Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Irish Political Studies |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Oct 2019 |
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Keywords
- European elections
- political parties
- Northern Ireland
- Brexit
- Withdrawal Agreement
- Europe
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Remain reaffirmed: the 2019 European election in Northern Ireland. / Haughey, Sean; Pow, James.
In: Irish Political Studies, 28.10.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Remain reaffirmed: the 2019 European election in Northern Ireland
AU - Haughey, Sean
AU - Pow, James
PY - 2019/10/28
Y1 - 2019/10/28
N2 - With echoes of the dividing lines of the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum, a majority of voters in Northern Ireland supported pro-Remain candidates in the 2019 European Parliament election. However, whereas the results in many parts of the UK reflected a highly polarised electorate, voters in Northern Ireland appeared more receptive to compromise: a majority of their newly elected MEPs expressed support for the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the UK government with the EU – the only constituency in the UK where this was the case. The comfortable re-election of Diane Dodds and Martina Anderson affirmed the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin as the dominant unionist and nationalist parties respectively. However, a surge in support for the Alliance Party, which saw Naomi Long win a seat at the expense of the Ulster Unionist Party, marked a notable shift towards the ethno-national centre-ground: one in five first preference votes went to a candidate aligned with neither nationalism nor unionism. This report contextualises the election campaign and considers the implications of the results.
AB - With echoes of the dividing lines of the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum, a majority of voters in Northern Ireland supported pro-Remain candidates in the 2019 European Parliament election. However, whereas the results in many parts of the UK reflected a highly polarised electorate, voters in Northern Ireland appeared more receptive to compromise: a majority of their newly elected MEPs expressed support for the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the UK government with the EU – the only constituency in the UK where this was the case. The comfortable re-election of Diane Dodds and Martina Anderson affirmed the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin as the dominant unionist and nationalist parties respectively. However, a surge in support for the Alliance Party, which saw Naomi Long win a seat at the expense of the Ulster Unionist Party, marked a notable shift towards the ethno-national centre-ground: one in five first preference votes went to a candidate aligned with neither nationalism nor unionism. This report contextualises the election campaign and considers the implications of the results.
KW - European elections
KW - political parties
KW - Northern Ireland
KW - Brexit
KW - Withdrawal Agreement
KW - Europe
U2 - 10.1080/07907184.2019.1652166
DO - 10.1080/07907184.2019.1652166
M3 - Article
JO - Irish Political Studies
JF - Irish Political Studies
SN - 0790-7184
ER -