1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election

The 1998 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constituencies were elected by single transferable vote, giving a total of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election

25 June 1998
All 108 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly 55 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.8%
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Trimble John Hume Ian Paisley Party UUP SDLP DUP Leader since 8 September 1995 28 November 1979 30 September 1971 Leader's seat Upper Bann Foyle North Antrim Last election 30 seats, 24.2% 21 seats, 21.4% 24 seats, 18.8% Seats won 28 24 20 Seat change 2 3 4 Popular vote 172,225 177,963 145,917 Percentage 21.3% 22.0% 18.5% Swing 2.9% 0.6% 0.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Gerry Adams John Alderdice Robert McCartney Party Sinn Féin Alliance UK Unionist Leader since 13 November 1983 3 October 1987 1995 Leader's seat Belfast West Belfast East North Down Last election 17 seats, 15.5% 7 seats, 6.5% 3 seats, 3.7% Seats won 18 6 5 Seat change 1 1 2 Popular vote 142,858 52,636 36,541 Percentage 16.7% 5.6% 4.5% Swing 1.2% 0.9% 0.8%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Hugh Smyth Monica McWilliams & Pearl Sagar Party PUP NI Women's Coalition Leader since 1979 1996 Leader's seat Ran in Belfast West (lost) Belfast South (McWilliams) Ran in Belfast East (lost) (Sagar) Last election 2 seats, 3.5% 2 seats, 1.0% Seats won 2 2 Seat change Popular vote 20,634 13,019 Percentage 2.6% 1.6% Swing 0.9% 0.6%
Seats won by each party per constituency. Voters elect 6 assembly members from the 18 constituencies.
First Minister before election New position Elected First Minister David Trimble UUP

Results

The result was (first preference votes only):[1]

Party		Leader	Votes	% of vote	+/-	Seats	% of seats	+/-
	SDLP	John Hume	177,963	22.0	+0.6	24	22.2	+3
	UUP	David Trimble	172,225	21.3	-2.9	28	25.9	-2
	DUP	Ian Paisley	145,917	18.0	-0.8	20	18.5	-4
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	142,858	17.7	+2.2	18	16.7	+1
	Alliance	John Alderdice	52,636	6.5	0.0	6	5.6	-1
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	36,541	4.5	+0.8	5	4.6	+2
	Independent Unionist		24,339	3.0	N/A	3	2.8	+3
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	20,634	2.6	-1.0	2	1.9	0
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams	13,019	1.6	+0.6	2	1.9	0
	Ulster Democratic	Gary McMichael	8,651	1.1	-1.1	0		-2
	Independent		5,392	0.7	N/A	0		0
	Labour Party NI	Malachi Curran	2,729	0.3	N/A	0		0
	Workers' Party	Tom French	1,989	0.3	-0.3	0		0
	NI Conservatives	William Hague	1,835	0.2	-0.3	0		0
	Ulster Independence	Hugh Ross	1,227	0.2	-0.4	0		0
	Natural Law	James Anderson	832	0.1	0.0	0		0
	Socialist Party	Joe Higgins	789	0.1	N/A	0		0
	Green (NI)		710	0.1	-0.4	0		0
Total			108	100.0%	-2	786,132	100.0%

All parties with over 500 votes listed. Electorate: 1,178,556; Turnout: 823,565 (69.88%); Spoiled votes: 13,248; Valid: 810,317.

Votes summary

Popular vote SDLP   21.96% Ulster Unionist   21.25% DUP   18.14% Sinn Féin   17.63% Alliance   6.5% United Kingdom Unionist   4.51% Progressive Unionist   2.55% Women's Coalition   1.61% Ulster Democratic   1.07% Independent   3.51% Other   1.27%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats SDLP   22.22% Ulster Unionist   25.93% DUP   18.52% Sinn Féin   16.67% Alliance   5.56% United Kingdom Unionist   4.63% Progressive Unionist   1.85% Women's Coalition   1.85% Independent   2.78%

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:

• Slightly different turnouts across the province, with the result that in the more staunchly unionist east fewer votes were required to elect an MLA than in the SDLP's heartlands in the west.
• The Ulster Unionists proved better at "vote balancing" whereby in the rounds of transfers their candidates were less likely to be eliminated earlier on.
• The Ulster Unionists proved better at attracting transfers from other parties (and due to the vote balancing mentioned above, were more likely to be in a position to benefit from this)

See also

• List of members of the 1st Northern Ireland Assembly

References

1. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa98.htm