Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
Encyclopedia
Seats summary
Details
Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:- Slightly different turnouts across the province, with the result that in the more staunchly unionist east fewer votes were required to elect an MLA than in the SDLP's heartlands in the west.
- The Ulster Unionists proved better at "vote balancing" whereby in the rounds of transfers their candidates were less likely to be eliminated earlier on.
- The Ulster Unionists proved better at attracting transfers from other parties (and due to the vote balancing mentioned above, were more likely to be in a position to benefit from this)
See also
- Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 1998Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 1998This is a list of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 1998.All members of the Assembly, or MLAs elected at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998 are listed...
- Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...