Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
Encyclopedia
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote
from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary
constituencies, giving a total of 108 MLAs, or Members of the Legislative Assembly. The elections were contested by 18 parties, and a number of independent candidates.
The elections were originally planned for May 2003, but were delayed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
.
gained ten seats, primarily at the expense of smaller Unionist parties, to become the largest party both in seats and votes. Despite slipping to third place in first preference votes the Ulster Unionist Party
actually increased their vote slightly and had a net loss of only one seat. Shortly after the election three Ulster Unionist MLAs, Jeffrey Donaldson
, Nora Beare and Arlene Foster
, defected to the Democratic Unionists.
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
.
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 almost halving, 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
had just one seat each.
The biggest surprise of the election came in West Tyrone
with the election of the independent Dr. Kieran Deeny
, campaigning on the single issue of hospital provision in Omagh
.
. 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 Democratic Unionist Party
) 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 Democratic Unionists for a period but contested the election as an independent unionist). Neither the United Unionist Assembly Party nor the Northern Ireland Unionists won any seats in the 2003 election.
Electorate: 1,097,526; Valid votes: 692,028; Turnout: 63.05%.
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
constituencies, giving a total of 108 MLAs, or Members of the Legislative Assembly. The elections were contested by 18 parties, and a number of independent candidates.
The elections were originally planned for May 2003, but were delayed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
.
Political Parties
On the unionist side, the Democratic Unionist PartyDemocratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
gained ten seats, primarily at the expense of smaller Unionist parties, to become the largest party both in seats and votes. Despite slipping to third place in first preference votes the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
actually increased their vote slightly and had a net loss of only one seat. Shortly after the election three Ulster Unionist MLAs, Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party...
, Nora Beare and Arlene Foster
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isabel Foster is a politician in Northern Ireland. She is one of two Democratic Unionist Party MLAs representing the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She became Minister of the Environment on 8 May 2009 and was subsequently reshuffled into the...
, defected to the Democratic Unionists.
On the nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
side, Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
saw a big increase in their vote, gaining six seats at the net expense of the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
.
The minor parties all saw a significant fall in their support. The Alliance Party
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
managed to hold all six of its seats despite their vote almost halving, the Women's Coalition
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum, the body for all-party talks which led to the...
, United Unionist Coalition
United Unionist Coalition
The United Unionist Coalition, formerly known as the United Unionist Assembly Party, was formed by three unionist members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who were elected as "independent unionists" in 1998. They were Fraser Agnew, Boyd Douglas and Denis Watson...
and Northern Ireland Unionist Party
Northern Ireland Unionist Party
The Northern Ireland Unionist Party was a small political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed in January 1999 as a splinter party from the UK Unionist Party . This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly...
were all wiped out, and the Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
and UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
had just one seat each.
The biggest surprise of the election came in West Tyrone
West Tyrone (Assembly constituency)
West Tyrone is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996...
with the election of the independent Dr. Kieran Deeny
Kieran Deeny
Kieran Deeny is a medical doctor turned politician from Northern Ireland. Deeny was a Designated Other Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for West Tyrone from 2003–11, having run on a single issue ticket of retaining the Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh.Born in Downpatrick, Deeny was educated...
, campaigning on the single issue of hospital provision in Omagh
Omagh
Omagh is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, had a population of 19,910 at the 2001 Census. Omagh also contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council and...
.
Note
Several sitting MLAs stood under a different label to the one they had used in 1998Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...
. 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
United Unionist Coalition
The United Unionist Coalition, formerly known as the United Unionist Assembly Party, was formed by three unionist members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who were elected as "independent unionists" in 1998. They were Fraser Agnew, Boyd Douglas and Denis Watson...
(formed by the three MLAs elected as independent unionists, though one later joined the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
) and the Northern Ireland Unionist Party
Northern Ireland Unionist Party
The Northern Ireland Unionist Party was a small political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed in January 1999 as a splinter party from the UK Unionist Party . This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly...
(formed by four of the five MLAs elected as the UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
, though one later left them, joined the Democratic Unionists for a period but contested the election as an independent unionist). Neither the United Unionist Assembly Party nor the Northern Ireland Unionists won any seats in the 2003 election.
Results
| Party | Leader | Seats | +/- | % of seats | Number | % of vote | |
| Ian Paisley Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding... |
30 | +10 | 27.8 | 177,944 | 25.7 | ||
| Gerry Adams Gerry Adams Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern... |
24 | +6 | 22.2 | 162,758 | 23.5 | ||
| David Trimble David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party... |
27 | -1 | 25 | 156,931 | 22.7 | ||
| Mark Durkan Mark Durkan Mark Durkan is an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party from 2001 to 2010.-Early life:... |
18 | -6 | 16.7 | 117,547 | 17.0 | ||
| David Ford David Ford David Ford is a politician who is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Ford has been leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland since 2001 and has been Northern Ireland Minister of Justice since April 2010.- Early life :... |
6 | 0 | 5.6 | 25,372 | 3.7 | ||
| N/A | 1 | +1 | 0.9 | 20,234 | 2.9 | ||
| David Ervine David Ervine David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:... |
1 | -1 | 0.9 | 8,032 | 1.2 | ||
| Monica McWilliams Monica McWilliams Monica McWilliams is a Northern Ireland academic and former politician. From 2005 to 2011 she served as the second Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.... |
0 | -2 | 5,785 | 0.8 | |||
| Robert McCartney Robert McCartney (politician) Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year... |
1 | -4 | 0.9 | 5,700 | 0.8 | ||
| United Unionist Council | Denis Watson Denis Watson (politician) Denis Watson is a former politician in Northern Ireland.Watson worked as a financial consultant and became the Grand Master of the County Armagh Orange Lodge. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998 as an independent Unionist representing Upper Bann... |
0 | N/A | 2,705 | 0.4 | ||
| John Barry John Barry (politician) John Barry is a former co-chair of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, which is a regional council of the all island Green Party formed in December 2006. He stood down as co-chair in April 2009, having held the position since 2003.... |
0 | 0 | 2,688 | 0.4 | |||
| Goretti Horgan Goretti Horgan Goretti Horgan is an Irish socialist activist and a lecturer in social policy at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.Born in Ireland, Horgan was named for Maria Goretti. She attended university before moving to England... |
0 | N/A | 2,394 | 0.4 | |||
| Seán Garland Seán Garland Seán Garland is a former President of the Workers' Party in Ireland.-Early Life:Born at Belvedere Place, off Mountjoy Square in Dublin, Garland joined the Irish Republican Army in 1953. In 1954, he briefly joined the British Army as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in... |
0 | 0 | 1,881 | 0.3 | |||
| Michael Howard Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005... |
0 | 0 | 1,604 | 0.2 | |||
| Cedric Wilson Cedric Wilson Cedric Wilson is a politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Belfast, Wilson became the director of a private nursing home. In 1981, he was elected to Castlereagh Borough Council for the Democratic Unionist Party, a post he held until 1989... |
0 | N/A | 1,350 | 0.2 | |||
| Peter Hadden Peter Hadden Peter Hadden was a leading member of the Socialist Party in Northern Ireland.Born in Strabane, Hadden studied at the University of Sussex, where he joined the Trotskyist Militant Tendency... |
0 | N/A | 343 | 0.0 | |||
| Rainbow George | 0 | N/A | 124 | 0.0 | |||
| Ulster Third Way Ulster Third Way The Ulster Third Way is the Northern Ireland branch of the Third Way and is organised by David Kerr, who had previously campaigned as an 'independent Unionist' as well as for the British National Front.As well as sharing the Third Way's aims U3W is committed to securing independence... |
David Kerr | 0 | N/A | 16 | 0.0 | ||
| Total | 108 | 0 | 100.0 | 692,028 | 100.0 | ||
- All parties with over 1,000 votes shown.
Electorate: 1,097,526; Valid votes: 692,028; Turnout: 63.05%.
- SOURCE: ARK website