2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election

The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election (representing an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous Assembly election). Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%), a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011, but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.

As in the 2007 and 2011 elections, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin won the most seats, with the DUP winning 38 and Sinn Féin winning 28 of the available 108 seats. The Ulster Unionist Party won 16 seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party 12 and the Alliance 8, while two seats were won by the Green Party and People Before Profit. The Traditional Unionist Voice and an independent candidate each won one seat.

Change of date Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, elections to the Assembly were originally for a four-year term; thus there would have been an election due in May 2015, four years after the 2011 election. Following the introduction of the UK Fixed Term Parliaments Act, this date would have clashed with the 2015 UK general election. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections were postponed for a year to 2016 to avoid this clash.

In May 2013, Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced the next Assembly election would be postponed to May 2016, and would be held at fixed intervals of five years thereafter. Section 7 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 specifies that elections will be held on the first Thursday in May on the fifth (rather than fourth, as previously) calendar year following that in which its predecessor was elected.

End of dual mandate The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 also ends the practice of dual mandate, prohibiting someone being elected to the assembly who is also a member of the House of Commons or Dáil Éireann. At the time the Act was passed, there were three such dual-members: the DUP's Sammy Wilson (MP for East Antrim and MLA for East Antrim) and Gregory Campbell (MP for East Londonderry and MLA for East Londonderry) and the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell (MP for Belfast South and MLA for Belfast South). Wilson and McDonnell resigned from the Assembly after being re-elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 election. Campbell, who was also re-elected as an MP, is retiring from the Assembly at this election.

Earlier dissolution There are several circumstances in which the Assembly could be dissolved before the date scheduled by virtue of section 31(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Dissolution motion Under section 32 of the 1998 Act, the Assembly can be dissolved if a resolution to such an effect is passed by the Assembly, with support of a two-thirds majority or more members.

Failure to elect the First or deputy First Ministers The Act provides that if the Assembly fails to elect either the First Minister or deputy First Minister within six weeks, an election is called. Since the enactment of the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, the First Minister has been nominated by the largest party of the largest community designation, and the deputy First Minister has been nominated by the largest party in the second largest community designation ("Nationalist", "Unionist" or "Other").

New Executive Departments It was proposed that after the May 2016 Election there be a reduction in the number of ministries and departments. The amendments were: The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is renamed the Executive Office The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is renamed the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is renamed the Department for the Economy The Department of Finance and Personnel is renamed the Department of Finance The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is renamed the Department of Health The Department for Regional Development is renamed the Department for Infrastructure The Department for Social Development is renamed the Department for Communities The Department of Justice remains unchanged Department of Justice (Northern Ireland) The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is dissolved The Department of the Environment is dissolved The Department for Employment and Learning is dissolved ° The Department of Education remains the same.

Candidates Nominations opened on 30 March 2016 for the assembly election. A full list of candidates is available. The table below lists all of the nominated candidates.

ConstituencyDUPSFSDLPUUPAllianceTUVGreenPBPUKIPNI ConsIndependentOthersBelfast East Joanne Bunting (E) Sammy Douglas* (E) Robin Newton* (E) Niall Ó Donnghaile Amy Doherty Andy Allen* (E) Chris McGimpsey Naomi Long (E) Chris Lyttle* (E) Tim Morrow Andrew Girvin Ross Brown Jonny Lavery Neil Wilson Maggie Hutton Courtney Robinson (Lab Alt)Erskine Holmes (NI Lab)John Kyle (PUP)Belfast North Paula Bradley* (E)William Humphrey* (E) Nelson McCausland* (E) Gerry Kelly* (E) Carál Ní Chuilín* (E) Nichola Mallon (E) Lesley Carroll Nuala McAllister John Miller Mal O'HaraFiona Ferguson Ken Boyle Fra Hughes Tom Burns Abdo Thabeth (NI Lab)Geoff Dowey Billy Hutchinson (PUP) Gemma Weir (WP)Belfast South Emma Little-Pengelly* (E) Christopher Stalford (E) Máirtín Ó Muilleoir* (E) Claire Hanna* (E) Fearghal McKinney Rodney McCune Paula Bradshaw (E) Duncan Morrow John Hiddleston Clare Bailey (E) Bob StokerBen Manton Ruth Patterson Seán Burns (Lab Alt)Brigitte Anton (NI Lab)Ian Shanks (PUP)William Dickson Lily Kerr (WP)Belfast West Frank McCoubrey Alex Maskey* (E) Pat Sheehan* (E) Fra McCann* (E) Jennifer McCann* (E) Rosie McCorley Alex Attwood* (E) Gareth Martin Jemima Higgins Ellen Murray Gerry Carroll (E) Conor Campbell (WP)East Antrim David Hilditch* (E) Gordon Lyons* (E) Alastair Ross* (E) Oliver McMullan* (E) Margaret Anne McKillop Roy Beggs Jr* (E) John Stewart Maureen Morrow Stewart Dickson* (E) Danny Donnelly Ruth Wilson Dawn Patterson Noel Jordan Conor Sheridan (Lab Alt)Jim McCaw (PUP)East Londonderry Maurice Bradley (E) George Robinson* (E) Adrian McQuillan* (E) Caoimhe Archibald (E) Cathal Ó hOisín Gerry Mullan (E) William McCandless Aaron Callan Yvonne Boyle Jordan Armstrong Amber Hamill Steven Parkhill David Harding Stuart Canning Claire Sugden* (E) Victor Christie Russell Watton (PUP)Fermanagh andSouth Tyrone Arlene Foster* (E) Maurice Morrow* (E) Michelle Gildernew (E) Seán Lynch* (E) John Feely Phil Flanagan Richie McPhillips (E) Rosemary Barton (E) Alastair Patterson Kerri Blyberg Donald Crawford Tanya Jones Damien Harris (NI Lab)Foyle Gary Middleton* (E) Raymond McCartney* (E) Martin McGuinness** (E) Maeve McLaughlin Mark H. Durkan* (E) Colum Eastwood* (E) Gerard Diver Julia Kee Chris McCaw Mary Hassan Eamonn McCann (E) Alan Dunlop Anne McCloskey Maurice Devenney Kathleen Bradley John Lindsay (CISTA)Lagan Valley Paul Givan* (E) Brenda Hale* (E) Jonathan Craig Jacqui McGeough Pat Catney Robbie Butler (E) Jenny Palmer (E) Trevor Lunn* (E) Lyle Rea Dan Barrios-O'Neill Brian Higginson Jack Irwin Jonny Orr Frazer McCammond Peter Dynes (NI Lab)Mid Ulster Keith Buchanan (E) Ian McCrea Ian Milne* (E) Michelle O'Neill* (E) Linda Dillon (E) Patsy McGlone* (E) Sandra Overend* (E) Néidín Hendron Hannah Loughrin Stefan Taylor Alan Day Hugh Scullion (WP)Newry and Armagh William Irwin* (E) Megan Fearon* (E) Cathal Boylan* (E) Conor Murphy* (E) Justin McNulty (E) Karen McKevitt Danny Kennedy* (E) Sam Nicholson Craig Weir Michael Watters Alan Love Paul Berry Martin McAllister Emmet Crossan (CISTA)North Antrim Paul Frew* (E) Mervyn Storey* (E) Phillip Logan (E) David McIlveen Daithí McKay* (E) Connor Duncan Robin Swann* (E) Andrew Wright Stephen McFarland Jim Allister* (E) Timothy Gaston Jennifer Breslin Donna Anderson James Simpson Kathryn Johnston (NI Lab)North Down Alex Easton* (E) Gordon Dunne* (E) Peter Weir* (E) Therese McCartney Conal Browne Alan Chambers (E) Carl McClean Chris Eisenstadt Stephen Farry* (E) Andrew Muir John Brennan Steven Agnew* (E) Bill Piper Frank Shivers Brian WilsonMaria Lourenco (NI Lab)South Antrim Paul Girvan* (E) Pam Cameron* (E) Trevor Clarke* (E) Declan Kearney (E) Roisin Lynch Steve Aiken (E) Paul Michael Adrian Cochrane-Watson David Ford* (E) Richard Cairns Helen Farley Robert Hill Mark Young David McMaster South Down Jim Wells* (E) Chris Hazzard* (E) Caitríona Ruane* (E) Michael Gray-Sloan Sinéad Bradley (E) Colin McGrath (E) Seán Rogers Harold McKee (E) Patrick Brown Henry Reilly John Hardy John McCallisterStrangford Michelle McIlveen* (E) Jonathan Bell* (E) Simon Hamilton* (E) Harry Harvey Dermot Kennedy Joe Boyle Mike Nesbitt* (E) Philip Smith (E) Kellie Armstrong (E) Stephen Cooper Georgia Grainger Stephen Crosby Bill McKendry Jimmy Menagh Rab McCartney Upper Bann Carla Lockhart (E) Sydney Anderson* (E) Catherine Seeley (E) John O'Dowd* (E) Dolores Kelly Jo-Anne Dobson* (E) Doug Beattie (E) Kyle Savage Harry Hamilton Roy Ferguson Simon Lee David Jones Ian Nickels Steven McCarroll Martin Kelly (CISTA)Emma Hutchinson (NI Lab)Sophie Long (PUP)West Tyrone Thomas Buchanan* (E) Allan Bresland Barry McElduff* (E) Michaela Boyle* (E) Declan McAleer* (E) Grace McDermott Daniel McCrossan* (E) Ross Hussey* (E) Stephen Donnelly Ciaran McClean Roger Lomas Josephine Deehan Sorcha McAnespy Patsy Kelly Corey French Susan-Anne WhiteLaura McAnea (AWP)Barry Brown (CISTA)

Members not seeking re-election

Alliance Judith Cochrane (Belfast East) Anna Lo (Belfast South) Kieran McCarthy (Strangford)

DUP Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) Stephen Moutray (Upper Bann) Peter Robinson (Belfast East)

NI21 Basil McCrea (Lagan Valley)

SDLP Dominic Bradley (Newry and Armagh) John Dallat (East Londonderry) Alban Maginness (Belfast North)

Sinn Féin Bronwyn McGahan (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) Mitchel McLaughlin (South Antrim)

UUP Leslie Cree (North Down) Sam Gardiner (Upper Bann) Michael McGimpsey (Belfast South)

UKIP David McNarry (Strangford)

Results

The 2016 election was held using STV and 18 multi-seat districts, each electing 6 members.

Distribution of seats by constituency

Party affiliation of the six Assembly members returned by each constituency. The first column indicates the party of the Member of the House of Commons (MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in the general election of 7 May 2015 (under the "first past the post" method).

(The constituencies are arranged here in rough geographical order around Lough Neagh from Antrim to Londonderry. To see them in alphabetical order, click the small square icon after "Constituency"; to restore this geographical order, click the icon after "No." at the left.)

No. 2015 MPConstituencyCandi-datesTotalseats PBPGreenSinnFéinSDLPAlli-anceUUPDUP TUVInd.Seatgainedby Seat formerlyheld by 1 DUPNorth Antrim-6--1--131--- 2 DUP East Antrim-6--1-113---- 3 UUP South Antrim-6--1-113---- 4 DUP Belfast North-6--21--3---- 5 Belfast West-61-41-----PBPSF 6 SDLPBelfast South-6-1111-2-- Green DUP SDLP UUP 7 DUPBelfast East-6----213---- 8 Ind. North Down-6-1--113---- 9 DUPStrangford-6----123---- 10 DUP Lagan Valley-6----123--UUPDUP 11 DUP Upper Bann-6--2--22--SFSDLP 12 SDLP South Down-6--22-11---- 13 Newry and Armagh-6--31-11---- 14 UUP Fermanagh & South Tyrone-6--21-12--SDLPSF 15 West Tyrone-6--31-11---- 16 Mid Ulster-6--31-11---- 17 SDLP Foyle-61-22--1--PBPSDLP 18 DUP East Londonderry-6--11--3-1--18-1082228128163811 --+2+1–1–2-+3--–1–1–1 -108-1291481338121 UKIP1 NI21 -------–3--+1+1+1 218108-129148163811- 256108-1281671836-11 Prog. U.  108--241862730-11 Prog. U. 1 UKUP  108--182462820-42 Prog. U. 5 UKUP, 2 NIWC