# Elections in Northern Ireland

Elections in Northern Ireland are held on a regular basis to local councils, the Northern Ireland Assembly and to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 members, elected in 18 five-member constituencies by the single transferable vote (STV) method. Northern Ireland is represented at Westminster by 18 single-member constituencies elected by the first-past-the-post method.
Unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom, elections in Northern Ireland are administered centrally by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland and the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland rather than by local authorities.

## Elections to the United Kingdom House of Commons
### Legend

    U: unionist; N: nationalist; O: other.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.Results over time(Northern Irish seats for parliament) :
* Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
* Sinn Féin have never taken their seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons due to their policy of abstentionism.
* UUP MPs sat as members of the Conservative Party until 1972.

### By-elections

Gains are marked with a grey background.
| Constituency | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause |
| Mid Armagh | 23 June 1921 | James Lonsdale | UUP | Henry Armstrong | UUP | Death |
| Belfast Duncairn | 23 June 1921 | Edward Carson | UUP | Thomas McConnell | UUP | Appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary |
| North Down | 23 June 1921 | Thomas Watters Brown | UUP | Thomas Watters Brown | UUP | Appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland |
| Mid Down | 2 July 1921 | James Craig | UUP | Robert Sharman-Crawford | UUP | Elected Prime Minister of Northern Ireland |
| West Down | 5 July 1921 | Daniel Martin Wilson | UUP | Thomas Browne Wallace | UUP | Appointed Recorder of Belfast |
| South Londonderry | 29 August 1921 | Denis Henry | UUP | Robert Chichester | UUP | Appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland |
| South Londonderry | 18 January 1922 | Robert Chichester | UUP | William Pain | UUP | Death |
| West Down | 17 February 1922 | Thomas Browne Wallace | UUP | Hugh Hayes | UUP | Appointed Chief Clerk to the High Court of Northern Ireland |
| North Down | 21 February 1922 | Thomas Watters Brown | UUP | Sir Henry Wilson, Bt | UUP | Appointed to the High Court of Northern Ireland |
| North Londonderry | 4 June 1922 | Hugh T. Barrie | UUP | Malcolm Macnaghten | UUP | Death |
| North Down | 21 July 1922 | Sir Henry Wilson, Bt | UUP | John Simms | UUP | Killed by the IRA |
| Londonderry | 29 January 1929 | Malcolm Macnaghten | UUP | Ronald Ross | UUP | Appointment to High Court of Justice of England and Wales |
| Fermanagh and Tyrone | 7 March 1931 | Thomas Harbison | Nationalist | Cahir Healy | Nationalist | Death |
| Fermanagh and Tyrone | 27 June 1934 | Joseph Devlin | Nationalist | Joe Stewart | Nationalist | Death |
| Down | 10 May 1939 | David Reid | UUP | James Little | UUP | Death |
| Belfast East | 8 February 1940 | Herbert Dixon | UUP | Henry Harland | UUP | Elevation to the Peerage |
| Queen's University of Belfast | 2 November 1940 | Thomas Sinclair | UUP | Douglas Savory | UUP | Resignation |
| Belfast West | 9 February 1943 | Alexander Browne | UUP | Jack Beattie | NI Labour | Death |
| Antrim | 11 February 1943 | Sir Joseph McConnell, Bt | UUP | John Dermot Campbell | UUP | Death |
| Down | 2 June 1946 | James Little | Ind. Unionist | C. H. Mullan | UUP | Death |
| Armagh | 5 March 1948 | Sir William Allen | UUP | James Harden | UUP | Death by road accident |
| Belfast West | 29 November 1950 | J. G. MacManaway | UUP | Thomas Teevan | UUP | Disqualified under the House of Commons (Clergy Disqualification) Act 1801 |
| Londonderry | 19 May 1951 | Ronald Ross | UUP | William Wellwood | UUP | Appointment as Northern Ireland Government Agent in London |
| North Antrim | 27 October 1952 | Sir Hugh O'Neill | UUP | Phelim O'Neill | UUP | Resignation |
| Belfast South | 4 November 1952 | Conolly Gage | UUP | David Campbell | UUP | Resignation |
| North Down | 15 April 1953 | Walter Smiles | UUP | Patricia Ford | UUP | Died in MV Princess Victoria ferry disaster |
| Armagh | 20 November 1954 | James Harden | UUP | C. W. Armstrong | UUP | Resignation |
| Mid Ulster | 11 August 1955 | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Disqualification |
| Mid Ulster | 8 May 1956 | Charles Beattie | UUP | George Forrest | Ind. Unionist | Disqualification |
| Belfast East | 19 March 1959 | Alan McKibbin | UUP | Stanley McMaster | UUP | Death |
| Belfast South | 22 October 1963 | Sir David Campbell | UUP | Rafton Pounder | UUP | Death |
| Mid Ulster | 17 April 1969 | George Forrest | UUP | Bernadette Devlin | Unity | Death |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 9 April 1981 | Frank Maguire | Ind. Nationalist | Bobby Sands | Anti H-Block | Death |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 20 August 1981 | Bobby Sands | Anti H-Block | Owen Carron | Anti H-Block | Death from hunger strike |
| Belfast South | 4 March 1982 | Robert Bradford | UUP | Martin Smyth | UUP | Killed by the IRA |
| Antrim North | 23 January 1986 | Ian Paisley | DUP | Ian Paisley | DUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Antrim East | 23 January 1986 | Roy Beggs | UUP | Roy Beggs | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Antrim South | 23 January 1986 | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Belfast East | 23 January 1986 | Peter Robinson | DUP | Peter Robinson | DUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Belfast North | 23 January 1986 | Cecil Walker | UUP | Cecil Walker | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Belfast South | 23 January 1986 | Martin Smyth | UUP | Martin Smyth | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Down North | 23 January 1986 | James Kilfedder | UPUP | James Kilfedder | UPUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Down South | 23 January 1986 | Enoch Powell | UUP | Enoch Powell | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 23 January 1986 | Ken Maginnis | UUP | Ken Maginnis | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Lagan Valley | 23 January 1986 | James Molyneaux | UUP | James Molyneaux | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| East Londonderry | 23 January 1986 | William Ross | UUP | William Ross | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Mid Ulster | 23 January 1986 | William McCrea | DUP | William McCrea | DUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Strangford | 23 January 1986 | John Taylor | UUP | John Taylor | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Newry and Armagh | 23 January 1986 | James Nicholson | UUP | Seamus Mallon | SDLP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Upper Bann | 23 January 1986 | Harold McCusker | UUP | Harold McCusker | UUP | Resignation in protest at Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| Upper Bann | 17 May 1990 | Harold McCusker | UUP | David Trimble | UUP | Death |
| North Down | 15 June 1995 | Sir James Kilfedder | UPUP | Robert McCartney | UK Unionist | Death |
| South Antrim | 21 September 2000 | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | William McCrea | DUP | Death |
| Belfast West | 9 June 2011 | Gerry Adams | Sinn Féin | Paul Maskey | Sinn Féin | Resignation to contest the Louth constituency in the Irish general election |
| Mid Ulster | 7 March 2013 | Martin McGuinness | Sinn Féin | Francie Molloy | Sinn Féin | Resignation to end dual mandate as Member of Parliament and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly |
| West Tyrone | 3 May 2018 | Barry McElduff | Sinn Féin | Órfhlaith Begley | Sinn Féin | Resignation |

### Recall petition

* 2018 North Antrim recall petition

## Referendums
### Northern Ireland-specific referendums

* 1973 Northern Ireland border poll
* 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum

### United Kingdom-wide referendums

* 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum#Results by United Kingdom constituent countries
* 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum#Results by constituent countries
* 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum#Results by constituent countries & Gibraltar

## Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly
### Legend

    U: unionist; N: nationalist; O: other.
| Election | DUP (U) | SF (N) | UUP (U) | SDLP (N) | APNI (O) | UKUP (U) | UPUP (U) | PUP (U) | VUPP (U) | UPNI (U) | NILP (O) | NIWC (O) | GPNI (O) | TUV (U) | PBP (O) | Ind U | Ind O | Total | Total U | Total N | Total O |
| 1973 | 8 | | 31 | 19 | 8 | | | | 7 | | 1 | | | | | 4 | | 78 | 50 | 19 | 9 |
| 1975 | 12 | | 19 | 17 | 8 | | | | 14 | 5 | 1 | | | | | 2 | | 78 | 52 | 17 | 9 |
| 1982 | 21 | 5 | 26 | 14 | 10 | | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 | | 78 | 49 | 19 | 10 |
| 1998 | 20 | 18 | 28 | 24 | 6 | 5 | | 2 | | | | 2 | | | | 3 | | 108 | 58 | 42 | 8 |
| 2003 | 30 | 24 | 27 | 18 | 6 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | | | 1 | 108 | 59 | 42 | 7 |
| 2007 | 36 | 28 | 18 | 16 | 7 | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 | 108 | 55 | 44 | 9 |
| 2011 | 38 | 29 | 16 | 14 | 8 | | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | 108 | 56 | 43 | 9 |
| 2016 | 38 | 28 | 16 | 12 | 8 | | | | | | | | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | 108 | 56 | 40 | 12 |
| 2017 | 28 | 27 | 10 | 12 | 8 | | | | | | | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 90 | 40 | 39 | 11 |
| 2022 | 25 | 27 | 9 | 8 | 17 | | | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | 2 | | 90 | 37 | 35 | 18 |
* 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

## Elections to the European Parliament

From 1979 to 2020, three of the seats in the European Parliament allocated to the United Kingdom formed a three-seat constituency elected by single transferable vote. It differed from European Parliament constituencies elsewhere in the United Kingdom which used the D'Hondt method. The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and the constituency was abolished.
| Year | | | | | |
| Year | DUP | SF | APNI | UUP | SDLP |
| 1979 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1984 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1989 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1999 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

## Ad hoc elections

* 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 1975 Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election
* 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election

## Elections to the Northern Ireland House of Commons

* 1921 Northern Ireland general election
* 1925 Northern Ireland general election
* 1929 Northern Ireland general election
* 1933 Northern Ireland general election
* 1938 Northern Ireland general election
* 1945 Northern Ireland general election
* 1949 Northern Ireland general election
* 1953 Northern Ireland general election
* 1958 Northern Ireland general election
* 1962 Northern Ireland general election
* 1965 Northern Ireland general election
* 1969 Northern Ireland general election

### By-elections

* List of Northern Ireland Parliament by-elections