GetWiki

{{Short description|none}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}

factoids

| leader1 = David Trimble| leader_since1 = 8 September 1995| party1 = Ulster Unionist PartyUpper Bann (Assembly constituency)>Upper Bann| last_election1 = 30 seats, 24.2%| seats1 = 28| seat_change1 = {{decrease}}2| popular_vote1 = 172,225| percentage1 = 21.3%| swing1 = {{decrease}}2.9%Image =Nobel Peace prize winner John Hume 1998 from Wash. DC. (50184861292).jpgcWidth = 120oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}| leader2 = John Hume| leader_since2 = 28 November 1979| party2 = Social Democratic and Labour PartyFoyle (Assembly constituency)>Foyle| last_election2 = 21 seats, 21.4%| seats2 = 24| seat_change2 = {{increase}}3| popular_vote2 = 177,963| percentage2 = 22.0%| swing2 = {{increase}}0.6%Image =DrIanPaisley.jpgcWidth = 120oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}| leader3 = Ian Paisley| leader_since3 = 30 September 1971| party3 = Democratic Unionist PartyNorth Antrim (Assembly constituency)>North Antrim| last_election3 = 24 seats, 18.8%| seats3 = 20| seat_change3 = {{decrease}}4| popular_vote3 = 145,917| percentage3 = 18.5%| swing3 = {{decrease}}0.3%Image =Gerry Adams, 1997.jpgcWidth = 120oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}| leader4 = Gerry Adams| leader_since4 = 13 November 1983| party4 = Sinn FéinBelfast West (Assembly constituency)>Belfast West| last_election4 = 17 seats, 15.5%| seats4 = 18| seat_change4 = {{increase}}1| popular_vote4 = 142,858| percentage4 = 16.7%| swing4 = {{increase}}1.2%Image =Lord Alderdice.jpgcWidth = 120oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice>John Alderdice| leader_since5 = 3 October 1987| party5 = Alliance Party of Northern IrelandBelfast East (Assembly constituency)>Belfast East| last_election5 = 7 seats, 6.5%| seats5 = 6| seat_change5 = {{decrease}}1| popular_vote5 = 52,636| percentage5 = 5.6%| swing5 = {{decrease}}0.9%| image6 = UKUPRobert McCartney (Northern Irish politician)>Robert McCartney| leader_since6 = 1995| party6 = UK Unionist PartyNorth Down (Assembly constituency)>North Down| last_election6 = 3 seats, 3.7%| seats6 = 5| seat_change6 = {{increase}}2| popular_vote6 =36,541| percentage6 = 4.5%| swing6 = {{increase}}0.8%| image7 = PUP| leader7 = Hugh Smyth| leader_since7 = 1979| party7 = Progressive Unionist PartyRan in Belfast West (Assembly constituency)>Belfast West (lost) | last_election7 = 2 seats, 3.5%| seats7 = 2| seat_change7 = {{nochange}}| popular_vote7 = 20,634| percentage7 = 2.6%| swing7 = {{decrease}}0.9%| image8 = NIWC| leader8 = Monica McWilliams & Pearl Sagar| leader_since8 = 1996| party8 = Northern Ireland Women's CoalitionBelfast South (Assembly constituency)>Belfast South (Monica McWilliams)Ran in Belfast East (Assembly constituency)>Belfast East (lost) (Sagar)| last_election8 = 2 seats, 1.0%| seats8 = 2| seat_change8 = {{nochange}}| popular_vote8 = 13,019| percentage8 = 1.6%| swing8 = {{increase}}0.6%| map= {{Switcher350px)| Seats won by each party and combined first preference vote share of the largest party.350px)| Break down of each party and sectarian camp's seats in constituencies}}| map_caption= Election results. Voters elect 6 assembly members from the 18 constituencies. | title = First Minister| posttitle = First Minister after election| before_election = New position| after_election = David Trimble| after_party = Ulster Unionist Party}}{{PoliticsNI}}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).

Background and campaign

The election was the culmination of the years long Peace Process that had resulted in the Good Friday Agreement on 10th of April 1998. The Agreement had been the result of multi-party talks in Northern Ireland, as well as talks with the British and Irish governments. The Agreement would need to be endorsed by referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that were scheduled for the 22nd of May.WEB,weblink The Irish Peace Process - Chronology of Key Events (April 1998 - December 1999), Melaugh, Martin, CAIN Archive, 30 May 2023, Of the parties who'd won election in 1996 to the Northern Ireland Forum only the DUP and UK Unionist Party opposed the Agreement, encouraging a No vote in the referendum. Whilst the UUP officially supported the Agreement, there was significant dissent within its ranks. Several high profile members, including six of their ten MPs, opposed the Agreement. On 18th of April the ruling council of the UUP backed the Agreement with 540 delegates in favour and 120 against.On 24 April the loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association announced that it was in support of the Agreement. However on the 1st of May the Orange Order came out in opposition.WEB,weblink Orange Order reaffirms stance on agreement, Irish Times, 13 May 1998, 30 May 2023, At the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on the 10th of May the party voted to end its 77 year policy of abstentionism from NI government institutions. However, it would continue to refuse to take any seats won at Westminster elections.WEB,weblink The Struggle Continues, 14 May 1998, An Phoblacht (Republican News), 30 May 2023, Two major issues during both the referendum and subsequent Assembly campaign was that of decommissioning and release of paramilitary prisoners. This was cemented when the IRA released a statement saying that it would not agree to decommissioning its weapons.WEB,weblink IRA Statement on Decommissioning, 30 April 1998, An Phoblacht (Republican News), 30 May 2023, A poll released on the 15th of May showed that a majority of those planning on voting No were going to do so due to the release of prisoners. On the same day the Ulster Volunteer Force announced a ceasefire in opposition to the Agreement, encouraging a No vote in the referendum.WEB,weblink LVF Ceasefire Statement, 15 May 1998, CAIN Archive, 30 May 2023, On the 19th of May, just three days before the referendum was to be held, U2 held a concert at Belfast's Waterfront Hall in support of the Yes campaign. John Hume, the SDLP leader, and David Trimble, the UUP leader, attended and appeared on stage. Bono held their hands aloft in an image that became iconic of the campaign. The concert was the first time the two men had campaigned together and is credited with giving the Yes campaign a crucial boost in the final days of the campaign.WEB,weblink John Hume, Bono, Trimble, Ash and the 'Yes' Gig, 1998, Bailie, Stuart, 5 August 2020, 30 May 2023, In the end the Agreement was endorsed by the people of Northern Ireland with 71.1% voting in favour on a turnout of 81.1%.WEB,weblink The 1998 Referendums, 30 May 2023, Compared to the referendum campaign, the Assembly campaign was much more subdued. However, the issue of decommissioning continued to be a major issue. Following a meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam, Vice President of Sinn Fein, Martin McGuinness, warned against "falling into the trap of trying to make decommissioning the most important item on the agenda".On the 4th of June a Northern Ireland Office memo on the upcoming Independent Commission on Policing was leaked, resulting in controversy as it contained none of the people nominated by the Irish government on the behalf of nationalists.

Results

The SDLP topped the polls, receiving about 22 percent of the votes. It won a plurality of the first preference votes. This was the first time a nationalist party had ever achieved this in Northern Ireland's history.WEB,weblink Assembly Election (NI) Thursday 25 June 1998, Melaugh, Martin, McKenna, Fionnuala, CAIN Archive, Ulster University, 30 May 2023, It was a feat that would not be repeated until the 2022 Assembly elections when Sinn Féin also topped the poll. Despite the use of STV, a form of proportional representation, the UUP won four more seats than the SDLP. This has been attributed WEB,weblink NI Assembly election calculations, Riley, Jim, 2 July 2000, ARK, 30 May 2023, 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).

Despite a nationalist party topping the poll with a plurality of votes, unionist parties won a majority of both seats and votes. Of the 108 seats available, 58 designated as unionist, 42 as nationalist and 8 as other. In terms of first preference votes unionist candidates won 50.6% of the vote, compared to nationalists 39.8% and others 8.9% of the vote.{{ref label|id1|Note 1|none}}

Within unionism

Whilst the UUP retained its position as the largest party of unionism, its vote share of just 21.25% was the lowest it had ever achieved.WEB,weblink Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1998, ARK, 30 May 2023, The DUP managed to finish just 3.24% behind the UUP, which was considered a significant success. Of the smaller unionist parties the UK Unionist Party managed to win five seats, and the Progressive Unionist Party two seats. This was an improvement for the UKU compared to the 1995 Northern Ireland Forum election, whilst the PUP retained its two seats. The Ulster Democratic Party however failed to win any seats in the Assembly and the party dissolved before the 2003 Assembly election. In addition to the four unionist parties elected, three independent unionists were also elected to the assembly.

Within nationalism

The election was considered a success for the SDLP, which not only secured the largest vote share, but also increased its number of seats compared to the 1996 Forum elections. Sinn Féin also had a successful election by increasing its share of both votes and seats. Unlike unionism, where the vote was split between several different parties, the nationalist vote was split between just two and there were no significant independent nationalist campaigns.

Other parties

The Alliance Party had a disappointing night with their vote share remaining unchanged and the net loss of one seat. The election continued the pattern of the Alliance Party winning seats only in heavily unionist areas. The NI Women's Coalition had a successful night, winning two seats. This would be the only Assembly election in which the party would win any seats. WEB,weblink Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, O'Rourke, Catherine, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 May 2023,

Results summary

(File:Northern_Ireland_Election_Map_1998.svg|thumb|Result by constituencies)(File:Northernirelandassembly asof Jun 1998.PNG|right|thumb|The result was (first preference votes only):WEB,weblink Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1998, 12 December 2017, 14 May 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110514205053weblink">weblink live, ){{Election results|image=(File:Northern Irish general election 1998.svg)Social Democratic and Labour Party>votes1=177963seats1=24|sc1=+3Ulster Unionist Party>votes2=172225seats2=28|sc2=-2Democratic Unionist Party>votes3=145917seats3=20|sc3=-4Sinn Féin>votes4=142858seats4=18|sc4=+1Alliance Party of Northern Ireland>votes5=52636seats5=6|sc5=-1UK Unionist Party>votes6=36541seats6=5|sc6=+2Independent Unionist>votes7=24339N/A>seats7=3|sc7=+3Progressive Unionist Party>votes8=20634seats8=2|sc8=Northern Ireland Women's Coalition>votes9=13019seats9=2|sc9=Ulster Democratic Party>votes10=8651seats10=|sc10=-2Labour Party of Northern Ireland>votes11=2729New>seats11=|sc11=Workers' Party (Ireland)>votes12=1989seats12=|sc12=Northern Ireland Conservatives>votes13=1835seats13=|sc13=Ulster Independence Movement>votes14=1227seats14=|sc14=Natural Law Party>votes15=832seats15=|sc15=Socialist Party (Ireland)>Socialist Partysw16=Newsc16=Green Party of Northern Ireland>votes17=710seats17=|sc17=Independent politician>Independentsw18=N/Asc18=|invalid=13248|electorate=1178556}}The seat and vote change in the table are in comparison to the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum elections.

Distribution of seats by constituency

Party affiliation of the six Assembly members returned by each constituency. The first column indicates the party of the Member of the House of Commons (MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in the 1997 United Kingdom general election under the first-past-the-post voting method. A number highlighted in bold indicates the party won the highest number of seats in that constituency.{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"! rowspan=3 colspan=2 | {{nowrap|Party of MP,}} 1997! rowspan=3 | Constituency! colspan=10 | Northern Ireland Assembly seats! rowspan=2 | Total! style="background:{{party color|Alliance Party of Northern Ireland}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Democratic Unionist Party}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Northern Ireland Women's Coalition}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Progressive Unionist Party}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic and Labour Party}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Sinn Féin}};" |! style="background:{{party color|UK Unionist Party}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" |! style="background:{{party color|Independent politician}};" |! APNI! DUP! NI WC! PUP! SDLP! SinnFéin! UKU! UUP! {{abbr|Ind.|Independent}}Democratic Unionist Party}}North Antrim (Assembly constituency)>3--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"2-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} East Antrim (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/Democratic Unionist Party}}"1-style:"background;{{Party shading/UK Unionist Party}}"2-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} South Antrim (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/Democratic Unionist Party}}"1-style:"background;{{Party shading/UK Unionist Party}}"2-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} Belfast North (Assembly constituency)>1-style:"background;{{Party shading/Progressive Unionist Party}}"1style:"background;{{Party shading/Sinn Féin}}"11Sinn Féin}}Belfast West (Assembly constituency)>2style:"background;{{Party shading/Sinn Féin}}"4>|-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}}Belfast South (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/NI Women's Coalition}}"2--style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Democratic Unionist Party}}Belfast East (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/Democratic Unionist Party}}"1---style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-UK Unionist Party}}North Down (Assembly constituency)>1-style:"background;{{Party shading/NI Women's Coalition}}"1style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"3>|-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}}Strangford (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/Democratic Unionist Party}}"1style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} Lagan Valley (Assembly constituency)>1style:"background;{{Party shading/Democratic Unionist Party}}"1-style:"background;{{Party shading/UK Unionist Party}}"2-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} Upper Bann (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"1-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"2>|1Social Democratic and Labour Party}} South Down (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"3>1-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Social Democratic and Labour Party}} Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"2-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"2-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} West Tyrone (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"2-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Sinn Féin}} Mid Ulster (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"3-style:"background;{{Party shading/Ulster Unionist Party}}"|-Social Democratic and Labour Party}} Foyle (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"3>2---Ulster Unionist Party|shortname=UUP}} East Londonderry (Assembly constituency)>1--style:"background;{{Party shading/SDLP}}"21 class="sortbottom" style="text-align:center; background:#ddd;" 1086202224185283 class="sortbottom"

See also

• 1st Northern Ireland Assembly

References

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
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20010430083546weblink">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

{{Northern Ireland elections}}{{United Kingdom local elections, 1998}}