View source for 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election
| type               = parliamentary
| ongoing            = no
| previous_election  = Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
| previous_year      = 1975
| previous_mps       = Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
| elected_mps        = [[Members of the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly|MLAs elected]]
| next_election      = Northern Ireland Forum
| next_year          = 1996
| seats_for_election = All 78 seats to the [[Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)|Northern Ireland Assembly]]<br /> 40 seats were needed for a majority
| election_date      = 20 October 1982

<!--     Ulster Unionist    -->
| image1 = {{eppt|Ulster Unionist Party}}
| leader1 = [[James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead|James Molyneaux]]
| leader_since1 = September 1979
| party1 = Ulster Unionist Party
| leaders_seat1 = [[South Antrim (Assembly constituency)|South Antrim]]
| last_election1 = 33 seats, 38.1%{{efn|name=Previous|Combined result for UUP / [[Ulster Vanguard|Vanguard]].}}
| seats1 = '''26'''
| seat_change1 = {{decrease}}5{{efn|name=Change|Compared to 1975 result for UUP / [[Ulster Vanguard|Vanguard]].}}
| popular_vote1 = '''188,277'''
| percentage1 = '''29.7%'''
| swing1 = {{decrease}}9.2%{{Efn|name=Change}}

<!--     Democratic Unionist     -->
| image2 =  [[File:Ian Paisley, 1983 (cropped).jpg|160x160px]]
| leader2 = [[Ian Paisley]]
| leader_since2 = September 1971
| party2 = Democratic Unionist Party
| leaders_seat2 = [[North Antrim (Assembly constituency)|North Antrim]]
| last_election2 = 12 seats, 14.8%
| seats2 = 21
| seat_change2 = {{increase}}9
| popular_vote2 = 145,528
| percentage2 = 23.0%
| swing2 = {{increase}}8.2%

<!--     SDLP     -->
| image3 = [[File:John Hume, 1979 (cropped).jpg|160x160px]]
| leader3 = [[John Hume]]
| leader_since3 = November 1979
| party3 = Social Democratic and Labour Party
| leaders_seat3 = [[Londonderry (Assembly constituency)|Londonderry]]
| last_election3 = 17 seats, 23.7%
| seats3 = 14
| seat_change3 = {{decrease}}3
| popular_vote3 = 118,891
| percentage3 = 18.8%
| swing3 = {{decrease}}4.9%

<!--     Sinn Féin     -->
| image5 = Ruairí Ó Brádaigh 2004 (cropped).jpg
| leader5 = [[Ruairí Ó Brádaigh]]
| leader_since5 = October 1970
| party5 = Sinn Féin
| leaders_seat5 = ''None''
| last_election5 = ''Did not contest''
| seats5 = 5
| seat_change5 = {{increase}}5
| popular_vote5 = 64,191
| percentage5 = 10.1%
| swing5 = ''n/a''

<!--     Alliance     -->
| image4 = {{eppt|Alliance Party of Northern Ireland}}
| leader4 = [[Oliver Napier]]
| leader_since4 = 1972
| party4 = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
| leaders_seat4 = [[Belfast East (Assembly constituency)|Belfast East]]
| last_election4 = 8 seats, 9.8%
| seats4 = 10
| seat_change4 = {{increase}}2
| popular_vote4 = 58,851
| percentage4 = 9.3%
| swing4 = {{decrease}}0.5%

| map_image       = 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election.svg
| map_size        = 400px
| map2_caption    = Percentage of seats gained by each of the parties.
| title           = Chief Executive
| posttitle = Chief Executive after election
| before_election = ''None''
| after_election  = ''None''
}}
{{Politics of Northern Ireland 1972-98}}
The '''1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections''' were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish [[devolution]] and power-sharing in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hainsworth |first=Paul |date=1983 |title=The Northern Ireland assembly election of 1982 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/026137948390063X |journal=Electoral Studies |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=177–183 |doi=10.1016/0261-3794(83)90063-X |issn=0261-3794|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Although the [[Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)|Northern Ireland Assembly]] officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as being a continuation of the [[Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention]] of 1975) it met infrequently.

==Electoral controversy==
The [[electoral system]] proved to be hugely controversial. While there was general acceptance that the elections should take part using the [[Single Transferable Vote]] system, the decision to use the same twelve constituency boundaries used in the [[1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election|1973 Assembly election]] rather than the new seventeen constituency boundaries which were later adopted in the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]] was heavily criticised.{{by whom|date=May 2024}} The issue was that the [[Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland]]'s Final Recommendations, which recommended that all future Assembly elections should be held using seventeen constituencies each electing five members, had not yet been approved by [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] and therefore remained, technically, provisional recommendations.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

The consequence of this was that the elections were held using constituencies which varied greatly in size and electorate with different numbers of seats, ranging from [[Belfast West (Assembly constituency)|Belfast West]] with an electorate of 57,726 and four members to [[South Antrim (Assembly constituency)|South Antrim]] with an electorate of 131,734 and ten members. In the latter constituency this resulted in huge administrative problems with a record 27 candidates standing necessitating 23 counts over 36 hours with the count not completed until two days after the election.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

==Response of political parties==
On the [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionist]] side, the Assembly was welcomed, with some{{who|date=May 2024}} hailing it nostalgically as 'a new [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont]]'. Consequently, many [[Irish nationalism|Nationalists]] were suspicious of the new body. The [[Irish Independence Party]], which had moderate electoral success in the elections of the previous year, immediately announced that they would boycott the elections and called on other nationalists to follow suit. However [[Sinn Féin]] was keen to test its electoral support and both it and the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) announced that they would contest the elections but refuse to take any seats which they won. The smaller [[People's Democracy (Ireland)|People's Democracy]], which had won two council seats in an electoral alliance with the [[Irish Republican Socialist Party]] the previous year, did likewise. 

Great interest centred on the performance of Sinn Féin, fighting its first full election and on the inter-Unionist rivalry between the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) and the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP). The former had pulled ahead in the European election of 1979 and the Local Council Elections of 1981 but had suffered a setback in the [[1982 Belfast South by-election|1982 by-election]] which followed the murder of [[Robert Bradford (NI politician)|Robert Bradford]].

==Results==
The results were seen as a triumph for the new electoral strategy of Sinn Féin which gained 5 seats and narrowly missed winning seats in [[Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency)|Belfast North]] and [[Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)|Fermanagh and South Tyrone]]. The SDLP were disappointed with their 14 seats and one of these was subsequently lost in a by-election to the UUP as [[Seamus Mallon]] was disqualified following a successful UUP election petition on the grounds that he was ineligible as he was a member of [[Seanad Éireann]] at the time. 

On the Unionist side the UUP gained a clear lead over the DUP, while the [[United Ulster Unionist Party]] failed to make an impact and, as a result, folded two years later. In the [[Centrism|centre]] [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]] consolidated with 10 seats including unexpected wins in North and West Belfast. The [[Workers' Party (Ireland)|Workers' Party]] failed to make a breakthrough despite respectable vote shares in places like North and West Belfast.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|colspan=10|[[File:Northern Irish general election 1982.svg|center]]
|-
! style="width:180px;" colspan="2"| Party
! style="width:70px;"|Votes
! style="width:55px;"|%
! style="width:55px;"|+/-
! style="width:55px;"|Seats
! style="width:55px;"|%
! style="width:55px;"|+/-
|-
| width="1" bgcolor=9999FF|
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal; background:#F9F9F9" colspan="1" width="200"| '''[[Ulster Unionist Party|UUP]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| '''188,277'''
| style="text-align:right;"|'''29.7'''
| style="text-align:right;"| '''-9.2'''{{Efn|name=Change}}
| style="text-align:right;"|'''26'''
| style="text-align:right;"|33.8
| style="text-align:right;"|-5{{Efn|name=Change}}
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Democratic Unionist Party}}
| style="text-align:right;"|145,528
| style="text-align:right;"|23.0
| style="text-align:right;"| +8.2
| style="text-align:right;"|21
| style="text-align:right;"|27.3
| style="text-align:right;"|+9
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Social Democratic and Labour Party}}
| style="text-align:right;"|118,891
| style="text-align:right;"|18.8
| style="text-align:right;"| -4.9
| style="text-align:right;"|14
| style="text-align:right;"|18.2
| style="text-align:right;"| -3
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Sinn Féin}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 64,191
| style="text-align:right;"| 10.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 5
| style="text-align:right;"|6.5
| style="text-align:right;"| +5
|-

| {{Party name with colour|Alliance Party of Northern Ireland}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 58,851
| style="text-align:right;"| 9.3
| style="text-align:right;"|  -0.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 10
| style="text-align:right;"|13.0
| style="text-align:right;"| +2
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 17,216
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.7
| style="text-align:right;"|  +0.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"|0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Popular Unionist Party}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 14,916
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.3
| style="text-align:right;"| -1.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 1
| style="text-align:right;"|1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|United Ulster Unionist Party}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 11,550
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.8
|  
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Independent Unionist}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 9,567
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.5
| {{N/A}}   
| style="text-align:right;"| 1
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| +1
|-
|
|Independent SDLP
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,052
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;"|  -0.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Independent (politician)}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 745
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Ecology Party (UK)}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 707
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|{{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
|
|[[Newtownabbey Labour Party|Newtownabbey Labour]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 560
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}} 
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|People's Democracy (Ireland)}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 442
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Communist Party of Ireland}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 415
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Liberal Party}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 65
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
|
|Peace
| style="text-align:right;"| 19
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
| {{N/A}}
| style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Total
! style="text-align:right;"|633,120
!style="text-align:right;"|100.0
!style="text-align:right;"|0
!style="text-align:right;"|78
!style="text-align:right;"|100.0
!0
|-
! colspan="8" style="text-align:right;"| Source: [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa82.htm Ark]
|-
|}

===Votes summary===
{{bar box
| title    = Popular vote
| titlebar = #ddd
| width    = 500px
| barwidth = 290px
| bars     =
{{bar percent|Ulster Unionist|#48A5EE|29.7}}
{{bar percent|DUP|#D46A4C|23.0}}
{{bar percent|SDLP|#99FF66|18.8}}
{{bar percent|Sinn Féin|#008800|10.1}}
{{bar percent|Alliance|gold|9.3}}
{{bar percent|Workers' Party (Ireland)|#D73D3D|2.7}}
{{bar percent|Ulster Popular Unionist|#ffdead|2.2}}
{{bar percent|UUUP|#ff8c00|1.8}}
{{bar percent|Ind. Unionist|#aadfff|0.9}}
{{bar percent|Other|#777777|0.7}}
}}

===Seats summary===
{{bar box
| title    = Parliamentary seats
| titlebar = #ddd
| width    = 500px
| barwidth = 290px
| bars     =
{{bar percent|Ulster Unionist|#48A5EE|33.8}}
{{bar percent|DUP|#D46A4C|27.3}}
{{bar percent|SDLP|#99FF66|18.2}}
{{bar percent|Alliance|gold|13.0}}
{{bar percent|Sinn Féin|#008800|6.5}}
{{bar percent|Ulster Popular Unionist|#ffdead|1.3}}
{{bar percent|Ind. Unionist|#aadfff|1.3}}
}}
[[File:Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1982 Seats.svg|right|thumb|518x518px|{{legend|#9999FF|Ulster Unionist Party: 26 seats}}{{legend|#D46A4C|Democratic Unionist Party: 21 seats}}{{legend|#99FF66|Social Democratic and Labour Party: 14 seats}}{{legend|#009E60|Sinn Féin: 5 seats}}{{legend|#FACF21|Alliance: 10 seats}}{{legend|#FF9B59|Ulster Popular Unionist Party: 1 seat}}{{legend|#9C9C9C|Independent Unionist: 1 seat}}]]

==See also==
*[[Members of the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
<references />
*[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa82.htm Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1982]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216052001/http://www.eoni.org.uk/ni_assembly_election_results_1982.pdf Full Counting Details]

{{Northern Ireland elections}}
{{United Kingdom local elections, 1982}}

[[Category:Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)]]
[[Category:1982 elections in the United Kingdom|Northern Ireland Assembly election]]
[[Category:October 1982 in Europe|Northern Ireland Assembly election]]
[[Category:1982 elections in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:1982 controversies]]
[[Category:Elections in Northern Ireland|1982]]