A Northern Ireland Assembly election will be held to elect 90 members to 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 ...

on or before 6 May 2027. After the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May 2022, the DUP (the largest unionist party in the legislature) declined to agree on the appointment of Speaker to the Assembly, preventing the formation of an Executive.

Chris Heaton-Harris Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is a British former politician who served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from September 2022 to July 2024, and as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliament ...

, 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 ...

, confirmed a legal obligation to call an election if no Executive was formed by a 27 October 2022 deadline. No Executive was formed by this deadline, but the deadline was extended by legislation in the Westminster Parliament. A deadline of 18 January 2024 was then proposed. On 31 January 2024 the DUP and

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

announced a deal had been struck to revive the Executive, and on 3 February 2024 the Assembly swore in Sinn Fein First Minister

Michelle O'Neill Michelle O'Neill ( Doris; born 10 January 1977) is an Irish politician who has been First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024 and President of Sinn Féin#Vice Presidents, Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018. She has also been ...

and DUP deputy First Minister

Emma Little-Pengelly Emma Little-Pengelly ( Little; born 31 December 1979) is a Northern Irish barrister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician serving as the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, deputy First Minister of Northern ...

. This election will be the eighth since the assembly was established in 1998. Seven parties have MLAs in the seventh assembly:

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 ...

led by

, 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) led by

Gavin Robinson Gavin James Robinson (born 22 November 1984) is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has been serving as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since March 2024. He served as Deputy DUP Leader from June 2023 to May 2024 ...

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

led by

Naomi Long Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive since February 2024, having previously served from January 2020 to October 202 ...

, the

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) led by Mike Nesbitt, the

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) led by Claire Hanna,

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its '' sine qua non'' the preservation of Northern Ireland's pl ...

(TUV) led by

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Antrim since the 2024 general election. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) in 20 ...

, and

People Before Profit 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 ...

(PBP) led by

Richard Boyd Barrett Richard Boyd Barrett (born 6 February 1967) is an Irish People Before Profit–Solidarity politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since the 2011 general election. Boyd Barrett was previously a member of ...

Background

Section 7 of the

Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (c. 13) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed with the intent to ban dual mandates (also known as double-jobbing) for Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) ...

(c. 13) specifies that elections will be held on the first Thursday in May on the fifth calendar year following that in which its predecessor was elected, which is 6 May 2027. However, there are several circumstances in which the Assembly can be dissolved earlier. After the 2022 Assembly election, the DUP declined to join in forming a government due to its opposition to the

Northern Ireland Protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with both the EU and Great Bri ...

on post-

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 ...

trading arrangements. If no government is formed within six months, the United Kingdom Government's

Northern Ireland Secretary 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 ...

has to call a new election early or come up with some other solution. No government was formed by the deadline. Rather than call a new election, Heaton-Harris introduced legislation to extend the deadline, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022 (c. 48). The new deadline also passed with no resolution. Heaton-Harris produced a further extension through legislation via the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Organ and Tissue Donation) Act 2023. On 27 February 2023, the UK and EU announced the

Windsor Framework The Windsor Framework is a post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom which adjusts the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Framework was announced on 27 February 2023, formally adopted by both pa ...

to make changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. It was hoped that this would lead to formation of an Assembly executive. However, the DUP boycott continued. Heaton-Harris again brought primary legislation to further extend the deadline to 8 February 2024, via the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2024. On 30 January, the DUP announced that they would accept a deal conditional on legislation being passed by the UK government that saw them agreeing to form an executive with Sinn Fein. A new executive was formed on 3 February 2024.

Opinion polling

Voting intention

Note: Next to the party initials at the top of the table there are the letters "N", "O", and "U". These show how the parties have chosen to

designate Designation (from Latin ''designatio'') is the process of determining an incumbent's successor. A candidate that won an election, for example, is the ''designated'' holder of the office the candidate has been elected to, up until the candidate's ...

themselves, Unionist (U),

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

(N) or other (O), in the Assembly previously (or, in the case of Aontú, how they are expected to designate if they win a seat). This is a function of the Assembly's consociational design.