Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland
General Election of Thursday 6 May 2010

Background
It was no surprise when, on Tuesday 6 April 2010, Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament to pave the way for a General Election on Thursday 6 May 2010.

Boundaries
There have been boundary changes affecting about 5% of the electorate in Northern Ireland. A total of 18 constituencies has been retained, with the same names as previously. Twelve of these have been affected by boundary changes. Details of the new boundaries can be found on the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland website. Maps of the new constituencies can be found on the Boundary Commission site.

Changes since 2005
There have been no by elections in Northern Ireland since 2005. Lady Sylvia Hermon (Down North) resigned from the Ulster Unionist Party on 25 March 2010, announcing she would contest the general election as an independent.

Summary of 2010 results
There were two changes of party representation compared with 2005, with the Alliance gaining Belfast East from DUP and an independent unionist gaining Down North from the Conservative and Unionists.

There were four new MPs elected: Ian Paisley Jnr in Antrim North, Naomi Long in Belfast East, Margaret Ritchies in Down South, and Jim Shannon in Strangford. The only defeated outgoing MP was Peter Robinson in Belfast East.

There was a net loss of one seat for unionist parties when the DUP's Peter Robinson lost to Naomi Long of the Alliance in Belfast East.

8 (-1), 5 (-), 3 (-),
1 (+1), 1 (+1), 0 (-1)

If Northern Ireland MPs are involved in supporting a minority Government or entering coalition, Labour could probably count on 3 SDLP MPs and Sylvia Hermon. The Conservatives could probably solicit support from 8 DUP MPs. The single Alliance MP is likely to remain unaligned. As Sinn Fein do not sit in the House of Commons, their 5 seats help to lower the threshold for which an overal majority is required from 325 to 323 seats.

Constituencies

Constituency			Party 2005	MP at dissolution	Party 2010	MP elected
Antrim East				Sammy Wilson		Sammy Wilson
Antrim North				Ian Paisley Snr§		Ian Paisley Jnr
Antrim South				William McCrea		William McCrea
Belfast East				Peter Robinson		Naomi Long
Belfast North				Nigel Dodds		Nigel Dodds
Belfast South				Alistair McDonnell		Alistair McDonnell
Belfast West				Gerry Adams*		Gerry Adams*
Down North				Sylvia Hermon (see Changes since 2005 above)		Sylvia Hermon
Down South				Eddie McGrady§		Margaret Ritchie
Fermanagh & Tyrone South				Michelle Gildernew*		Michelle Gildernew*
Foyle				Mark Durkan		Mark Durkan
Lagan Valley				Jeffrey Donaldson		Jeffrey Donaldson
Londonderry East				Gregory Campbell		Gregory Campbell
Newry & Armagh				Conor Murphy*		Conor Murphy*
Strangford				Iris Robinson§		Jim Shannon
Tyrone West				Pat Doherty*		Pat Doherty*
Ulster Mid				Martin McGuinness*		Martin McGuinness*
Upper Bann				David Simpson		David Simpson

*Candidates elected for Sinn Féin do not take their seats in the House of Commons

§MPs who retired at 2010 election

• Electoral Office for Northern Ireland
• UK Electoral Commission