2011 Northern Ireland Election Analysis (Assembly and Council)
Assembly Elections
| Party | Seats | Seats +/- | First Preference Votes | % | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party | 38 | 2 | 198,436 | 30 | -0.1 |
| Sinn Féin | 29 | 1 | 178,224 | 26.9 | +0.8 |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 16 | -2 | 87,531 | 13.2 | -1.7 |
| Social Democratic & Labour Party | 14 | -2 | 94,286 | 14.2 | -1 |
| Alliance Party | 8 | 1 | 50,875 | 7.7 | +2.5 |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 1 | 0 | 16,480 | 2.5 | 0 |
| Green | 1 | 0 | 6,031 | 0.9 | -0.8 |
| People before Profit Alliance | 0 | 0 | 5,438 | 0.8 | +0.7 |
| UK Independence Party | 0 | 0 | 4,152 | 0.6 | +0.4 |
| Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland | 0 | -1 | 1,493 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| British National Party | 0 | 0 | 1,252 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Workers Party | 0 | 0 | 1,155 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Socialist Party | 0 | 0 | 819 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Procapitalism | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | 1 | 0 | 3,003 | n/a | n/a |
| Turnout | 661,753 | 54.5 | |||
| Electorate | 1,213,136 | ||||
(Source: BBC News, 11 May 2011)
The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin increased their dominance.
The Ulster Unionists and the Social Democratic and Labour Party both lost ground.
Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, staged a political comeback after losing his Westminster seat last year, and dedicated his party’s showing in the elections to the murdered Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr.
Former Progressive Unionist Party leader Dawn Purvis, standing as an independent, lost her seat in East Belfast.
In the table below "mainly" is used if the unionists/nationalists gained at least four out of six seats; "majority" is used if they gained three out of the six.
| Constituency | Member | Party |
|---|---|---|
| East Antrim
Mainly unionist |
Sammy Wilson David Hilditch Roy Beggs Stewart Dickson Oliver McMullan Alastair Ross |
DUP DUP UUP AP SF DUP |
| East Belfast
Mainly unionist |
Peter Robinson Judith Cochrane Chris Lyttle Sammy Douglas Robin Newton Michael Copeland |
DUP AP AP DUP DUP UUP |
| East Londonderry
Unionist majority |
Gregory Campbell Cathal O hOisin George Robinson David McClarty John Dallat Adrian McQuillan |
DUP SF DUP Independent SDLP DUP |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Evenly divided unionist: nationalist |
Michelle Gildernew Tom Elliott Arlene Foster Sean Lynch Phil Flanagan Maurice Morrow |
SF UUP DUP SF SF DUP |
| Foyle
Mainly nationalist |
William Hay Martina Anderson Mark H Durkan Raymond McCartney Pat Ramsey Colum Eastwood |
DUP SF SDLP SF SDLP SDLP |
| Lagan Valley
Mainly unionist |
Edwin Poots Basil McCrea Trevor Lunn Paul Givan Jonathan Craig Brenda Hale |
DUP UUP AP DUP DUP DUP |
| Mid Ulster
Mainly nationalist |
Martin McGuinness Ian McCrea Michelle O’Neill Patsy McGlone Sandra Overend Francie Molloy |
SF DUP SF SDLP UUP SF |
| Newry and Armagh
Mainly nationalist |
Conor Murphy Danny Kennedy Dominic Bradley Cathal Boylan William Irwin Mickey Brady |
SF UUP SDLP SF DUP SF |
| North Antrim
Mainly unionist |
Paul Frew Daithi McKay Mervyn Storey Jim Allister David McIlveen Robin Swann |
DUP SF DUP TUV DUP UUP |
| North Belfast
Evenly divided unionist : nationalist |
Gerry Kelly Nelson McCausland Alban Maginness William Humphrey Paula Bradley Caral Ni Chuilin |
SF DUP SDLP DUP DUP SF |
| North Down
Mainly unionist |
Alex Easton Gordon Dunne Peter Weir Stephen Farry Steven Agnew Leslie Cree |
DUP DUP DUP AP GRN UUP |
| South Antrim
Mainly unionist |
Paul Girvan Mitchel McLaughlin Trevor Clarke David Ford Danny Kinahan Pam Lewis |
DUP SF DUP AP UUP DUP |
| South Belfast
Nationalist majority |
Anna Lo Alasdair McDonnell Jimmy Spratt Alex Maskey Conall McDevitt Michael McGimpsey |
AP SDLP DUP SF SDLP UUP |
| South Down
Mainly nationalist |
Margaret Ritchie Caitriona Ruane Jim Wells John McCallister William Clarke Karen McKevitt |
SDLP SF DUP UUP SF SDLP |
| Strangford
Mainly unionist |
Michelle McIlveen Kieran McCarthy Jonathan Bell Simon Hamilton Mike Nesbitt David McNarry |
DUP AP DUP DUP UUP UUP |
| Upper Bann
Mainly unionist |
John O’Dowd Sydney Anderson Stephen Moutray Dolores Kelly Sam Gardiner Joanne Dobson |
SF DUP DUP SDLP UUP UUP |
| West Belfast
All nationalist |
Paul Maskey Jennifer McCann Fra McCann Sue Ramsey Alex Attwood Pat Sheehan |
SF SF SF SF SDLP SF |
| West Tyrone
Mainly nationalist |
Barry McElduff Pat Doherty Michaela Boyle Thomas Buchanan Ross Hussey Joe Byrne |
SF SF SF DUP UUP SDLP |
(Source: BBC News, 11 May 2011)
Council Elections
Image: Copyright ©2011 UTV Media.All rights reserved.
(Image source: UTV News, as part of the UTV Election coverage)
| Party | Seats | Seats +/- | Votes % | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party | 175 | -3 | 27.2 | -2.4 |
| Sinn Féin | 138 | 9 | 24.8 | +1.5 |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 99 | -16 | 15.2 | -2.7 |
| Social Democratic & Labour Party | 87 | -14 | 15 | -2.4 |
| Alliance Party | 44 | 14 | 7.4 | +2.5 |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 6 | 6 | 2 | +2 |
| Green | 3 | 0 | 1 | +0.1 |
| Progressive Unionist Party of Northern Ireland | 2 | 0 | 0.6 | -0.1 |
| UK Independence Party | 1 | 1 | 0.4 | +0.4 |
| British National Party | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Conservatives | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Community Partnership (Northern Ireland) | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Independent Republican Party | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Irish Republican Socialist Party | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | +0.3 |
| Northern Ireland Womens' Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| N'abbey Ratepayers Association | 0 | -1 | 0 | -0.3 |
| People Before Profit Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | +0.3 |
| Procapitalism | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Socialist Environmental Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.2 |
| Socialist Party | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| United Kingdom Unionist Party | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| United Unionist Coalition | 0 | -2 | 0 | -0.3 |
| Workers Party | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Independents | 27 | 6 | 5.1 | +1.6 |
(Source: BBC News, 11 May 2011)
The council elections saw gains for the Alliance Party and Sinn Fein, and losses for the DUP, UUP and SDLP.
Belfast City Hall saw the Alliance Party holding the balance of power, with only three seats going to the UUP.
Sharon Skillen of the DUP lost the seat previously held by Iris Robinson of the DUP.
