1997 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
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1 May 1997
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All 18 Northern Ireland seats in the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 67.1 ( 2.7 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On 1 May 1997, the 1997 United Kingdom general election was held in Northern Ireland, to elect all 659 members of the House of Commons, including the 18 Northern Ireland seats. This was an increase of one seat in Northern Ireland, where the House of Commons as a whole had increased from 650 to 659 seats.
1,177,969 people were eligible to vote, up 53,069 from the 1992 general election. 67.39% of eligible voters turned out (when including spoiled ballots), down 2.6 percentage points from the last general election.[1]
The Labour Party led by Tony Blair won a large majority with 418 of 659 seats, returning to office after 18 years of Conservative Party government. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin gained two seats, beginning a steady growth in support in elections to the House of Commons.
Less than a year after this election, on 10 April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed, providing for a Northern Ireland Assembly and devolved government through the Northern Ireland Executive.
Results summary
| Party[2][3] | Seats | Aggregate Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Gains | Losses | Net | Of all (%) | Total | Of all (%) | Difference | ||
| UUP | 10 | 1 | 0 |  1 | 55.6 | 258,349 | 32.7 | 1.8 | |
| SDLP | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16.7 | 190,814 | 24.1 | 0.6 | |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11.1 | 126,921 | 16.1 | 6.1 | |
| DUP | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11.1 | 107,348 | 13.6 | 0.5 | |
| UK Unionist | 1 | New | 1 | 5.6 | 12,817 | 1.6 | New | ||
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | — | 62,972 | 8.0 | 0.7 | |
| PUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 10,934 | 1.4 | 1.4 | |
| NI Conservatives | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 9,858 | 1.2 | 4.5 | |
| NI Women's Coalition | 0 | New | — | 3,024 | 0.4 | New | |||
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 2,766 | 0.3 | 0.2 | |
| Natural Law | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 2,210 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
| Green (NI) | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 539 | 0.1 | | |
| National Democrats | 0 | New | — | 81 | 0.0 | New | |||
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 2,136 | 0.3 | 0.5 | |
| Total | 18 | 790,762 | 67.1[4] | 2.7 | |||||
MPs elected
By-elections
| Constituency | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Antrim | 21 September 2000 | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | William McCrea | DUP | Death | ||
See also
References
- ↑ "UK Parliamentary Election 1997 - Turnout". Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1 May 1997". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- ↑ "Westminster election, 1 May 1997". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 29. Retrieved 4 August 2026.