Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

30 May 1996

All 110 seats to the Northern Ireland Forum 56 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader David Trimble Ian Paisley John Hume Party UUP DUP SDLP Leader since 8 September 1995 30 September 1971 28 November 1979 Leader's seat Upper Bann North Antrim Foyle Seats won 30 24 21 Seat change 30 24 21 Popular vote 181,829 141,413 160,786 Percentage 24.2% 18.8% 21.4% Swing 24.2% 18.8% 21.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Gerry Adams John Alderdice Robert McCartney Party Sinn Féin Alliance UK Unionist Leader since 13 November 1983 3 October 1987 1995 Leader's seat West Belfast East Belfast Seats won 17 7 3 Seat change 17 7 3 Popular vote 116,377 49,176 27,774 Percentage 15.5% 6.5% 3.7% Swing 15.5% 6.5% 3.7%

Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.

Chief Executive before election None Elected Chief Executive None

The Northern Ireland Forum (formally called the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue) was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in 1998.

The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westminster Parliamentary constituency for Northern Ireland, under the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. There was also a "topup" of two seats for the ten parties polling most votes; this ensured that two loyalist parties associated with paramilitary groups were represented. See members of the Northern Ireland Forum for a complete list.

Results

The results of the election were:

Party		Votes	Vote %	Constituency seats	Top-up seats	Total seats	Regional list candidates[1]
	UUP	181,829	24.17	28	2	30	David Trimble, John Taylor, John Gorman, Antony Alcock, Jack Allen, Fred Parkinson, Josias Cunningham, Dennis Rogan, James Cooper, Jim Nicholson
	SDLP	160,786	21.36	19	2	21	John Hume, Seamus Mallon, Eddie McGrady, Joe Hendron, Jonathan Stephenson, Dorita Field, Margaret Ellen, Patricia Walsh, Marietta Farrell, Rosaleen Hughes, Anne McQuillan
	DUP	141,413	18.80	22	2	24	Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson, William McCrea, Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell, Eric Smyth, Ruth Allen, Harry Smith, William McClure
	Sinn Féin	116,377	15.47	15	2	17	Lucilita Bhreatnach, Pat Doherty, Rita O'Hare, Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Bairbre de Brún, Mitchel McLaughlin, Gearóid Ó hEára, Joe Cahill, Dodie McGuinness
	Alliance	49,176	6.54	5	2	7	John Alderdice, Seamus Close, Sean Neeson, Steve McBride, Eileen Bell, Anne Gormley, Elizabeth McCaffrey, Mary Clark-Glass, Susan O'Brien, Wendy Watt
	UK Unionist	27,774	3.69	1	2	3	Robert McCartney, Cedric Wilson, Conor Cruise O'Brien, Patrick Roche, Ronnie Crawford, Alan Field, Valerie Kinghan, Stephen Nicholl, Graeme Jardin, Freda Woods
	PUP	26,082	3.47	0	2	2	Hugh Smyth, David Ervine, Billy Hutchinson, William Smith, David Kirk, Patricia Laverty, Dawn Purvis, Edward Kinner, Gusty Spence, Winston Churchill Rea
	Ulster Democratic	16,715	2.22	0	2	2	Gary McMichael, John White, David Adams, Joe English, Tommy Kirkham, David Nicholl, Robert Girvan, Thomas English, Ester McCracken English, Elizabeth Cathcart McIlwaine
	NI Women's Coalition	7,731	1.03	0	2	2	Monica McWilliams, Pearl Sagar, Anne Campbell, Kathleen Fearon, Sheila Fairon, Joan Cosgrove, Diane Greer, Brenda Callaghan, Felicity Huston, Mairead Abraham
	Labour coalition	6,425	0.85	0	2	2	Malachi Curran, Hugh Casey, Mark Langhammer, John McLaughlin, Lucy Simpson, Peter Hadden, Margaret Lawrence, Fionnuala Harbinson, Michael Duffy, David Morrison
	Green (NI)	3,647	0.49	0	0	0	Paddy McEvoy, Peter Emerson, Jenny Jones, Nuala Ahern, Molly Scott, Robin Harper
	NI Conservatives	3,595	0.48	0	0	0	Barbara Finney, Esmond Birnie
	Workers' Party	3,530	0.47	0	0	0	Tom French, John Lowry, Marian Donnelly, Ellen Rush, Margaret Smith, Tommy Owens, Brendan Heany, Eilish Duffy, Vivian Hutchinson, Michael McCorry
	Ulster Independence	2,125	0.47	0	0	0	Hugh Ross, Josephine Fulton-Challis, Sandra Jones, Walter Millar, David Kerr, Dierdre Speer-White, Ken Kerr, Donal Casey, Kenneth McClinton, Norman McLelland
	Democratic Left	1,215	0.16	0	0	0	Mary McMahon, Seamus Lynch, Patrick John McClean, Gerry Cullen, Veronica McEneaney, Frank McElroy, Teresa McVeigh, Jean Craig, Mary Vernon, Monica Hynds
	Democratic Partnership	1,046	0.14	0	0	0	David Bleakley, Paul Smyth, Maureen McCaughan, Adrian McKinney, Pearl Snowden, Edwin Sloan, Charles McKee, William Lewis, Erin Tunney
	Independent McMullan	927	0.12	0	0	0	Oliver McMullan, John Robb, John McDowell, Wesley H. Holmes, William Dunbar, William Cunning, Helen Craig, Philip Dugdale, Charles Maunsell, Sinead McMullan
	Independent Chambers	567	0.08	0	0	0	Alan Chambers, Joseph Coggle, Mary Chambers, James Arbuthnot, Robert Irvine, Violet Chambers, Linda Chambers, William Chambers, Ruth Patty, Pearl Brown
	Natural Law	389	0.05	0	0	0	James Anderson, Thomas Mullins, Richard Johnson, John Patrick Lyons, John Small
	Independent DUP	388	0.05	0	0	0	Thomas Henry O'Brien, William Baxter, Cecil Braniff, Tara Martin Alexandra, Stuart William O'Brien
	Independent Arthur Templeton	350	0.05	0	0	0	N/A
	Independent Voice	204	0.03	0	0	0	Andrew Thompson, Sarah Thompson, Bernard McGrath, Susan McGrath, Edward Phillips, Trevor Richards, Christopher Carter, Fidelma Carter, Betty Carter, Susan Carter
	Communist Party	66	0.01	0	0	0	N/A
	Ulster Christian Democrats	31	0.01	0	0	0	N/A

All parties shown.

^ The party was listed on the ballot paper as "Democratic Unionist Party DUP Ian Paisley"

Votes summary

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist			24.17%
SDLP			21.37%
DUP			18.8%
Sinn Féin			15.47%
Alliance			6.54%
United Kingdom Unionist			3.69%
Progressive Unionist			3.47%
Ulster Democratic			2.22%
Women's Coalition			1.03%
Labour			0.85%
Independent			0.3%
Other			2.09%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist			27.27%
SDLP			19.09%
DUP			21.82%
Sinn Féin			15.45%
Alliance			6.36%
United Kingdom Unionist			2.73%
Progressive Unionist			1.82%
Ulster Democratic			1.82%
Women's Coalition			1.82%
Labour			1.82%

References

1. Candidates elected in constituencies are shown in italics. Candidates elected through the regional list are shown in bold. See http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/96cands.htm.

Bibliography

• Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations, etc) Act 1996
• The 1996 Forum Elections and the Peace Process by Nicholas Whyte

External links

• Official site
• Outline Results