1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election

1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election

25 June 1998
All 108 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Turnout	69.8%
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Trimble John Hume Ian Paisley Party Ulster Unionist 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. Each constituency is shaded according to the combined first preference vote share of the largest party.
First Minister before election New position First Minister after election David Trimble Ulster Unionist

The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election 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).

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	177,963	21.96	+0.6	24	+3
	Ulster Unionist Party	172,225	21.25	-2.9	28	-2
	Democratic Unionist Party	145,917	18.01	-0.8	20	-4
	Sinn Féin	142,858	17.63	+2.2	18	+1
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	52,636	6.50	0.0	6	-1
	UK Unionist Party	36,541	4.51	+0.8	5	+2
	Independent Unionist	24,339	3.00	N/A	3	+3
	Progressive Unionist Party	20,634	2.55	-1.0	2	–
	Northern Ireland Women's Coalition	13,019	1.61	+0.6	2	–
	Ulster Democratic Party	8,651	1.07	-1.1	–	-2
	Labour Party of Northern Ireland	2,729	0.34	New	–	–
	Workers' Party (Ireland)	1,989	0.25	-0.3	–	–
	Northern Ireland Conservatives	1,835	0.23	-0.3	–	–
	Ulster Independence Movement	1,227	0.15	-0.4	–	–
	Natural Law Party	832	0.10	0.0	–	–
	Socialist Party	789	0.10	New	–	–
	Green Party of Northern Ireland	710	0.09	-0.4	–	–
	Independent	5,392	0.67	N/A	–	–
Total		810,286	100.00	–	108	–
Valid votes		810,286	98.39
Invalid/blank votes		13,248	1.61
Total votes		823,534	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,178,556	69.88

Result by constituencies

The result was (first preference votes only):

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

• 1st Northern Ireland Assembly

Manifestos

• It's Time For Tomorrow... Together, Alliance
• Your Best Guarantee for the Future of Northern Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party
• A Fresh Future, Northern Ireland Conservatives
• A New Voice For New Times, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
• For Real Change – Building a New Ireland, Sinn Féin
• Now, Say Yes To A Future Together, Social Democratic and Labour Party
• Together Within the Union, Ulster Unionist Party
• Manifesto of The Workers' Party, Workers' Party