Neha Patil (Editor)

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

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25 June 1998
  
2003 →

8 September 1995
  
28 November 1979

30 seats (24.2%)
  
21 seats (21.4%)

Start date
  
June 25, 1998

Turnout
  
69.8%

28 November 1979
  
30 September 1971

21 seats (21.4%)
  
24 seats (18.8%)

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998 httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Winner
  
David Trimble

The first elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on Thursday 25 June 1998. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, giving a total of 108 MLAs, or Members of the Legislative Assembly.

Contents

Results

The result was (first preference votes only):

All parties with over 500 votes listed. Electorate: 1,178,556; Turnout: 823,565 (69.88%); Spoiled votes: 13,248; Valid: 810,317.

¹ Independent candidates were ranked 14, 15 and 16; other independents won fewer than 500 votes.

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)

    • References

    Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA