The Northern Irish election and an emerging kind of politics

The Ulster Banner and Union Jack fly in Annalong. Photograph by Ardfern on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Distant observers — this writer included — are prone to missing important information on any subject. That said, this article will summarily point out several things that ought to be acknowledged regarding the Northern Irish election of earlier this month.

Sinn Fein did indeed experience a swing in its favour, of 1.1 percent, though its seat count remained what it was before. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) lost three seats and recieved a 6.7 percent swing against it. As such, the election was less of a Sinn Fein victory and more of a DUP loss.

However, Sinn Fein’s focus on bread-and-butter issues as opposed to its support for Irish unification deserves credit.

The unionist vote remains the largest, as it always has been. Furthermore, the positions of First Minister and deputy First Minister — the latter of which shall belong to the DUP, should its consent to a new government being formed under Northern Ireland’s system of compulsory power-sharing — are equal in all but name.

Placing the symbolism of a republican first minister aside, the key story of the election is the emergence of a new force, Alliance.

Alliance increased its number of seats by seven to attain a total of seventeen, becoming the third largest party. Of the nine seats which changed hands in the election, eight went to Alliance. These were previously held by the liberal conservative Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), the DUP and the Green Party. The other went from one UUP candidate to another.

Alliance, nationally affiliated with the Liberal Democrats, was founded in 1970 as a party of non-sectarian unionism. The party, this year, ran a neutral campaign focused on non-sectarianism and has struck a chord.

In Alliance’s success, there seems to be a shift in Northern Irish politics. Other parties, and observers at large, would do well for themselves by taking note. Included is the party that looks poised to boast a first minister.