Northern Ireland election

Voting is under way to elect 90 MLAs to Stormont. Democratic Unionist leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson at the polling station at Dromore Central Primary School in ...

I encourage everyone to get out there and cast their vote. “The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls today. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. The DUP and Sinn Fein are vying for the top spot in the election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister. Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, voted early in the morning at Kells and Connor primary school in Co Antrim. Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP, voted at the Model primary school in his home city of Londonderry accompanied by his wife Rachael and his children.

Voting has officially opened in Northern Ireland as political leaders have cast their ballots in the Assembly election. The process is taking place amid ...

I encourage everyone to get out there and cast their vote. He said: “It’s polling day, I don’t think anybody really knows the outcome of this. Things change throughout the day. “The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls today. We are very confident we will do well.” A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921.

Voters in Northern Ireland are taking to the polls today to vote in the local elections.

But if you have mislaid your polling card you can find out your designated polling station at the Electoral Office NI (EONI). If you live in England, Wales or Scotland you do not need to bring any identification to vote and you do not need your polling card. If at 10 pm you are in a queue at the polling station, don’t worry, you will still be able to vote. Just type in your postcode in the box under the “Where to vote” section and it will show your polling station. Your polling card will have the polling station where you can cast your vote. In England, Scotland and Wales, voters are heading to the polls to vote in the local elections.

But the stakes may be even higher in Northern Ireland, where voters are electing the 90 MLAs in the Stormont Assembly. For the first time ever, the Left-wing ...

The Renewable Heat Incentive scandal was a big talking point in 2017. In the election on Thursday, 90 Members of the Legislative Assembly will be up for election. The DUP, the largest party, bore the brunt of this reduction and lost 10 seats. Sinn Féin were second by a razor thin margin with 27.9 per cent. You can register to vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections if you are a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen, or if you are a citizen of an EU Member State. Polls will open from 7am until 10pm.

She posed for photographs with some voters before leaving. 2022 NI Assembly election. Sinn Féin's Vice-President Michelle O'Neill arrives at the polling station ...

I encourage everyone to get out there and cast their vote. He said: “It’s polling day, I don’t think anybody really knows the outcome of this. Things change throughout the day. “The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls today. We are very confident we will do well.” A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921.

Polls open for local and regional elections in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and much of England.

In England, the Conservatives are predicted to lose hundreds of councillors and even control of longtime strongholds in London to the main UK opposition Labour party. Sinn Féin – formerly the political wing of the IRA – has dialled down its calls for Irish unity during campaigning, saying it is “not fixated” on a date for a sovereignty poll, instead focusing on the rising cost of living and other local issues. Labour is bidding to leapfrog over the Conservatives into second place in Scotland, behind the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), and remain the largest party in Wales, where 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to vote for the first time. Polls opened at 06:00 GMT on Thursday for the election of councils in Scotland, Wales and much of England, with Johnson facing a potentially pivotal mid-term popularity test. The contest for the devolved assembly in Belfast could see a pro-Irish reunification nationalist party win for the first time in the troubled history of Northern Ireland. The results of Thursday’s polls, which are expected from Friday, could have huge constitutional implications for the four-nation UK’s future, with predicted victors Sinn Féin committed to a vote in the province on reunification with Ireland.

With the 2022 Assembly elections taking place today, we wanted to dig into key environmental problems in Northern Ireland, where parties stand on them, ...

As it stands, there’s something called the Northern Ireland environmental agency. Between 1990 and 2019, the United Kingdom as a whole reduced its emissions by 44 per cent. If that’s the case, there’s a governance vacuum that will open up in Northern Ireland that could go on for weeks, months or longer – and that would mean a total standstill for any new policy or legislation to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies. The second big threat he outlined was that of extractive industries. The only way to ensure then that a dedicated environmental agency can operate to the best of its ability is to make sure it’s independent, which is what organisations like Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland are calling for. Northern Ireland has become a hot spot for companies looking to extract minerals like gold and there’s also the issue of unauthorised quarrying, which has a negative impact on both local areas and the communities that live in them.

Before the polls were scheduled to close at 10pm, a pilot digital programme on voter turnout by the electoral office showed that by 9pm, the west Belfast ...

Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, voted early in the morning at Kells and Connor primary school in Co Antrim. Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP, voted at the Model primary school in his home city of Derry accompanied by his wife, Rachael, and his children. Unionist rival, Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, voted at Seagoe primary school in Portadown, Co Armagh. The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland confirmed that by 9pm, turnout was sitting at an indicative 54 per cent based on returns from 96 per cent of polling stations. Voting in the Assembly elections was described as “busy” on Thursday, in a poll that could lead to a seismic shift in how the North is governed. The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland confirmed that by 5.45pm, turnout was sitting at an indicative 31 per cent.

The process will elect 90 MLAs to the devolved Stormont Assembly, with 239 candidates running.

The official final turnout figure will not be known until Friday morning. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. The DUP and Sinn Fein are vying for the top spot in the election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister. Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, voted early in the morning at Kells and Connor primary school in Co Antrim. Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP, voted at the Model primary school in his home city of Derry accompanied by his wife, Rachael, and his children. Your contributions will help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you

An indicative turn out of 31 per cent was reported at 5pm by the Electoral Office of Northern Ireland.

While the office of the First and Deputy First Minister is an equal one with joint power, the allocation of the titles is regarded as symbolically important. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly since the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921. Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, voted early in the morning at Kells and Connor primary school in Co Antrim. The DUP and Sinn Féin are vying for the top spot in the election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister. Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP, voted at the Model primary school in Derry accompanied by his wife, Rachael, and his children. Unionist rival, Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, voted at Seagoe primary school in Portadown, Co Armagh.

Michelle O'Neill,Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Doug Beattie, Naomi Long, Colum Eastwood and Jim Allister have all been spotted at polling stations.

This action left the Executive unable to fully function. I encourage everyone to get out there and cast their vote. He said: “It’s polling day, I don’t think anybody really knows the outcome of this. Things change throughout the day. We are very confident we will do well.” A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921.

Ninety MLAs will be elected to Stormont in the election.

The Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has said the election is not just about who governs Northern Ireland and how, but whether Northern Ireland is governed at all. It has channelled its energy into two issues – the Northern Ireland Protocol and a border poll. Northern Ireland currently has no functioning Executive, the population is gripped by a cost-of-living crisis and disagreements persist over the post-Brexit protocol.

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA. Voting has officially opened in Northern Ireland as political leaders have cast their ballots in the Assembly election.

I encourage everyone to get out there and cast their vote. He said: “It’s polling day, I don’t think anybody really knows the outcome of this. Things change throughout the day. We are very confident we will do well.” “The people of Northern Ireland are going to the polls today. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921.

The NI Protocol, the potential for a border poll and the cost-of-living crisis have all been raised repeatedly by political parties.

They have said the protocol is a result of Brexit and was introduced to mitigate some of its impacts. However, Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionists, which also opposes the protocol, has refused to take part in the rallies, claiming they are increasing tensions in loyalist areas. Both the DUP and UUP have also refused to state if they would nominate for the position of deputy first minister in the event that Sinn Féin won the election and was entitled to nominate for first minister. Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance Party have all called for an Executive to be formed immediately after the completion of the election. However, it has been the unionist DUP which has forced it to the forefront of the agenda, repeatedly claiming that Sinn Féin would use any electoral victory as a mandate to call on the Secretary of State to set a date for a border poll. The Northern Ireland Protocol, the possibility of a border poll, the cost-of-living crisis and the future of the Stormont powersharing Executive were among the key issues during the Northern Ireland election campaign.

West and South Belfast are seeing some of the highest turnout rates in today's Assembly election, latest data shows.

We are encouraging people to wear a mask to support their community and the staff in the polling stations. A Translink Blind Person’s SmartPass A Translink War Disabled SmartPass A Translink 60+ SmartPass The EONI confirmed the identification document does not need to be current, but the photograph must be of a good enough likeness to allow polling station staff to confirm your identity. A Translink Senior SmartPass

Polling stations for the public to vote in the Stormont Assembly election 2022 have now closed, so what happens next? Verification and counting of ballot ...

So the candidate marked '2' on those ballots gets those votes added to their tally. Assembly elections use a system called Single Transferrable Vote (STV), allowing voters to rank candidates in other of their preference. It will be many hours - and perhaps even Saturday or beyond - before we know the final outcome.

The Democratic Unionist Party's 20 years of dominance could be ended by the Brexit fall-out - and for the first time ever, an Irish nationalist party could ...

Unionists could veto the election of a Sinn Fein First Minister by refusing to enter power-sharing. For the first time ever, an Irish nationalist party could emerge as the largest at Stormont. The Democratic Unionist Party's 20 years of dominance could be ended by the Brexit fall-out - and for the first time ever, an Irish nationalist party could emerge as the largest at Stormont.

The counting process will start at 8am on Friday to elect 90 MLAs to the devolved Assembly, with 239 candidates running.

A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. The official final turnout figure will not be known until Friday morning. Jim Allister, leader of the TUV, voted early in the morning at Kells and Connor primary school in Co Antrim. The DUP and Sinn Féin are vying for the top spot in the election, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister. Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP, voted at the Model primary school in his home city of Derry accompanied by his wife, Rachael, and his children. Unionist rival Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, voted at Seagoe primary school in Portadown, Co Armagh.

Counting is set to start later following fresh elections to the Stormont Assembly. The first of the 90 MLAs are expected to be returned by Friday afternoon, ...

Meanwhile, the UUP is running 27 candidates, the Alliance Party is running 24, the SDLP is fielding 22, TUV is putting up 19 candidates, the Green Party is running 18 and People Before Profit 12, as is Aontu, while the Workers Party is running six candidates and the PUP three. While the office of the first and deputy first minister is an equal one with joint power, the allocation of the titles is regarded as symbolically important. Next was the SDLP with 12 seats, the Ulster Unionist Party with 10 seats, Alliance with eight seats, the Green Party with two seats while People Before Profit and the TUV had one MLA each. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. The DUP and Sinn Fein are vying for the top spot, which comes with the entitlement to nominate the next first minister. The first of the 90 MLAs are expected to be returned by Friday afternoon, and the counts are likely to continue into the Saturday.

Symbolically, a nationalist First Minister would be seismic. As much a historic political breakthrough for nationalists as a political and psychological ...

But here’s the rub. Symbolically, a nationalist First Minister would be seismic. In that case, first-preference votes are the deciding factor and the party who has the most of these gets to appoint the First Minister. In that case the party with most first preferences is the winner and nominates the First Minister. So in this scenario, Sinn Féin would be the largest party in terms of first-preference votes, but the DUP largest in terms of seats. The party that gets to nominate the First Minister is the one with the most seats.

Follow live updates, analysis and reaction as polls close and voters wait to see who will form the new-look Stormont Assembly.

The poll will see 90 MLAs elected to Stormont - five in each of Northern Ireland's 18 constituencies. Get out and VOTE!— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) #PollingDay #NorthernIreland pic.twitter.com/wqgLDOltiU May 5, 2022 There were lots of polling stations with 20%. It seems high." Let me tell you I can’t cope with such carry on today— Lauren Kerr (@_laurenakerr) pic.twitter.com/muGOFfltMM May 5, 2022 The counting will take place in three centres in the region. The counting of the votes will start at 8am at three centres in Belfast, Jordanstown and Magherafelt. Election buffs could be in for a long night on Friday as they wait to find out the make-up of the next Northern Ireland Assembly. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. We could be in for a long 24 hours as we wait to find out the make-up of the next Stormont Assembly. For the last Assembly election in 2017, the count began on a Friday and the final result to be completed was the South Belfast constituency at around 3am on Saturday. The first of the 90 MLAs are expected to be returned by Friday afternoon, and the counts are likely to continue into Saturday. Counting will start at 8am at three centres in Belfast, Jordanstown and Magherafelt.

All 90 seats in the assembly are up for grabs with five Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) being elected in each of the 18 constituencies. The first of ...

Coverage continues on BBC One Northern Ireland from 10:00 on Saturday 7 May and with an hour-long election special on Sunday Politics the following day at 10:15. You can follow online rolling coverage on the BBC Northern Ireland special election live page from 11:30, covering every twist and turn throughout the day, as well as as the latest analysis and reaction from the count centres. NI election results 2022: How to follow the results on the BBC

It advised that did not include returns from all the 600 or so polling stations across Northern Ireland. The final turnout in the 2017 election was 64.8%. The ...

Neither of the two main unionist parties have confirmed whether they would nominate a Deputy First Minister if Sinn Féin were to take the First Minister's position. The pre-election polls also indicated a surge of support for Alliance, with the promise of adding a considerable number of seats to its previous tally of eight. It would be the first time a nationalist would have held such a position since the foundation of Northern Ireland just over a century ago.

Sinn Fein sought to become the first Irish nationalist party to win the most seats in British-ruled Northern Ireland on Friday as counting began in an ...

The outcome is also likely to reaffirm that a majority of lawmakers - including Sinn Fein - in the regional assembly favour retaining the protocol. The main nationalist and unionist rivals are obliged to share power under the terms of the 1998 peace deal. Analysts said incomplete turnout data suggested fewer people turned out this time, with the first results due at around 1300 GMT.

The counting of votes is continuing following elections to the Stormont Assembly. The verification of ballots began early on Friday morning.

While the office of the first and deputy first minister is an equal one with joint power, the allocation of the titles is regarded as symbolically important. A unionist party has always been the biggest in the Assembly, and previously the Stormont Parliament, since the formation of the state in 1921. The counting of the votes will start at 8am at three centres in Belfast, Jordanstown and Magherafelt. The first stage of the counts, taking place at centres in Belfast, Jordanstown and Magherafelt, will include an announcement on total votes polled and percentage turnout. The first of the 90 MLAs are expected to be returned by Friday afternoon but the counting is set to continue into the early hours of Saturday. The counting of votes is continuing following elections to the Stormont Assembly.

Early indications are of an Alliance Party “surge” as counting continues in the North's Assembly election. No results have been declared yet but it is ...

There is precious little hope available for people at the minute, it has been a pretty grim couple of years and the politics has been pretty grim to match it. He said: “I believe the DUP during the campaign outlined a five-point plan as to how they were going to grow our economy, fix our health service and help working families. This action left the Executive unable to fully function. That has to be the focus and I think people responded to it. Earlier on Friday, a senior Alliance source stressed it was “early days” but said the party was “optimistic” and was also performing well in Strangford, Lagan Valley and East Antrim. Arriving at the Titanic count centre in East Belfast, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has hailed a “positive” election for the party but warned there was “a long way to go” before the results were known and “until it is actually there on the board and counted, I never take anything for granted”. However, to take eight or nine seats would depend on the party getting all its ducks in a row in terms of transfers in constituencies where it is seeking a second seat. It could also be in the running for a second seat in South Belfast, again at the expense of the Greens. Early indications also showed an Alliance Party “surge”, with the party also understood to be confident of gaining a second seat in North Down, potentially at the expense of the Green Party. Though it would be a symbolic victory only, as the positions of first and deputy first minister are a joint office with the two roles regarded as “first among equals”, it would be the first time a nationalist has ever held the top job in Northern Ireland’s history, and as such it would inevitably be hugely significant. The first candidate has been elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the first set of results at the Titanic count centre in Belfast. The Alliance Party’s Kellie Armstrong topped the poll and was elected to the Strangford constituency on the first count with 7,015 first preferences votes, just over the quota of 6,811.

Full results for the Northern Irish assembly at Stormont, first results expected on Friday afternoon.

Some parties with cross-community support or whose supporters do not identify strongly with either community think this arrangement perpetuates divisions, but in practice since 1998 the largest party has always been from the unionist community and the second-largest from the nationalist. Another consequence is that it is not clear whether a party has increased or decreased its total seats in a constituency or overall, until all seats have been awarded. Members of the assembly are elected to 18 multi-member constituencies by single transferable vote.