1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election facts for kids

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1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election

← 1975 20 October 1982 1996 →
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All 78 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly 40 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader James Molyneaux Ian Paisley John Hume Party Ulster Unionist Democratic Unionist Social Democratic and Labour Leader since September 1979 September 1971 November 1979 Leader's seat South Antrim North Antrim Londonderry Last election 19 seats, 25.4% 12 seats, 14.8% 17 seats, 23.7% Seats won 26 21 14 Seat change 7 9 3 Popular vote 188,277 145,528 118,891 Percentage 29.7% 23.0% 18.8% Swing 3.9% 8.2% 4.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Oliver Napier Ruairí Ó Brádaigh James Kilfedder Party Alliance Sinn Féin Ulster Popular Unionist Leader since 1972 October 1970 1980 Leader's seat Belfast East None North Down Last election 8 seats, 9.8% Did not stand Did not stand Seats won 10 5 1 Seat change 2 5 1 Popular vote 58,851 64,191 14,916 Percentage 9.3% 10.1% 2.3% Swing 0.5% n/a n/a
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.
Chief Executive before election None Chief Executive after election None

The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as being a continuation of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention of 1975) it met infrequently and achieved very little.

Results

The results were seen as a triumph for the new electoral strategy of Sinn Féin which gained 5 seats and narrowly missed winning seats in Belfast North and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The SDLP were disappointed with their 14 seats and one of these was subsequently lost in a by-election to the UUP as Seamus Mallon was disqualified following a successful UUP election petition on the grounds that he was ineligible as he was a member of Seanad Éireann at the time. On the Unionist side the UUP gained a clear lead over the DUP, while the United Ulster Unionist Party failed to make an impact and, as a result, folded two years later. In the centre Alliance Party consolidated with 10 seats including unexpected wins in North and West Belfast. The Workers' Party failed to make a breakthrough despite respectable vote shares in places like North and West Belfast.

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	%	+/-
	UUP	188,277	29.7	+3.9	26	33.8	+7
	DUP	145,528	23.0	+8.2	21	27.3	+9
	SDLP	118,891	18.8	-4.9	14	18.2	-3
	Sinn Féin	64,191	10.1	N/A	5	6.5	+5
	Alliance	58,851	9.3	-0.5	10	13.0	+2
	Workers' Party	17,216	2.7	+0.5	0	N/A	0
	UPUP	14,916	2.3	-1.2	1	1.3	0
	UUUP	11,550	1.8		0	N/A	0
	Ind U	9,567	1.5	N/A	1	1.3	+1
	Independent SDLP	2,052	0.3	-0.3	0	N/A	0
	Independent	745	0.1	N/A	0	N/A	0
	Ecology	707	0.1	N/A	0	N/A	0
	Newtownabbey Labour	560	0.1	N/A	0	N/A	0
	People's Democracy	442	0.1	N/A	0	N/A	0
	Communist Party	415	0.1	N/A	0	N/A	0
	Ulster Liberal	65	0.0	N/A	0	N/A	0
	Peace	19	0.0	N/A	0	N/A	0
Total		633,120	100	0	78	100	0
Source: Ark

Votes summary

Seats summary

     Ulster Unionist Party: 26 seats     Democratic Unionist Party: 21 seats     Social Democratic and Labour Party: 14 seats     Sinn Féin: 5 seats     Alliance: 10 seats     Ulster Popular Unionist Party: 1 seat     Independent Unionist: 1 seat

See also

• Members of the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly