Election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2016

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All 108 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly 55 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	54.9% (0.8%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Arlene Foster Martin McGuinness Mike Nesbitt Party DUP Sinn Féin UUP Leader since 17 December 2015 N/A 31 March 2012 Leader's seat Fermanagh & South Tyrone Foyle Strangford Last election 38 seats, 30% 29 seats, 26.9% 16 seats, 13.2% Seats won 38 28 16 Seat change 1 Popular vote 202,567 166,785 87,302 Percentage 29.2% 24% 12.6% Swing 0.8% 2.9% 0.6%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Colum Eastwood David Ford Steven Agnew Party SDLP Alliance Green (NI) Leader since 14 November 2015 6 October 2001 10 January 2011 Leader's seat Foyle South Antrim North Down Last election 14 seats, 14.2% 8 seats, 7.7% 1 seat, 0.9% Seats won 12 8 2 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 83,364 48,447 18,718 Percentage 12% 7.0% 2.7% Swing 2.2% 0.7% 1.8%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Eamonn McCann Jim Allister Party People Before Profit TUV Leader since N/A 7 December 2007 Leader's seat Foyle North Antrim Last election 0 seats, 0.8% 1 seat, 2.4% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 Popular vote 13,761 23,776 Percentage 2.0% 3.4% Swing 1.2% 1%
Number of seats gained by each of the parties.
First Minister and deputy First Minister before election Arlene Foster (DUP) & Martin McGuinness (SF) First Minister and deputy First Minister after election Arlene Foster (DUP) & Martin McGuinness (SF)

Arlene Foster (DUP) &
Martin McGuinness (SF)

Arlene Foster (DUP) &
Martin McGuinness (SF)

The 2016 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly was held on 5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election (representing an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous Assembly election). Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%), a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011, but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.

As in the 2007 and 2011 elections, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin won the most seats, with the DUP winning 38 and Sinn Féin winning 28 of the available 108 seats. The Ulster Unionist Party won 16 seats, the Social Democratic and Labour Party 12 and the Alliance 8, while two seats were won by the Green Party and People Before Profit. The Traditional Unionist Voice and an independent candidate each won one seat.

Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, elections to the Assembly were originally for a four-year term; thus there would have been an election due in May 2015, four years after the 2011 election. Following the introduction of the UK Fixed Term Parliaments Act, this date would have clashed with the 2015 UK general election. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections were postponed for a year to 2016 to avoid this clash.