Mid Ulster is a constituency represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
It was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election in 1973, which elected the then Northern Ireland Assembly. It usually shares boundaries with the Mid Ulster UK Parliament constituency. However, the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1983 to 1986 (because the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes) and from 1996 to 1997, when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983-95 constituency boundaries, was still in session.
Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998.
Mid Ulster is the only constituency in Northern Ireland to have returned the same number of Assembly members from the same parties at each election before that of 2017 – 3 Sinn Féin, 1 SDLP, 1 UUP and 1 DUP.
The constituency's most prominent MLA has been Michelle O'Neill, who has been the First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024. O'Neill is the first nationalist and the second woman to hold the post.
For further details of the history and boundaries of the constituency, see Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency).
Members
Election MLA (party) MLA (party) MLA (party) MLA (party) MLA (party) MLA (party) 1973Paddy Duffy(SDLP)Ivan Cooper(SDLP) Aidan Larkin(SDLP)William Thompson(UUP) Duncan Pollock(UUP) John Dunlop(Vanguard) 1975 Francis Thompson(UUP) Richard Reid(DUP) Robert Overend(Vanguard) 1982 Danny Morrison(Sinn Féin) Mary McSorley(SDLP) Denis Haughey(SDLP) Alan Kane(DUP)William McCrea(DUP) 1996 Patrick Groogan(Sinn Féin)Francie Molloy(Sinn Féin) Patsy McGlone(SDLP) 5 seats1996–1998 John Junkin(UUP) 1998 John Kelly(Sinn Féin)Martin McGuinness(Sinn Féin) Denis Haughey(SDLP)Billy Armstrong(UUP) 2003 Geraldine Dougan(Sinn Féin)Patsy McGlone(SDLP) 2007Michelle O'Neill(Sinn Féin)Ian McCrea(DUP) 2011Sandra Overend(UUP) April 2013co-optionIan Milne(Sinn Féin) 2016Linda Dillon(Sinn Féin)Keith Buchanan(DUP) 2017 5 seats2017–present December 2018co-optionEmma Sheerin(Sinn Féin) 2022 Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.
Elections
Northern Ireland Assembly
2022
2017
2016
2011
2007
2003
1998
1996 forum Successful candidates are shown in bold.1996 Candidates – Mid Ulster , Northern Ireland Elections
Party Candidate(s) Votes Percentage Francie MolloyPatsy GrooganSean BegleyMargaret McKennaOwen Carron13,00129.6 Patsy McGloneDenis HaugheyKathleen LaganPat McErleanJoe McBride12,49228.5 John JunkinNorman BadgerTrevor Wilson7,93518.1 William McCreaWilliam LarmourPaul McLean7,24316.5 Aidan LaganKeith Jacques5491.2 Daniel HustonHugh Moore4351.0 John CoyleKenneth Rutherford3800.9 John HaveronJames English3750.9 Harry HutchinsonAnne GribbonJohn McLaughlinPaddy McGrathJoanne Kane2710.6 Walter MillarDierdre Speer-White2630.6 Cherry DicksonAnn McCrystalSheila MurphyMary HoggMary Doyle2590.6 Francie DonnellyGerard Brennan2100.5 David LyttleLucille O'Shea1320.3 Elspeth IrvineEileen Elizabeth McKee1190.3 Charles McKeePatrick Pearse Kelly930.2 Patricia CullenFrank McElroy410.1 Stewart LuckRichard Mulholland240.1 ChambersAngela MooreLinda Chambers200.1
1982 Assembly election
1975 Constitutional Convention
1973 Assembly election
References