The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election (representing an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous Assembly election). Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%), a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011, but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998. As in the 2007 and 2011 elections, the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by ...

and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

won the most seats, with the DUP winning 38 and Sinn Féin winning 28 of the available 108 seats. The Ulster Unionist Party won 16 seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party 12 and the

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

8, while two seats were won by the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

and

People Before Profit People Before Profit ( ga, Pobal Roimh Bhrabús, PBP) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left Trotskyist political party formed in October 2005. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Histo ...

. The Traditional Unionist Voice and an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidate each won one seat.

Change of date

Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, elections to the Assembly were originally for a four-year term; thus there would have been an election due in May 2015, four years after the 2011 election. Following the introduction of the UK Fixed Term Parliaments Act, this date would have clashed with the 2015 UK general election. The Scottish Parliament and

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh G ...

elections were postponed for a year to 2016 to avoid this clash. In May 2013, Theresa Villiers,

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

, announced the next Assembly election would be postponed to May 2016, and would be held at fixed intervals of five years thereafter. Section 7 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 specifies that elections will be held on the first Thursday in May on the fifth (rather than fourth, as previously) calendar year following that in which its predecessor was elected.

End of dual mandate

The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 also ends the practice of dual mandate, prohibiting someone being elected to the assembly who is also a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

. At the time the Act was passed, there were three such dual-members: the DUP's Sammy Wilson ( MP for East Antrim and MLA for East Antrim) and Gregory Campbell ( MP for East Londonderry and MLA for East Londonderry) and the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell ( MP for Belfast South and MLA for Belfast South). Wilson and McDonnell resigned from the Assembly after being re-elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 election. Campbell, who was also re-elected as an MP, is retiring from the Assembly at this election.

Earlier dissolution

There are several circumstances in which the Assembly could be dissolved before the date scheduled by virtue of section 31(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Dissolution motion

Under section 32 of the 1998 Act, the Assembly can be dissolved if a resolution to such an effect is passed by the Assembly, with support of 72 or more members.

Failure to elect the First or deputy First Ministers

The Act provides that if the Assembly fails to elect either the First Minister or deputy First Minister within six weeks, an election is called. Since the enactment of the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, the First Minister has been nominated by the largest party of the largest community designation, and the deputy First Minister has been nominated by the largest party in the second largest community designation ("Nationalist", "Unionist" or "Other").

New Executive Departments

It was proposed that after the May 2016 Election there be a reduction in the number of ministries and departments. The amendments were: * The Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is renamed the Executive Office * The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is renamed the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs * The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is renamed the Department for the Economy * The Department of Finance and Personnel is renamed the Department of Finance * The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is renamed the Department of Health * The Department for Regional Development is renamed the Department for Infrastructure * The Department for Social Development is renamed the Department for Communities * The Department of Justice remains unchanged Department of Justice (Northern Ireland) * The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is dissolved * The Department of the Environment is dissolved * The Department for Employment and Learning is dissolved ° The Department of Education remains the same.

Candidates

Nominations opened on 30 March 2016 for the assembly election. A full list of candidates is available. Parties standing in more than one constituency were: *

* Ulster Unionist Party * Social Democratic and Labour Party *

* Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) *

* Progressive Unionist Party * People Before Profit Alliance *

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...

* Cannabis is Safer Than Alcohol *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

* Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee * Cross-Community Labour Alternative * The Workers Party Various independents and smaller parties also stood.

Members not seeking re-election

Alliance

* Judith Cochrane ( Belfast East) * Anna Lo ( Belfast South) * Kieran McCarthy ( Strangford)

DUP

* Gregory Campbell ( East Londonderry) * Stephen Moutray ( Upper Bann) * Peter Robinson ( Belfast East)

NI21

* Basil McCrea ( Lagan Valley)

SDLP

* Dominic Bradley ( Newry and Armagh) * John Dallat ( East Londonderry) * Alban Maginness ( Belfast North)

Sinn Féin

* Bronwyn McGahan ( Fermanagh and South Tyrone) * Mitchel McLaughlin ( South Antrim)

UUP

* Leslie Cree ( North Down) * Sam Gardiner ( Upper Bann) * Michael McGimpsey ( Belfast South)

UKIP

* David McNarry ( Strangford)

Results

The 2016 election was held using STV and 18 multi-seat districts, each electing 6 members.

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

(MP) returned by the corresponding parliamentary constituency in the general election of 7 May 2015 (under the "

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

" method). (The constituencies are arranged here in rough geographical order around

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows com ...

from Antrim to Londonderry. To see them in alphabetical order, click the small square icon after "Constituency"; to restore this geographical order, click the icon after "No." at the left.) * Three of the four independents elected in 1998 ran as

Independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in elect ...

s * NIWC = Northern Ireland Women's Coalition; Prog. U. = Progressive Unionist Party; TUV = Traditional Unionist Voice; UKUP = United Kingdom Unionist Party

Share of first-preference votes

Percentage of each constituency's first-preference votes. Four highest percentages in each constituency shaded; absolute majorities underlined. The constituencies are arranged in the geographic order described for the table above; click the icon next to "Constituency" to see them in alphabetical order. *[The totals given here are the sum of all valid ballots cast in each constituency, and the percentages are based on such totals. The turnout percentages in the last column, however, are based upon all ballots cast, which also include anything from twenty to a thousand invalid ballots in each constituency. The total valid ballots' percentage of the eligible electorate can correspondingly differ by 0.1% to 2% from the turnout percentage.] *

vote in 1998 (2.8%) included in the Independent column (not "others"). TUV = Traditional Unionist Voice.