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2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

For broader coverage of this topic, see Elections in Northern Ireland.
2019 United Kingdom general election
(Northern Ireland)
← 2017 12 December 2019 (2019-12-12) 2024 →
All 18 Northern Ireland seats to the House of Commons
Turnout62.1% (Decrease)
  First party Second party Third party
  Arlene Foster
Michelle O'Neill (cropped from Martin McGuinness, Michelle O'Neill, Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams).jpg
Leader Arlene Foster Michelle O'Neill[b] Colum Eastwood
Party DUP Sinn Féin SDLP
Leader since 17 December 2015 23 January 2017 14 November 2015
Leader's seat Did not stand[a] Did not stand Foyle
Last election 10 seats, 36.0% 7 seats, 29.4% 0 seats, 11.7%
Seats won 8 7 2
Seat change Decrease2 Steady Increase2
Popular vote 244,127 181,853 118,737
Percentage 30.6% 22.8% 14.9%
Swing Decrease5.4% Decrease6.7% Increase3.1%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Naomi_Long_MLA.jpg
Steve Aiken (2020).png
Leader Naomi Long[c] Steve Aiken[d]
Party Alliance UUP
Leader since 26 October 2016 9 November 2019
Leader's seat Stood in Belfast East (lost) Stood in East Antrim (lost)
Last election 0 seats, 7.9% 0 seats, 10.3%
Seats won 1 0
Seat change Increase1 Steady
Popular vote 134,115 93,123
Percentage 16.8% 11.7%
Swing Increase8.8% Increase1.4%
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]

Electoral system

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MPs were elected in 18 Single Member constituencies by first-past-the-post.

Background

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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

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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

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Main article: Opinion polling for the 2019 United Kingdom general election § Northern Ireland
Pollster/client(s) Date(s)
conducted 		Sample
size 		DUP SF SDLP UUP Alliance Green Other Lead
2019 general election 12 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 2019 2,422 30% 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 2019 2,386 28% 24% 14% 9% 16% 1% 8% [f] 4%
Lucid Talk 9–12 Aug 2019 2,302 29% 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 2018 555 31% 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%
Individual seats by winner vote share

Results

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Party[13] Seats Votes
Total Gains Losses Net +/- % of seats Total votes % of votes % change
DUP 8 0 – 2 Decrease2 44.4% 244,128 30.6% Decrease5.4%
Sinn Féin 7 + 1 – 1 Steady 38.9% 181,853 22.8% Decrease6.7%
SDLP 2 + 2 0 Increase2 11.1% 118,737 14.9% Increase3.1%
Alliance 1 + 1 0 Increase1 5.6% 134,115 16.8% Increase8.8%
UUP 0 0 0 Steady 0% 93,123 11.7% Increase1.4%
Aontú 0 0 0 Steady 0% 9,814 1.2% New
People Before Profit 0 0 0 Steady 0% 7,526 0.9% Increase0.2%
NI Conservatives 0 0 0 Steady 0% 5,433 0.7% Increase0.2%
Green (NI) 0 0 0 Steady 0% 1,996 0.2% Decrease0.7%
Independent 0 0 – 1 Decrease1 0% 1,687 0.2% Decrease1.8%
UKIP 0 0 0 Steady 0% 623 0.1% New
Totals & turnout % 18 + 4 – 4 Steady 100% 799,035 61.8% Decrease3.6%

Results by constituency

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Constituency 2017
result 		2019 winning party Turnout [14] Votes
Party Votes[13] Share Majority DUP SF APNI SDLP UUP Con Grn Other [14] Total
Belfast East DUP DUP 20,874 49.2% 1,819 64.1% 20,874 19,055 2,516 42,445
Belfast North DUP SF 23,078 47.1% 1,943 67.9% 21,135 23,078 4,824 49,037
Belfast South DUP SDLP 27,079 57.2% 15,401 67.7% 11,678 6,786 27,079 1,259 550 47,352
Belfast West SF SF 20,866 53.8% 14,672 59.1% 5,220 20,866 1,882 2,985 7,829 38,782
East Antrim DUP DUP 16,871 45.3% 6,706 57.5% 16,871 2,120 10,165 902 5,475 1,043 685 37,261
East Londonderry DUP DUP 15,765 40.1% 9,607 56.8% 15,765 6,128 5,921 6,158 3,599 1,731 39,302
Fermanagh and South Tyrone SF SF 21,986 43.3% 57 69.7% 21,986 2,650 3,446 21,929 751 50,762
Foyle SF SDLP 26,881 57.0% 17,110 63.4% 4,773 9,771 1,267 26,881 1,088 3,364 47,143
Lagan Valley DUP DUP 19,586 43.1% 6,499 60.0% 19,586 1,098 13,087 1,758 8,606 955 315 45,405
Mid Ulster SF SF 20,473 45.9% 9,537 63.3% 10,936 20,473 3,526 6,384 2,611 690 44,620
Newry and Armagh SF SF 20,287 40.0% 9,287 62.5% 11,000 20,287 4,211 9,449 4,204 1,628 50,779
North Antrim DUP DUP 20,860 47.4% 12,721 57.1% 20,860 5,632 6,231 2,943 8,139 246 44,051
North Down Ind APNI 18,358 45.2% 2,968 60.6% 15,390 18,358 4,936 1,959 40,643
South Antrim DUP DUP 15,149 35.3% 2,689 59.9% 15,149 4,887 8,190 2,288 12,460 42,974
South Down SF SF 16,137 32.4% 1,620 62.9% 7,619 16,137 6,916 14,517 3,307 1,266 49,762
Strangford DUP DUP 17,705 47.2% 7,071 56.0% 17,705 555 10,634 1,994 4,023 1,476 790 308 37,485
Upper Bann DUP DUP 20,501 41.0% 8,210 60.4% 20,501 12,291 6,433 4,623 6,197 50,045
West Tyrone SF SF 16,544 40.2% 7,478 62.2% 9,066 16,544 3,979 7,330 2,774 521 972 41,186
Total for all constituencies Turnout Total
DUP SF APNI SDLP UUP Con Grn Other
Votes
61.8% 244,128 181,853 134,115 118,737 93,123 5,433 1,996 19,650 799,035
30.6% 22.8% 16.8% 14.9% 11.7% 0.7% 0.2% 2.5% 100.0%
Seats
8 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 18
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

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ An MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
  2. ^ "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.
  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

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  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. ^ a b "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. ^ a b [clarification needed]
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Manifestos: