2005 Election Results

General Election for the Westminster Parliament

NIWI trained 50% of women candidates in the 2005 General Election

Northern Ireland returns 18 MPs to the Westminster Parliament in the General Election. The May election brought pleasure for some and severe pain for others. The DUP saw its star rise to 34% (9 MPs) of the Westminster vote as against 18% (1 MP) for the UUP; and almost 30% of the Council vote to the UUP's 18% putting it 67 seats ahead on the unionist side. Sinn Fein's rise was less dramatic with 24% (5 MPs) for Westminster to the SDLP's 18% (3 MPs); and 23% for Council to the SDLP's 17% putting it 25 seats ahead on the nationalist side.

The track record of women, both running as candidates and succeeding, has been poor over decades. NIWI is pleased to have played a part in changing this.

The 2001 General Election saw the unprecedented situation of three women elected to Westminster - Lady Sylvia Herman of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Michele Gildernew of Sinn Fein and Iris Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Another, Bríd Rodgers of the SDLP, was also a prominent contender. All three women retained their seats in 2005.

Michele Gildernew paid tribute to NIWI for the DemocraShe training that prepared her for the 2001 contest. In that election she won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone seat by a handful of votes. In May this year the constituency saw a most interesting election contest. For the first time the two leading contenders for the same Westminster seat were women. Intriguingly both were DemocraShe alumni. Arlene Foster, who changed parties from the UUP to the DUP, was on DemocraShe 2003 and a key woman from her campaign team took the course in 2005. In the end Michele succeeded in holding the seat for Sinn Fein with an increased majority.

Selecting More Women Candidates

NIWI promoted equal opportunities for women in parties

This is not the whole story of the 2005 General Election. From inception NIWI encouraged all political parties to promote more women. We provided then with confident women with better election skills than ever before to face constituency selection and the electorate. The election brought the greatest ever number of women standing - 19 in all; 22% of SDLP and Sinn Fein and 17% of DUP candidates. The UUP fielded just one woman, but she was the only UUP politician to be elected. NIWI trained 50% of these women. While most were not running in winnable seats, they will reap benefit from increased profile. Attaining strong presence from women candidates in future years will help to change the face of politics.

Local Government

Over 40% of women Council Members trained by NIWI

It is at local level, in local government and constituencies, that future political leadership is nurtured. DemocraShe helps women to run more effective election campaigns and to improve their policy and communication skills. The highly successful 2005 program offered not only discrete party sessions, but also more cross party learning than ever before. Program participants were able to explore common issues they would have to tackle if elected whatever their party or Council.

NIWI has trained 42% of women currently serving in local government in Northern Ireland. Before DemocraShe women made up just 14% of Council Members; since the program took hold this steadily increased to 19% in 2001 and 22% in 2005. Record numbers of women were elected for Sinn Fein and the DUP this year, and SDLP women managed to maintain their relative position. UUP women lost out due in part to the downturn in the electoral fortunes of the party. Fifty-three new women were elected to Councils, with DemocraShe training 32% of these. We can also report that several NIWI alumni have been appointed to significant local government positions ranging from Mayor and Deputy Mayor/Vice Chair of Council to chairs of important committees.

Prior to this election there were three Councils in Northern Ireland that had no women Council Members. This is no longer the case with the election returning women to all twenty-six Councils, albeit that one has only 1 woman and five others only 2 each. At the other end of the scale two Councils reached 40% female membership.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Over 50% of women MLAs trained by NIWI

In the first Assembly Election following the Referendum on the Agreement in 1998 and women won just 14 of the 108 seats. In 2003 their number increased to 18. Sinn Fein with 7 MLAs and the SDLP with 5 led the way, with the DUP benefiting from two defections from the UUP to increase their number to 4. The Alliance Party has 2 MLAs. Over 50% of MLAs benefited from DemocraShe.