Local elections were held in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
on Thursday 2 May 2019. The last elections were held in
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. 819 candidates contested 462 seats across Northern Ireland's 11
local government districts
The districts of England (officially, local authority districts, abbreviated LADs) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there ...
. 1,305,384 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 52.7% of the electorate turned out.
Electoral system
Northern Ireland uses the
Single Transferable Vote
The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
(STV) system to elect members of
local councils and members of the
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
. Voters rank candidates in order of preference by marking 1, 2, 3, ''etc.'' to the names of candidates on a ballot paper and can rank as many or as few candidates as they like or just vote for one candidate. These were the second elections held on new boundaries, introduced in 2014.
These were the first Northern Ireland elections at which people have been able to register to vote online.
Background
The
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
had been suspended since 2017 with the failure of powersharing between the DUP and Sinn Féin. However, in March 2019, the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...
Karen Bradley
Dame Karen Anne Bradley (; born 12 March 1970) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament cons ...
stated that, after the local elections, the government wished to revive Assembly talks. At the
2017 United Kingdom general election
The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the 2015 United Kingdom general election, previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 to be held ...
, no party won an overall majority in the UK Parliament, so the DUP agreed a deal to support a minority Conservative government. UK politics was dominated by
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
, which was due to take place before the local elections, however it was delayed until 31 January 2020.
All the parties with elected councillors from the last elections were running again, including the major parties of the
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...
(DUP),
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
,
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...
(UUP),
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...
(SDLP) and
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland ...
. The SDLP and
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
held talks about running a joint campaign for the May 2019 local elections, with the possibility of the SDLP merging into Fianna Fáil. There was division within the membership of the SDLP as to what form of relationship to have between the two parties. The two parties announced a partnership agreement in January 2019 rather than a full merger. In February 2019, both party leaders criticised the DUP and Sinn Féin over the continuing deadlock over power sharing in the Assembly.
Aontú
Aontú (; "Unity") is a conservative Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has been led by Peadar Tóibín since its foundation in January 2019. The party holds socially conservative ...
is a new party, an anti-abortion splinter from
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
, launched in January 2019. By February 2019, it had two councillors in Northern Ireland, one defecting from the SDLP and a second from Sinn Féin. The party nominated 16 candidates across 7 of the 11
local councils.
Candidates
819 candidates stood, compared to 905 at the previous elections. The DUP fielded 172, Sinn Féin 155, the UUP 117, the SDLP 85 and Alliance 84.
Others standing include the
Green Party Northern Ireland, TUV,
People Before Profit Alliance
People Before Profit (, PBP) is a Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. The party is active in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
History As Socialist Environmental Alliance
People Before Profit was established in 200 ...
,
The Workers Party,
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...
,
Cross-Community Labour Alternative,
Aontú
Aontú (; "Unity") is a conservative Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has been led by Peadar Tóibín since its foundation in January 2019. The party holds socially conservative ...
,
NI Conservatives,
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...
and several independents.
Results
Paralleling results in England, Alliance, some smaller parties and independents made significant gains. The largest nationalist party, Sinn Féin, returned the same number of councillors as in 2014. The DUP, UUP and SDLP all saw losses. The TUV saw significant losses and UKIP and NI21 lost all of their seats in the region, while
Aontú
Aontú (; "Unity") is a conservative Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has been led by Peadar Tóibín since its foundation in January 2019. The party holds socially conservative ...
and
Cross-Community Labour Alternative won their first seats and there were gains by People Before Profit and the Greens.
Largest Party by Council
Results by Council
Results by party
Councils
Antrim and Newtownabbey
Ards and North Down
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon
Belfast
Causeway Coast and Glens
Derry and Strabane
Fermanagh and Omagh
Lisburn and Castlereagh
Mid and East Antrim
Mid Ulster
Newry, Mourne and Down
Footnotes
See also
*
2019 United Kingdom local elections
References
{{Northern Ireland elections
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
2019 in Northern Ireland