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Political party support in Northern Ireland, 1969 to 2015



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Page Compiled: Martin Melaugh
Material is added to this site on a regular basis - information on this page may change

 

Political party support in Northern Ireland, 1969 to 2015

Election

Total Unionist

Total Nationalist

Unionist bloc

Nationalist bloc

Non confessional

Other

     

UUP

DUP

Other U.

SDLP

SF

Other N.

APNI

Other Non

 

1969 Stormont

67.4

18.8

61.1

-

6.3

-

-

18.8

-

8.1

5.7

1970 Westminster

58.8

23.3

54.3

-

4.5

-

-

23.3

-

12.6

5.1

1973 Local government

56.6

19.2

41.4

4.3

10.9

13.4

-

5.8

13.7

2.5

8.0

1973 Assembly

61.9

24.1

29.3

10.8

21.8

22.1

-

2.0

9.2

2.6

1.0

1974 Westminster

64.2

26.9

32.3

8.2

23.7

22.4

-

4.5

3.2

2.4

3.3

1974 Westminster

62.1

29.8

36.5

8.5

17.1

22.0

-

7.8

6.3

1.6

0.2

1975 Constitutional convention

62.5

25.9

25.8

14.8

21.9

23.7

-

2.2

9.8

1.4

0.4

1977 Local government

50.8

24.7

29.6

12.7

8.5

20.6

-

4.1

14.4

0.8

8.3

1979 Westminster

59.0

28.1

36.6

10.2

12.2

19.9

-

8.2

11.8

-

2.1

1979 European

59.0

31.3

21.9

29.8

7.3

24.6

-

6.7

6.8

-

2.9

1981 Local government

57.3

22.8

26.5

26.6

4.2

17.5

-

5.3

8.9

1.8

8.2

1982 Assembly

59.4

28.9

29.7

23.0

6.7

18.8

10.1

-

9.3

2.7

0.7

1983 Westminster

57.0

31.3

34.0

20.0

3.0

17.9

13.4

-

8.0

1.9

1.6

1984 European

58.0

35.4

21.5

33.6

2.9

22.1

13.3

-

5.0

1.3

0.3

1985 Local government

56.9

32.0

29.5

24.3

3.1

17.8

11.8

2.4

7.1

1.6

1.8

1986 Westminster by-elections

71.5

18.7

51.7

14.6

5.2

12.1

6.6

-

5.5

3.1

1.2

1987 Westminster

54.9

32.5

37.8

11.7

5.4

21.1

11.4

-

10.0

2.6

-

1989 Local government

54.9

32.5

31.4

17.8

5.7

21.2

11.3

-

6.8

2.1

3.7

1989 European

56.2

34.7

21.5

29.9

4.8

25.5

9.2

-

5.2

1.1

2.8

1992 Westminster

55.8

33.5

34.5

13.1

8.2

23.5

10.0

-

8.7

-

2.0

1993 Local government

50.8

34.6

29.0

17.2

4.6

21.9

12.5

0.2

7.7

1.0

5.9

1994 European

54.0

38.8

23.8

29.2

1.0

28.9

9.9

-

4.1

0.5

2.6

1996 Forum

52.9

36.9

24.2

18.8

9.9

21.4

15.5

-

6.5

2.5

1.2

1997 Westminster

50.5

40.2

32.7

13.6

4.2

24.1

16.1

-

8.0

0.7

0.3

1997 Local government

47.5

37.6

27.8

15.6

4.1

20.7

16.9

-

6.5

-

8.4

1998 Assembly

47.4

39.6

21.3

18.0

8.1

21.9

17.7

-

6.5

2.0

4.5

1999 European

52.2

45.5

17.6

28.3

6.3

28.1

17.4

-

2.1

-

0.2

2001 Westminster

52.7

42.7

26.8

22.5

3.4

21.0

21.7

-

3.6

1.0

-

2001 Local Government

47.0

40.1

22.9

21.4

2.7

19.4

20.7

-

5.1

0.6

7.1

2003 Assembly

51.7

40.7

22.7

25.7

3.3

17.0

23.5

0.2

3.7

1.0

2.9

2004 European

48.6

42.2

16.6

32.0

-

15.9

26.3

-

-

-

9.2

2005 Westminster

51.8

41.8

17.7

33.7

0.4

17.5

24.3

-

3.9

0.2

2.2

2005 Local Government

48.8

40.7

18.0

29.6

1.2

17.4

23.3

-

5.0

0.2

5.4

2007 Assembly 47.74 42.56 14.94 30.09 2.71 15.22 26.16 1.18 5.24 2.91 1.56
2009 European 49.00 42.24 17.11 18.23 13.66 16.20 26.04 - 5.51 - 3.25
2010 Westminster 50.60 41.98 15.19 24.96 10.45 16.47 25.52 - 6.35 0..44 0.63
2011 Local Government 45.34 40.58 15.23 27.16 2.95 15.04 24.78 0.76 7.40 0.12 6.56
2011 Assembly 47.46 41.97 13.48 30.57 3.41 14.52 27.45 - 7.84 0.18 2.55
2014 Local Government - - 16.15 23.09 8.02 13.58 24.07 6.65 0.16 8.28
2014 European 50.32 38.55 13.33 20.95 16.04 13.03 25.52 - 7.10 - 4.04
2015 Westminster 46.52%
334,057
38.44%
276,041
16.01 25.66 4.85 13.90 24.54 - 8.57 0.38 6.09
     

UUP

DUP

Other U.

SDLP

SF

Other N.

APNI

Other Non

 
Election

Total Unionist

Total Nationalist

Unionist bloc

Nationalist bloc

Non confessional

Other

See also:
Chart based on the above table

Notes:

UUP - Ulster Unionist Party
DUP - Democratic Unionist Party
Other U. - Other Unionist
SDLP - Social Democratic and Labour Party
SF - Sinn Féin
Other N. - Other Nationalist
APNI - Aliance Party of Northern Ireland
Other Non - Other Non-confessional parties
Other - Other parties and independent candidates

  • The table was initially based on: McGarry, J. and O'Leary, B. (eds) (1990) The Future of Northern Ireland. Oxford: Claredon Press.
  • The results of the most recent elections are based on media reports. All these figures should be treated as provisional.
  • The most meaningful comparisons are those between similar types of elections, for example when comparing Westminster elections.
  • The 1986 Westminster by-elections were held in protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement. 15 seats were contested and one of the Unionist seats was lost to the SDLP.

 


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