The elections to the Assembly of Northern Ireland 2017 took place on March 2 . They elected 90 deputies of the Assembly on the system of a single transmitted vote . These were the sixth elections since the creation of a new unicameral legislature in Northern Ireland in 1998. Elections were extraordinary and were appointed after the resignation of Martin McGuinness from the post of Deputy First Minister led to the collapse of the ruling coalition. [1] [2]
← 2016  2021 → | |||
| Parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Election to the Assembly of Northern Ireland | |||
| March 2, 2017 | |||
 |  |  | |
| Party leader | Arlene Foster | Martin mcguinness | |
| The consignment | Democratic Unionist Party | Sinn fein | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Seats received | 28 (-10) | 27 (-2) | 10 (-6) |
| Past number of places | 38 | 29 | sixteen |
 |  | ||
| Party leader | |||
| The consignment | Social Democrats | Alliance | |
| Seats received | 12 (0) | 8 (0) | 0 (-2) |
| Past number of places | 12 | eight | 2 |
| Other batches | “People are more important than profits” and “Voice of traditional unionists” | ||
| Democratic Unionist Party | |
| Sinn fein | |
| Ulster Unionist Party | |
| Social Democratic and Labor Party | |
| Party "Alliance" | |
| " " | |
| “The ” | |
| Independent |
Eight parties were represented in the fifth assembly elected in May 2016 : the Democratic Unionist Party , Sinn Fein , the Ulster Unionist Party , the Social Democratic and Labor Party , the Alliance Party , the , “ ”And“ The ”, as well as one independent unionist.
Content
Background
In May 2013, Theresa Villers , Minister for Northern Ireland , announced that the next elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly would be postponed from 2015 to May 2016 , so as not to take place in one year’s elections to the House of Commons of Great Britain , and henceforth, the regional parliament will be elected not once every four years, but once every five years. [3] In 2014, the British Parliament passed the Northern Ireland Act (Other Provisions) ( English Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 ). The 7th section of this law determines that elections are held on the first Thursday in May for the fifth calendar year following the date in which the previous parliament was elected, [4] . However, by virtue of Section 31 (1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 ( Engl. Northern Ireland Act 1998 ), early elections to the Assembly could be called.
January 9, 2017, Sinn Fein Martin McGuinness, retired from the post of deputy first minister, is the leader of the party. He did this in protest against the scandal surrounding the introduction of a renewable heating system and the refusal of the head of the regional government Arlene Foster to resign, [1] and also due to disagreements on a number of other issues, such as the cabinet’s inability to finance the investigation of murders during an ethnopolitical conflict. 1960s-1990s and the cessation of funding for the project to support the Irish language . [5] First Minister Arlene Foster, leader of the ruling coalition’s main party, the Democratic Unionist , refused to retire temporarily to facilitate an investigation into the misuse of funds in the amount of 490 million pounds sterling when implementing a program to promote the use of renewable thermal energy in the region which she oversaw as Minister of Entrepreneurship, Trade and Investment. [2] [5] In accordance with the agreement on the division of power concluded during the creation of the ruling coalition, the resignation of McGuinness from the post of Deputy First Minister meant that Foster automatically loses the post of First Minister. [five]
For seven days, the Sinn Fein party could have represented its candidate for the post of Deputy First Minister, but at a plenary session of the Assembly on January 16, refused to do so, thereby completely burying the cabinet of ministers. [2] [6] As a result, the Minister for Northern Ireland, James Brockenshire , confirmed the appointment of early elections on March 2 on the same day. [2]
Results
According to a law passed in the summer of 2016, the number of members of the Assembly of Northern Ireland was reduced from 108 to 90 by reducing the number of deputies elected in each constituency from 6 to 5. [7] [8]
| The consignment | Leader | Places | % of places | Votes | % of votes | Δ | |
| Democratic Unionist Party | Arlene Foster | 28 | 225 413 | 28.1% | |||
| Sinn fein | Martin mcguinness | 27 | 224,245 | 27.9% | |||
| Ulster Unionist Party | ten | 103 314 | 12.9% | ||||
| Social Democratic and Labor Party | 12 | 95 958 | 11.9% | ||||
| Party "Alliance" | eight | 72,717 | 9.1% | ||||
| 2 | 18,527 | 2.3% | |||||
| " " | collective leadership | one | 14,100 | 1.8% | |||
| “The ” | one | 20,523 | 2.6% | ||||
| Independent | one | ||||||
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Natalia Kopylova. The resignation of the deputy head of Northern Ireland may lead to a split of the government . RIA "News" (January 9, 2017). The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Igor Brovarnik. Northern Ireland’s early parliamentary elections will be held in March . International Panorama . TASS (January 16, 2017) . The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- Ireland Northern Ireland Assembly elections put back to 2016 (English) . BBC (May 10, 2013). The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- Ireland Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 . 2014 c. 13 ► Table of Contents (English) . Legislation.gov.uk . The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Martin McGuinness resigns as NI deputy first minister (Eng.) . BBC (10 January 2017). The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- ↑ Sinn Féin declines to make Stormont nomination (eng.) . Raidió Teilifís Éireann (201701-16). The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
- ↑ Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 . The date of circulation is 2017-01-.
- ↑ Nicholas Whyte. North looking at a new election landscape . Constitutes of stormont instead of six . The Irish Times (10 January 2017) . The date of appeal is January 19, 2017.
Links
- Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (English)