2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
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The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.[1]
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All 18 Northern Irish seats to the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 63.5% () | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colours on map indicate winning party for each constituency |
The election resulted in the Ulster Unionist Party losing its place as the largest Northern Irish political party at Westminster, being replaced by the Democratic Unionist Party. Both the DUP and Sinn Féin increased their share of the vote as well as their number of seats. The Social Democratic and Labour Party were unable to regain its formerly held status as the largest nationalist political party in Northern Ireland, though they retained 3 seats overall, albeit with a reduced share of the vote.
Both John Hume and David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize laureates for their roles in the Peace Process, did not remain MPs with Hume standing down in Foyle and Trimble losing his Upper Bann seat.[2][3] The UUP's dismal electoral performance led to Trimble's resignation as leader.