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Results and Analysis
The June 7, 2001 election was extremely exciting! Northern Ireland's political scene became more polarised, with Sinn Féin and the DUP both doing very well, at the expense of the more moderate parties. In addition, the west was turned green. The UKUP lost their only seat. A record three seats went to women. While barely a handful of seats in Great Britain changed hands, 7 of the 18 in Northern Ireland changed hands*. This page gives the straight election results as well as some graphics and analysis.

| The New Map | Overall Party Performance | Summary Results |
| Women | Turnout | Analysis by Constituency | Full Election Results |

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The New Electoral Map

The new electoral map of Northern Ireland is shown below, alongside what it was in the 1997 election. As you can see, it is very much a 'greening of the west'. Sinn Fein overtook the more moderately nationalist SDLP to become the leading voice of Nationalism. Also note that the moderate Ulster Unionist Party have lost ground to the more hardline Democratic Unionist Party.

An Alternative Map

Because constituencies are of such varying size (to reflect different population densities), the above map may mislead as to the amount of support for each party. The stylised map on the right shows what the 2001 electoral map would look like if each constituency was of equal area. This particularly emphasises the importance of the 4 Belfast seats which look tiny on real maps, but which contain a quarter of all voters in Northern Ireland. The colours are the same as the map above.

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Overall Party Performance

After the 2001 election the "big four" political parties have never been so closely matched, all within a few percentage points of each other. On the whole, the election could be classed as a rise of hardline attitudes, with the moderate parties both suffering at the hands of the more hardline parties. The UUP lost about a sixth of their support, while the DUP gained more than half as much support again. This is largely attributable to the unease within the Unionist community at the way the Agreement is being implemented. The SDLP lost about an eighth of their support, while Sinn Féin gained about a third as much support again. This is attributable to a number of factors, but is an endorsement of Sinn Féin's policies towards the Agreement. The non-sectarian Alliance Party lost half its support, indicative of the trend away from moderate centre parties. The pair of graphs below the table illustrates this polarisation.

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Summary Results

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Women

Women - This election saw a record number of women elected in Northern Ireland. In all of history up until 2001, only one woman had ever been elected to Westminster in the province. This time, that became four. The three women were: Sylvia Hermon, for the UUP, North Down; Michelle Gildernew, for Sinn Féin, Fermanagh & South Tyrone; and Iris Robinson, for the DUP, Strangford. Coupled with the appearance of the Northern Ireland Womens' Coalition in the past decade, this indicates that women are increasing their involvement in the province's politics. Overall, the NIWC polled 2968 votes in the 2001 election, about 0.4% of the overall vote. They have two members in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Turnout

Northern Ireland always has a higher turnout in elections than the rest of the United Kingdom. This election was no different, with a turnout of 68%, an increase from the 67% in 1997. However, turnout is by no means constant across the province. The table shows the percentage turnout in each constituency.

As you can see, the lowest turnout was North Down with 58.8% and the highest was Mid Ulster with 81.3%. It is possible to show from this that some party supporters are more likely to vote than others:

• Average turnout in DUP seats - 64.5%
• Average turnout in UUP seats - 63.0%
• Average turnout in SDLP seats - 72.2%
• Average turnout in Sinn Féin seats - 77.0%

This shows that nationalists are more likely to vote than Unionists, and that Sinn Féin voters are the most likely of all to turn out to vote. The reasons for this apathy amongst unionists are widely debated. Some say it is because more Protestants do not regard politics as of any relevance. Others say it is due to Unionist disenchantment with the political process and a lack of a sense of 'ownership' of the government. Others say it is because Nationalist culture makes them more likely to take an interest in politics. Whatever the reason, the fact remains - turnout is almost always lower in Unionist areas. This may lead to analysts under-estimating the size of the Unionist population.

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Analysis by Constituency

The map shows the electoral constituencies in Northern Ireland. Click on a constituency to see an analysis of the 2001 election result in that constituency, or scroll on down manually.

1. Antrim East - A reasonably urban constituency taking in Larne, Carrickfergus and a small part of Newtownabbey, all of which are strongly Protestant and unshakably Unionist. The DUP doubled their vote from 19% in 1997 to 36%, while the UUP vote fell only slightly from 39% to 36%. The non-aligned Alliance Party saw its vote fall marledly from 20% to 12%. In all likelihood, what happened was that Alliance voters moved to the UUP and disenchanted UUP voters moved to the DUP. The loyalist PUP did not stand this time, but got 5% in 1997 and these voters may have voted DUP this time. The combined Nationalist vote increased slightly from 7% to 10% while the combined Unionist vote increased from 70% to 74%. In the end, the UUP's Roy Beggs held onto this seat by the narrowest of margins - polling just 128 votes more than the DUP's Sammy Wilson.
2. Antrim North - A largely rural seat, but includes the large town of Ballymena and also Ballymoney and Ballycastle. It is a stronghold of fundamental Protestantism and is very Unionist. DUP leader Ian Paisley won with ease, taking 50% of the vote, compared to 47% in 1997. The UUP's vote fell from 24% to 21%. The combined Nationalist vote increased markedly, from 22% to 29% with the SDLP polling more than Sinn Féin. The combined Unionist vote stayed the same at 71%. Ian Paisley holds a huge majority of 14,000 votes over the UUP's Lexie Scott.
3. Antrim South - This seat takes in the towns of Antrim and most of Newtownabbey, and is strongly Unionist. A most interesting seat, because the UUP lost it to the DUP's William McCrea in a by-election in 2000 when the sitting MP died. Eager for revenge, the UUP put a huge effort into the campaign in 2001 and succeeded in retaking the seat - one of their few successes. Although the UUP vote fell from 57% to 37%, the DUP's vote of 35% was not enough to retain the seat. The DUP had not stood in 1997 while the loyalist PUP polled 9% in 1997, but did not stand in 2001. The non-aligned Alliance party saw their vote cut by two-thirds from 12% to 4%. The combined Nationalist vote fell slightly from 22% to 21%, while the combined Unionist vote rose from 66% to 74%. The UUP's David Burnside now holds a majority of 1,000 votes over the DUP.
4. Belfast East - Almost exclusively Protestant and entirely urban, east Belfast is a Unionist stronghold. As expected, the DUP won the seat with 43% of the vote, an increase from their 42% in 1997. The UUP vote fell slightly from 25% to 23%. The loyalist PUP stood this time, taking 10% of the vote. The non-aligned Alliance Party's vote fell from 24% to 16%. The tiny Nationalist vote rose slightly from 4% to 5% while the combined Unionist vote rose from 69% to 78%. The DUP's Peter Robinson holds a comfortable majority of 7,000 votes over the UUP's Tim Lemon. This constituency had 10 candidates, the largest number competing for any seat.
5. Belfast North - Entirely urban, north Belfast is split evenly between Nationalist and Unionist voters. Few commentators were willing to call the result, but in the end the DUP took it from the UUP. The UUP vote was decimated, falling from 52% to 12%, attributable in part to the disastrous campaign of sitting MP Cecil Walker who only managed to come 4th this time. The DUP, who did not stand in 1997, took 41% of the vote. The combined Nationalist vote also rose, from 40% to 47%. From being equal with the SDLP in 1997, Sinn Féin emerged as the larger with 27% to the SDLP's 20%. The combined Unionist vote rose from 52% to 53%. The DUP's Nigel Dodds now has a 8,000 majority over Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly who came second.
6. Belfast South - Easily the most affluent part of Belfast, this urban constituency has a significant Nationalist minority. The DUP did not stand in this seat, allowing the UUP's Martin Smyth to win comfortably with 45% of the vote, an increase from their vote of 36% in 1997. The loyalist PUP saw their vote disintegrate, falling from 14% to 3%. The non-aligned Alliance Party also fell, from 13% to 5%. The combined Nationalist vote rose sharply from 29% to 39%, with the SDLP polling almost 4 times as many votes as Sinn Féin, who got 8% to the SDLP's 31%. The combined Unionist vote fell from 52% to 47%. The UUP now holds a majority of 5,000 votes over the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell.

7. Belfast West - Almost exclusively Catholic, this urban constituency is unshakably Nationalist Not surprisingly, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams won the seat with 66% of the vote, an increase from the 56% they polled in 1997. The SDLP's vote halved from 39% to 19%. The total Nationalist vote fell from 95% to 85%, while the combined Unionist vote quadrupled from 3% to 12%, partly due to the fact that the DUP did not field a candidate in 1997 but did in 2001. Sinn Féin is now over three times the size of the SDLP in West Belfast, and Gerry Adams commands a huge majority of 19,000 votes over the SDLP's Alex Attwood.
8. North Down - One of the wealthiest constituencies in Northern Ireland (it is home to the UK's 4th largest marina), North Down contains the largely Protestant towns of Bangor and Holywood. An eagerly-watched seat, it was held in 1997 by UK Unionist Robert McCartney who took it from the UUP in 1995. Eager to win it back, the UUP put a lot of effort into the campaign. Sure enough, the UUP's Syliva Hermon won it with 56% of the vote, up from 31% in 1997. The UKUP vote rose slightly to 36% from 35%, but it was not enough to retain the seat. The Alliance Party did not stand in 2001, and their 21% result in 1997 probably went to the UUP this time. The combined Nationalist vote stayed constant at 4%. The combined Unionist vote rose from 71% to 94%. Sylvia Hermon now holds a 7,000 majority over the UKUP.
9. South Down - A largely rural constituency, including the town of Downpatrick, it is strongly Nationalist. The SDLP's Eddy McGrady won the seat with 46% of the vote, down from 53% in 1997. Sinn Féin doubled their vote from 10% to 20%. The combined Unionist vote stayed constant at 33%, split almost equally between the DUP and UUP. The combined Nationalist vote rose from 63% to 66%. Eddy McGrady now has a comfortable majority of 14,000 over Sinn Féin's Mick Murphy.
10. Fermanagh and South Tyrone - A very rural constituency taking in the towns of Enniskillen and Dungannon, it is evenly split between Unionists and Nationalists. Traditionally a UUP seat, Sinn Féin polled almost exactly the same as the UUP. Sinn Féin took the seat with a breathtakingly small margin of just 53 votes. The UUP vote fell from 51% to 34%, largely because an independent Unionist, Jim Dixon, stood in 2001 taking 13% of the votes. Sinn Féin's vote rose from 23% to 34% while the SDLP's vote fell from 23% to 19%. The combined Unionist vote was 47%, down from 49%. The combined Nationalist vote was 53%, up from 46%. Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew now holds a majority of 53 votes over the UUP's James Cooper. There were allegations of voting irregularities in this constituency, including one of a polling station staying open after 10pm.
11. Foyle - A largely urban constituency taking in Derry city and its hinterlands, Foyle has a large Catholic majority and is a Nationalist stronghold. SDLP leader John Hume retained the seat with 50% of the vote, down slightly from 53% in 1997. Sinn Féin managed to raise their vote from 22% to 27%. The combined Unionist vote stayed constant at 22%. In 1997, the UUP did not stand, but they did in 2001 taking a third of the Unionist votes with the DUP taking the rest. The combined Nationalist vote rose slightly from 75% to 77%. John Hume now commands a comfortable majority of 12,000 votes over Sinn Féin's Mitchel McLaughlin.
12. Lagan Valley - A largely urban constituency taking in the large town of Lisburn, it is strongly Protestant and unshakably Unionist. One of the seats to change the least, Lagan Valley is home to the UUP's Jeffrey Donaldson who has retained his popularity while other parts of the UUP has not. He retained the seat for the UUP with 57% of the vote, an increase from the 55% in 1997. The non-aligned Alliance Party managed to maintain their 17% vote this time, coming second overall - an excellent result for the party, which lost a lot of votes in 2001. The DUP's vote fell from 14% to 13%. Sinn Féin doubled their vote from 3% to 6%, while the SDLP stayed constant at 8%. Overall, the Unionist vote increased slightly from 69% to 70% while the overall Nationalist vote rose from 11% to 14%. Jeffrey Donaldson now holds a majority of 18,000 over the Alliance Party's Seamus Close.

13. East Londonderry - A rural constituency that nevertheless includes the large town of Coleraine and Limavady. It is moderately Unionist. A key target for the DUP, they succeeded in taking it from the UUP with 32% of the vote, an increase from 26% in 1997. The UUP got 27%, well down from their 36% in 1997. Sinn Féin increased their vote from 9% in 1997 to 16%, while the SDLP shrank marginally from 22% to 21%. The overall Unionist vote fell slightly from 62% to 59% while the overall Nationalist vote rose from 31% to 37%. The DUP's Gregory Campbell now holds a majority of 2,000 votes over the UUP's William Ross.
14. Mid Ulster - A rural constituency that is moderately Nationalist. Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness easily retained the seat, increasing the party vote from 40% to 51%. The SDLP vote fell from 22% to 17%. The UUP did not stand in either 1997 or 2001. The DUP, who did stand in both, saw their vote fall from 36% in 1997 to 31% in 2001, while the overall nationalist vote rose from 62% to 68%. Martin McGuinness now holds a comfortable majority of 10,000 votes over the DUP's Ian McCrea.
15. Newry and Armagh - A largely Nationalist rural constituency that includes the town of Armagh. The SDLP's Seamus Mallon retained the seat, but saw his majority over Sinn Féin fall considerably. The SDLP vote fell from 43% in 1997, to 37% in 2001, while the Sinn Féin vote rose from 21% to 31%. The UUP vote fell dramatically from 34% to 12%, mainly because the DUP stood in 2001 for the first time taking 19% of the votes. The overall Nationalist vote was 68%, up from 64% in 1997. The combined Unionist vote fell from 34% to 31%. Seamus Mallon now holds a majority of 4,000 votes over Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy.
16. Strangford - A largely Unionist constituency that takes in the Ards peninsula and the mainly Protestant town of Newtownards. As expected, the DUP took this seat from the UUP with 43% of the vote compared to the UUP's 40%. The parties polled 30% and 44% respectively in 1997. The combined Nationalist vote stayed constant at 8%, with Sinn Féin increasing theirs from 1% to 2%. The non-aligned Alliance Party saw its votes halve from 13% to 7%. The overall Unionist vote increased from 78% to 85%. The DUP's Iris Robinson now has a slim majority of 1,000 votes over the UUP's David McNarry.
17. West Tyrone - A largely rural, mainly Nationalist consituency. With the UUP, Sinn Féin and SDLP polling almost the same in 1997, this seat was too close to call. In the end, Sinn Féin won it with 41% of the vote, an increase from their 31% in 1997. They embarassed the SDLP by beating them into third place who got 29% of the vote, a fall from 32% in 1997. The UUP came second with 30%, down from 35% in 1997. The DUP did not stand. The overall Nationalist vote was 70%, up from 63% in 1997. This seat saw the lowest number of candidates - just three. There were allegations of voting irregularities in this constituency. Sinn Féin's Pat Doherty now holds a majority of 5,000 votes over the UUP's William Thompson.
18. Upper Bann - Including the large towns of Portadown and Lurgan, the constituency has a significant Nationlist minority. An eagerly watched constituency as it is the seat of UUP leader David Trimble. In the event, the UUP won it with 33% of the vote, down from 44% in 1997. The DUP's vote was 29%, a significant increase over the 11% they polled in 1997. The non-aligned Alliance Party polled 6% in 1997, but did not stand in 2001, and many of their votes probably went to David Trimble. The overall Nationalist vote stayed constant at 36%, but Sinn Féin emerged with 21% to the SDLP's 15%, a refersal of the 1997 result when Sinn Féin got 12% to the SDLP's 24%. The overall Unionist vote rose from 56% to 62%. David Trimble now holds a majority of 2,000 over the DUP's David Simpson.

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Full Results

CONSTITUENCY

Candidate

Party

Votes

%

Change

East Antrim

Roy Beggs

UUP

13,101

36.4

-2.4

East Antrim

Sammy Wilson

DUP

12,973

36

16.5

East Antrim

John Mathews

Alliance

4,483

12.5

-7.7

East Antrim

Danny O'Connor

SDLP

2,641

7.3

2.7

East Antrim

Robert Mason

Independent

1,092

3

East Antrim

Janette Graffin

Sinn Fein

903

2.5

0.9

East Antrim

Alan Greer

Conservative

807

2.2

-4.6

East Belfast

Peter Robinson

DUP

15,667

42.5

-0.1

East Belfast

Tim Lemon

UUP

8,550

23.2

-2.1

East Belfast

David Alderdice

Alliance

5,832

15.8

-8

East Belfast

David Ervine

PUP

3,669

10

East Belfast

Joe O'Donnell

Sinn Fein

1,237

3.4

1.3

East Belfast

Ciara Farren

SDLP

888

2.4

0.8

East Belfast

Terry Dick

Conservative

800

2.2

-0.2

East Belfast

Joe Bell

Workers Party

123

0.3

-0.3

East Belfast

Rainbow Weiss

Vote 4 Yourself

71

0.2

East Londonderry

Gregory Campbell

DUP

12,813

32.1

6.5

East Londonderry

William Ross

UUP

10,912

27.4

-8.2

East Londonderry

John Dallat

SDLP

8,298

20.8

-0.9

East Londonderry

Francie Brolly

Sinn Fein

6,221

15.6

6.5

East Londonderry

Yvonne Boyle

Alliance

1,625

4.1

-2.3

Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Michelle Gildernew

Sinn Fein

17,739

34.1

11

Fermanagh and South Tyrone

James Cooper

UUP

17,686

34

-17.5

Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Tommy Gallagher

SDLP

9,706

18.7

-4.2

Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Jim Dixon

Independent

6,843

13.2

Foyle

John Hume

SDLP

24,538

50.2

-2.3

Foyle

Mitchel McLaughlin

Sinn Fein

12,988

26.6

2.7

Foyle

William Hay

DUP

7,414

15.2

-6.3

Foyle

Andrew Davidson

UUP

3,360

6.9

Foyle

Colm Cavanagh

Alliance

579

1.2

-0.5

Lagan Valley

Jeffrey Donaldson

UUP

25,966

56.5

1.1

Lagan Valley

Seamus Close

Alliance

7,624

16.6

-0.6

Lagan Valley

Edwin Poots

DUP

6,164

13.4

-0.2

Lagan Valley

Patricia Lewsley

SDLP

3,462

7.5

-0.3

Lagan Valley

Paul Butler

Sinn Fein

2,725

5.9

3.4

Mid Ulster

Martin McGuinness

Sinn Fein

25,502

51.1

11

Mid Ulster

Ian McCrea

DUP

15,549

31.1

-5.2

Mid Ulster

Eilis Haughey

SDLP

8,376

16.8

-5.3

Mid Ulster

Francie Donnelly

Workers Party

509

1

0.5

Newry and Armagh

Seamus Mallon

SDLP

20,785

37.4

-5.6

Newry and Armagh

Conor Murphy

Sinn Fein

17,209

30.9

9.8

Newry and Armagh

Paul Berry

DUP

10,795

19.4

Newry and Armagh

Sylvia McRoberts

UUP

6,833

12.3

-21.5

North Antrim

Ian Paisley

DUP

24,539

49.9

3.4

North Antrim

Lexie Scott

UUP

10,315

21

-2.6

North Antrim

Sean Farren

SDLP

8,283

16.8

0.9

North Antrim

John Kelly

Sinn Fein

4,822

9.8

3.5

North Antrim

Jayne Dunlop

Alliance

1,258

2.6

-3.6

North Belfast

Nigel Dodds

DUP

16,718

40.8

North Belfast

Gerry Kelly

Sinn Fein

10,331

25.2

5

North Belfast

Alban Maginness

SDLP

8,592

21

0.6

North Belfast

Cecil Walker

UUP

4,904

12

-39.8

North Belfast

Marcella Delaney

Workers Party

253

0.6

-0.1

North Belfast

Rainbow Weiss

Vote 4 Yourself

134

0.3

North Down

Sylvia Hermon

UUP

20,833

56

24.9

North Down

Bob McCartney

UKUP

13,509

36.3

1.2

North Down

Marietta Farrell

SDLP

1,275

3.4

-1

North Down

Julian Robertson

Conservative

815

2.2

-2.8

North Down

Chris Carter

Independent

444

1.2

North Down

Eamon McConvey

Sinn Fein

313

0.8

South Antrim

David Burnside

UUP

16,366

37.1

-20.4

South Antrim

William McCrea

DUP

15,355

34.8

South Antrim

Sean McKee

SDLP

5,336

12.1

-4.1

South Antrim

Martin Meehan

Sinn Fein

4,160

9.4

3.9

South Antrim

David Ford

Alliance

1,969

4.5

-7.1

South Antrim

Norman Boyd

NI Unionist

972

2.2

South Belfast

Martin Smyth

UUP

17,008

44.8

8.8

South Belfast

Alasdair McDonnell

SDLP

11,609

30.6

6.3

South Belfast

Monica McWilliams

NI Women

2,968

7.8

South Belfast

Alex Maskey

Sinn Fein

2,894

7.6

2.5

South Belfast

Geraldine Rice

Alliance

2,042

5.4

-7.5

South Belfast

Dawn Purvis

PUP

1,112

2.9

-11.5

South Belfast

Paddy Lynn

Workers Party

204

0.5

-0.2

South Belfast

Rainbow Weiss

Vote 4 Yourself

115

0.3

South Down

Eddie McGrady

SDLP

24,136

46.3

-6.6

South Down

Mick Murphy

Sinn Fein

10,278

19.7

9.3

South Down

Dermot Nesbitt

UUP

9,173

17.6

-15.2

South Down

Jim Wells

DUP

7,802

15

South Down

Betty Campbell

Alliance

685

1.3

-2.2

Strangford

Iris Robinson

DUP

18,532

42.8

12.6

Strangford

David McNarry

UUP

17,422

40.3

-4

Strangford

Kieran McCarthy

Alliance

2,902

6.7

-6.4

Strangford

Danny McCarthy

SDLP

2,646

6.1

-0.6

Strangford

Liam Johntson

Sinn Fein

930

2.2

1

Strangford

Cedric Wilson

NI Unionist

822

1.9

Upper Bann

David Trimble

UUP

17,095

33.5

-10.1

Upper Bann

David Simpson

DUP

15,037

29.5

18

Upper Bann

Dara O'Hagan

Sinn Fein

10,771

21.1

9

Upper Bann

Dolores Kelly

SDLP

7,607

14.9

-9.3

Upper Bann

Tom French

Workers Party

527

1

-0.2

West Belfast

Gerry Adams

Sinn Fein

27,096

66.1

10.2

West Belfast

Alex Attwood

SDLP

7,754

18.9

-19.8

West Belfast

Eric Smyth

DUP

2,641

6.4

West Belfast

Chris McGimpsey

UUP

2,541

6.2

2.8

West Belfast

John Lowry

Workers Party

736

1.8

0.2

West Belfast

David Kerr

Ulster Third Way

116

0.3

West Belfast

Rainbow Weiss

Vote 4 Yourself

98

0.2

West Tyrone

Pat Doherty

Sinn Fein

19,814

40.8

9.9

West Tyrone

William Thompson

UUP

14,774

30.4

-4.2

West Tyrone

Brid Rodgers

SDLP

13,942

28.7

-3.4

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* Although there are only 6 differences between the 1997 and 2001 maps, the constituency of Antrim South was lost by the UUP to the DUP in a 2000 by-election, only to be regained by the UUP in the 2001 election.

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