1997 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

← 1992 1 May 1997 2001 →
18 seats in Northern Ireland of the 659 seats in the House of Commons
Turnout	67.4% ()
First party Second party   Leader David Trimble John Hume Party Ulster Unionist Social Democratic and Labour Party Leader since 28 August 1995 6 May 1979 Leader's seat Upper Bann Foyle Seats won 10 3 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 258,439 190,844 Percentage 32.7% 24.1%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Gerry Adams Ian Paisley Party Sinn Féin DUP Leader since 1983 30 September 1971 Leader's seat Belfast West North Antrim Seats won 2 2 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 126,921 107,348 Percentage 16.1% 13.6%

The 1997 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 1 May with 18 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post as part of the wider general election in the United Kingdom. This was an increase of one seat in Northern Ireland, where the House of Commons as a whole had increased from 650 to 659 seats.

1,177,969 people were eligible to vote, up 53,069 from the 1992 general election. 67.39% of eligible voters turned out, down 2.6 percentage points from the last general election.^[1]

Results

The Labour Party led by Tony Blair won a large majority with 418 of 659 seats, returning to office after 18 years of Conservative Party government. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin gained two seats, beginning a steady growth in support in elections to the House of Commons.

Less than a year after this election, on 10 April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed, providing for a Northern Ireland Assembly and devolved government through the Northern Ireland Executive.

Results^[2][3]

Party		MPs		Votes
		No.	Change	No.	%	Change
	Ulster Unionist	10	1	258,439	32.7%	1.8
	SDLP	3	1	190,844	24.1%	0.6
	Sinn Féin	2	2	126,921	16.1%	6.1
	DUP	2	1	107,348	13.6%	0.5
	UK Unionist	1	1	12,817	1.6%	1.6
	Alliance	0		62,972	8.0%	0.7
	PUP	0		10,934	1.4%	1.4
	NI Conservatives	0		9,858	1.2%	4.5
	NI Women's Coalition	0	New	3,024	0.4%	New
	Workers' Party	0		2,766	0.3%	0.2
	Natural Law	0		2,210	0.3%	0.1
	Green (NI)	0		539	0.1%
	National Democrats	0	New	81		New
	Independent	0		2,136	0.3%	0.5
Total		18	1	790,889	100

MPs elected

By-elections