United Kingdom general election, 2010 (Northern Ireland)

United Kingdom general election, 2010

← 2005 6 May 2010 2015 →
← outgoing members Members elected →
All 18 Northern Irish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party Third party   Leader Peter Robinson Gerry Adams Margaret Ritchie Party DUP Sinn Féin SDLP Leader since 31 May 2008 13 November 1983 7 February 2010 Last election 9 Seats 5 Seats 3 Seats Seats before 9 5 3 Seats won 8 5 3 Seat change 1 0 0 Popular vote 168,216 171,942 110,970 Percentage 25.0% 25.5% 16.5% Swing 8.7% 1.2% 1.0%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader David Ford Reg Empey Party Alliance UCU-NF Leader since 6 October 2001 24 June 2005 Last election 0 Seats 1 Seat Seats before 0 1 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 42,762 102,361 Percentage 6.3% 15.2% Swing 2.4% 2.6%
Colours on map indicate winning party for each constituency.
Prime Minister before election Gordon Brown Labour Subsequent Prime Minister David Cameron Conservative

Gordon Brown
Labour

David Cameron
Conservative

The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. The election saw Sinn Féin win the most votes at a Westminster election for the first time and saw the Democratic Unionist Party win the most seats. The Ulster Unionist Party fought the election as allies of the UK Conservative Party, under the banner of Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force. The UUP failed to win any seats for the first time in over 100 years.

The election also resulted in the cross community Alliance Party of Northern Ireland gaining its first elected Member of Parliament at the expense of DUP leader, Peter Robinson. The election also marked the first time since the Troubles that the counts in the eighteen constituencies were held overnight, at the same time as in the rest of the United Kingdom instead of the Friday afternoon.

Northern Ireland have a distinct regional political scene compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. The major mainland UK political entities maintain a nominal presence in the country and local parties campaign to represent Northern Irish issues. Politics is mainly split on unionist and nationalist divides, with those wanting to remain part of the United Kingdom on one side and those wanting to unite with the Republic of Ireland on the other. Cross community parties do exist, but have not gained as much political support.

In May 2007, the major political parties agreed to the St Andrews Agreement allowing the reformation of a devolved government at Stormont. The DUP's Ian Paisley became First Minister, sharing power with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, in a move Paisley had previously stated would never happen. A year later, Paisley stood down as DUP leader and was replaced by his deputy, Peter Robinson.