ELECTION 2005

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results of the GENERAL ELECTION

IN NORTHERN IRELAND 2005

MAY 2005

Northern Ireland General Election Results 2005

2001 RESULTS

ulster unionist party (uup)

1 SEAT: Lady Silvia Hermon, North Down

democratic unionist party (dup)

9 SEATS: Rev Ian Paisley, North Antrim

Sammy Wilson, East Antrim

William McCrea, South Antrim

Jeffrey Donaldson, Lagan Valley

Peter Robinson, East Belfast

Nigel Dodds, North Belfast

Gregory Campbell, East Londonderry

Iris Robinson, Strangford

David Simpson, Upper Bann

sinn fÉin (sf)

5 SEATS: Gerry Adams, West Belfast

Martin McGuinness, Mid Ulster

Michelle Guildernew, Fermanagh & South Tyrone

Pat Doherty, West Tyrone

Conor Murphy, Newry and Armagh

social democratic & labour party (sdlp)

3 SEATS: Mark Durkan, Foyle

Alistair McDonnell, South Belfast

Eddie McGrady, South Down

POINTS to note about the 2005 GENERAL ELECTION

· The outcome of this general election was one of greater polarisation, with less space for the middle ground.

· The unionist vote swung away from the UUP, in favour of the DUP. UUP leader David Trimble lost his Upper Bann seat to David Simpson of the DUP and resigned as party leader. The DUP and UUP were the only unionist parties to field candidates in the 2005 election.

· SF gained an extra seat at the expense of the SDLP (Newry and Armagh). However, the SDLP also gained a seat (South Belfast) from the UUP, keeping their total of three seats the same as in the 2001 elections.

· Despite managing to hold on to three seats, the SDLP’s share of the vote was down 3.5%, whereas SF’s share of the vote was up 2.6% compared to 2001.

· The closest fought race was in South Belfast, where the SDLP won the seat with a majority of 1,235 over the DUP candidate.

· The gap between nationalist and unionist parties remained roughly the same as in 2001. SF and the SDLP polled 41.8%, while the UUP and DUP polled 51.4%.

· Support for the Alliance Party also remained roughly the same (3.9%).

· Turnout was higher in Northern Ireland (62.5%) than elsewhere (61.3%). However, turnout was lower in all of Northern Ireland’s constituencies than in 2001 (down 5.5%), whereas in the rest of the UK, turnout was up by 2% from 2001.

· The political map shows a marked split between nationalist parties in the west and unionist parties in the east.

General Election Results seat by seat

SOUTH BELFAST

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Alasdair McDonnell	SDLP	10,339	32.3
Jimmy Spratt	DUP	9,104	28.4
Michael McGimpsey	UUP	7,263	22.7
Alex Maskey	SF	2,882	9.0
Geraldine Rice	Alliance Party	2,012	6.3
Lynda Gilby	Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket	235	0.7
Paddy Lynn	Workers Party	193	0.6

SDLP majority 1,235; turnout 32,028 (60.8%)

EAST ANTRIM

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Sammy Wilson	DUP	15,766	49.6
Roy Beggs	UUP	8,462	26.6
Sean Neeson	Alliance	4,869	15.3
Danny O'Connor	SDLP	1,695	5.3
James McKeown	SF	828	2.6
David Kerr	Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket	147	0.5

DUP majority 7,304; turnout 31,767 (54.5%)

SOUTH ANTRIM

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
William McCrea	DUP	14,507	38.2
David Burnside	UUP	11,059	29.1
Noreen McClelland	SDLP	4,706	12.4
Henry Cushinan	SF	4,407	11.6
David Ford	Alliance Party	3,278	8.6

DUP majority 3,448; turnout 37,957 (56.7%)

NORTH DOWN

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Sylvia Hermon	UUP	16,268	50.4
Peter Weir	DUP	11,324	35.1
David Alderdice	Alliance Party	2,451	7.6
Liam Logan	SDLP	1,009	3.1
Julian Robertson	Conservative	822	2.5
Chris Carter	Independent	211	0.7
Janet McCrory	SF	205	0.6

UUP majority 4,944; turnout 32,290 (54.0%)

LAGAN VALLEY

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Jeffrey Donaldson	DUP	23,289	54.7
Basil McCrea	UUP	9,172	21.5
Seamus Close	Alliance Party	4,316	10.1
Paul Butler	SF	3,197	7.5
Patricia Lewsley	SDLP	2,598	6.1

DUP majority 14,117; turnout 42,572 (60.2%)

UPPER BANN

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
David Simpson	DUP	16,679	37.6
David Trimble	UUP	11,281	25.5
John O'Dowd	SF	9,305	21.0
Dolores Kelly	SDLP	5,747	13.0
Alan Castle	Alliance Party	955	2.2
Tom French	Workers Party	355	0.8

DUP majority 5,398; turnout 44,322 (61.2%)

EAST BELFAST

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Peter Robinson	DUP	15,152	49.1
Reg Empey	UUP	9,275	30.1
Naomi Long	Alliance	3,746	12.2
Deborah Devenny	SF	1,029	3.3
Mary Muldoon	SDLP	844	2.7
Alan Greer	Conservative	434	1.4
Joe Bell	Workers Party	179	0.6
Lynda Gilby	Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket	172	0.6

DUP majority 5,877; turnout 30,831 (58%)

NORTH BELFAST

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Nigel Dodds	DUP	13,935	45.6
Gerry Kelly	SF	8,747	28.6
Alban Maginness	SDLP	4,950	16.2
Fred Cobain	UUP	2,154	7.1
Marjorie Hawkins	Alliance Party	438	1.4
Marcella Delaney	Workers Party	165	0.5
Lynda Gilby	Vote for Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket	151	0.5

DUP majority 5,188; turnout 30,540 (57.8%)

NORTH ANTRIM

Candidate	Party	Number of Votes	% of Votes
Ian Paisley	DUP	25,156	24.8
Philip McGuigan	SF	7,191	15.7
Rodney McCune	UUP	6,637	14.5
Sean Farren	SDLP	5,585	12.2