfast East DUP DUP 20,87449.2%1,81964.1%20,87419,0552,51642,445
Belfast North DUP SF 23,07847.1%1,94367.9%21,13523,0784,82449,037
Belfast South DUP SDLP 27,07957.2%15,40167.7%11,6786,78627,0791,25955047,352
Belfast West SF SF 20,86653.8%14,67259.1%5,22020,8661,8822,9857,82938,782
East Antrim DUP DUP 16,87145.3%6,70657.5%16,8712,12010,1659025,4751,04368537,261
East Londonderry DUP DUP 15,76540.1%9,60756.8%15,7656,1285,9216,1583,5991,73139,302
Fermanagh and South Tyrone SF SF 21,98643.3%5769.7%21,9862,6503,44621,92975150,762
Foyle SF SDLP 26,88157.0%17,11063.4%4,7739,7711,26726,8811,0883,36447,143
Lagan Valley DUP DUP 19,58643.1%6,49960.0%19,5861,09813,0871,7588,60695531545,405
Mid Ulster SF SF 20,47345.9%9,53763.3%10,93620,4733,5266,3842,61169044,620
Newry and Armagh SF SF 20,28740.0%9,28762.5%11,00020,2874,2119,4494,2041,62850,779
North Antrim DUP DUP 20,86047.4%12,72157.1%20,8605,6326,2312,9438,13924644,051
North Down Ind APNI 18,35845.2%2,96860.6%15,39018,3584,9361,95940,643
South Antrim DUP DUP 15,14935.3%2,68959.9%15,1494,8878,1902,28812,46042,974
South Down SF SF 16,13732.4%1,62062.9%7,61916,1376,91614,5173,3071,26649,762
Strangford DUP DUP 17,70547.2%7,07156.0%17,70555510,6341,9944,0231,47679030837,485
Upper Bann DUP DUP 20,50141.0%8,21060.4%20,50112,2916,4334,6236,19750,045
West Tyrone SF SF 16,54440.2%7,47862.2%9,06616,5443,9797,3302,77452197241,186
Total for all constituenciesTurnoutTotal
DUP SF APNI SDLP UUP Con Grn Other
Votes
61.8%244,128181,853134,115118,73793,1235,4331,99619,650799,035
30.6%22.8%16.8%14.9%11.7%0.7%0.2%2.5%100.0%
Seats
8712000018
44%39%6%11%0%0%0%0%100.0%
Parliamentary seats
DUP
 
44.4%
Sinn Féin
 
38.9%
SDLP
 
11.1%
Alliance
 
5.6%

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. ↑ "UK Parliamentary Election 2019 – Turnout". EONI . 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  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. ↑ 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. ↑ "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. ↑ "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. ↑ 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. ↑ "General Election 2019: Northern Ireland candidates". BBC News . 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  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. ↑ "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. ↑ "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. ↑ "By-elections since the 2017 General Election". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 [ clarification needed ]

Manifestos:

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