2017 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

The 2017 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 8 June 2017. All 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,242,698 people were eligible to vote, up 5,933 from the 2015 general election. 65.6% of eligible voters turned out, an increase of 7.2 percentage points from the last general election.^[1]

Main article: 2017 United Kingdom general election

2017 United Kingdom general election (Northern Ireland)

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All 18 seats in Northern Ireland to the House of Commons
Turnout	65.6% ()
First party Second party Third party   Leader Arlene Foster Gerry Adams Colum Eastwood Party DUP Sinn Féin SDLP Leader since 17 December 2015 13 November 1983 14 November 2015 Leader's seat Did not stand Did not stand Did not stand Last election 8 seats, 25.7% 4 seats, 24.5% 3 seats, 13.9% Seats won 10 7 0 Seat change 2 3 3 Popular vote 292,316 238,915 95,419 Percentage 36.0% 29.4% 11.7% Swing 10.3% 4.9% 2.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Robin Swann Naomi Long Party UUP Alliance Leader since 8 April 2017 26 October 2016 Leader's seat Did not stand Ran in Belfast East (lost) Last election 2 seats, 16.0% 0 seats, 8.6% Seats won 0 0 Seat change 2 N/C Popular vote 83,280 64,553 Percentage 10.3% 7.9% Swing 5.8% 0.6%
Colours on map indicate winning party for each constituency

The DUP gained 2 seats for a total of 10, and Sinn Féin won 7, an improvement of 3. Independent unionist Sylvia Hermon was also re-elected in her constituency of North Down. Meanwhile, the SDLP lost 3 seats and the UUP lost 2 seats, meaning they both lost all their representation in the House of Commons.

As Sinn Féin maintains a policy of abstentionism in regards to the British Parliament, the 2017 election marked the first parliament since 1964 without any Irish nationalist MPs who take their seats in the House of Commons in Westminster.

Nationally, the governing Conservative Party fell 8 seats short of a parliamentary majority after the election, reduced to 4 if the absence of Sinn Féin is taken into account. The DUP thus held the balance of power, and announced on 10 June that it would support the Conservative government on a "confidence and supply" basis.^[2] (See also Conservative–DUP agreement.)

Results

Five seats changed hands in Northern Ireland. The SDLP lost its seats in Foyle and South Down to Sinn Féin and the constituency of Belfast South to the DUP. Meanwhile, the UUP lost South Antrim to the DUP and Fermanagh and South Tyrone to Sinn Féin. The number of unionist and nationalist representatives (11 and 7, respectively) remained unchanged from the 2015 general election, although none of the nationalist members participated in the Parliament.

Party		Votes	%	+/-	MPs	%	+/-
	DUP	292,316	36.0	+10.3	10	55.6	+2
	Sinn Féin	238,915	29.4	+4.9	7	38.9	+3
	SDLP	95,419	11.7	-2.2	0		-3
	UUP	83,280	10.3	-5.8	0		-2
	Alliance	64,553	7.9	-0.6	0		0
	Independent	16,148	2.0	-0.7	1	5.6	0
	Green (NI)	7,452	0.9	-0.1	0		0
	People Before Profit	5,509	0.7	-0.2	0		0
	NI Conservatives	3,895	0.5	-0.8	0		0
	TUV	3,282	0.4	-1.9	0		0

Vote summary

Popular vote DUP   36.0% Sinn Féin   29.4% SDLP   11.7% UUP   10.3% Alliance   7.9% Greens   0.9% PBP   0.7% NI Cons   0.5% TUV   0.4% Other   2.1%

Parliamentary seats DUP   55.6% Sinn Féin   38.9% Independent   5.6%

References

1. "UK Parliamentary Election 2017 - Turnout". EONI. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
2. "Who are the DUP and will they demand a soft Brexit to prop up the Tories?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.