| 6th Northern Ireland Assembly | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||
| Legislative body | Assembly | ||||||||
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland | ||||||||
| Meeting place | Parliament Buildings, Stormont | ||||||||
| Term | 2 March 2017 – 27 March 2022 | ||||||||
| Election | 2017 assembly election | ||||||||
| Government | Executive of the 6th Assembly | ||||||||
| Members | 90 | ||||||||
| Speaker | Alex Maskey | ||||||||
| First Minister | Arlene Foster / Paul Givan | ||||||||
| Deputy First Minister | Michelle O'Neill | ||||||||
| Sessions | |||||||||
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This is a list of the 90 members of the sixth Northern Ireland Assembly, the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. The election took place on 2 March 2017, with counting finishing the following day; voter turnout was estimated at 64.8%.[1]
Only five (rather than six) MLAs were elected from each of the 18 constituencies, following the Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016.[2] The reduction negatively affected Unionist candidates whose bloc lost its majority for the first time in the history of the Assembly. The SDLP was also negatively impacted, losing its only West Belfast seat.[3]
Incumbent Speaker Robin Newton informally convened the Assembly on 22 March to pay tribute to the former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who had died the day before.[4]
However, with the DUP and Sinn Féin unable to agree to form their mandatory coalition government, the Assembly did not formally convene. On 27 April, talks were paused until after a snap general election on 8 June, with a deadline of 29 June 2017 for the parties to reach agreement,[5] but this deadline was repeatedly extended over the next three years. The DUP, Sinn Féin and other parties finally agreed terms on 10 January 2020.[6]
- ^ "Northern Ireland Assembly election 2017 results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ McClafferty, Enda. "Assembly election 'a brutal result for unionism'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ^ "Tributes to mark the passing of former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness". YouTube. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ^ "Stormont talks paused until after General Election". ITV News. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ^ "Parties return to Stormont after striking deal". 11 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
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