Map and diagram by Conal Kelly

This constituency takes in the largely rural south-western corner of Northern Ireland, including Fermanagh District Council and most of Dungannon District Council. The local MP is Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew; previously the MP had been Ken Maginnis (UUP) since he defeated Owen Carron (SF) in 1983, but he retired (and received a life peerage) before the 2001 election. Both the DUP and SF won two Assembly seats here in 2007, with the UUP and SDLP winning the other two (the DUP retained the seat they had gained by a UUP defection shortly after the 2003 election).

The constituency lost the Coalisland area to Mid Ulster in the 1995 revision; this converted it from a Nationalist majority seat (often won by Unionists if the Nationalist votes were divided) to a much more even split, but since 1997 Nationalists have been consistently ahead. See 1983-1992 Fermanagh and South Tyrone results, 1973-1982 Fermanagh and South Tyrone results and the 1950-1970 Fermanagh and South Tyrone results. The latest boundary commission has left the constituency unchanged.

See also the detailed guide from 2007 by "Sammy Morse".

Fermanagh-South Tyrone's population in the 2001 census was 91,127 (10th of the 18 constituencies).

• The average age was 35.94 (9th highest).
• 52.31% described themselves as Catholic (7th of 18 constituencies); 7.63% as Presbyterian (2nd lowest), 23.28% as Church of Ireland (highest in Northern Ireland), 3.95% as Methodist (10th highest) and 4.34% as members of other Christian denominations (14th highest). 8.27% were "no religion or religion not stated" (15th highest).
• The translation into "Community background" was 55.58% Catholic (7th out of 18), 43.05% Protestants and other Christians (12th highest), 0.26% other religions and philosophies (13th highest) and 1.11% none (13th).

2010 Westminster election (one seat)

*@Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Féin) 21,304 (45.5%, +7.3%)
Rodney Connor (Independent) 21,300 (45.5%)
Fearghal McKinney (SDLP) 3,574 (7.6%, -7.2%)
Vasundhara Kamble (Alliance) 437 (0.9%)
John Stevenson (Independent) 188 (0.4%)
Electorate: 67,908; Total poll: 47,066 (69.3%); Invalid Votes: 263 (0.6%); Valid Votes: 46,803

* incumbent
@ elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly from this constituency

An extraordinary result, the closest in the UK, with Gildernew retaining her seat by a mere four votes (the next smallest majority was Glenda Jackson's victory in Hampstead and Kilburn, by 42 over the Conservatives). Gildernew effectively squeezed the SDLP vote by almost half, and it would appear that Connor was not able to move quite enough supporters of the two main Unionist parties to come out on the day. If these votes were cast in an Assembly election, Connor's supporters would win three seats, and so would Sinn Féin.

2007 Assembly Election (7 March, six seats)

2005 Westminster election (5 May, 1 seat)

*@Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Fein) 18,638 (38.2% +4.1%)
@Arlene Foster (DUP) 14,056 (28.8%)
@Tom Elliot (UUP) 8,869 (18.2% -15.8%)
@Tommy Gallagher (SDLP) 7,230 (14.8% -3.9%)

* outgoing MP.
@ Member of the Assembly

Given the continuing split between the Unionist candidates, Sinn Fein were always likely to hold this seat. These votes, if cast in a six-seat STV election, would give Sinn Fein and the DUP two seats each, and the UUP and SDLP one each.

2005 Local Government Election (5 May)

The constituency comprises all 23 wards in Fermanagh and 16 of 22 wards in Dungannon (all 5 wards in the Blackwater DEA, all 5 wards in the Clogher Valley DEA, and all 6 wards in the Dungannon Town DEA. First preference votes cast were as follows:

Sinn Fein 16954 (34.9%)
DUP 12162 (25.0%)
UUP 10534 (21.7%)
SDLP 8336 (17.2%)
Socialist Party 406 (0.8%)
Green 79 (0.2%)
Independent 115 (0.2%)

If cast in a six-seat STV election, these votes would elect two each from SF and the DUP, and one each from the UUP and the SDLP.

2003 Assembly election (26 November; six seats)

Subsequent developments: Foster resigned from the UUP on 18 December 2003 and later joined the DUP. Morrow was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Morrow of Clogher Valley in June 2006

2001 Westminster Election (7 June; 1 seat)

Electorate: 66,640; votes cast: 52,667 (79.0%); spoilt votes: 693 (1.3%)
Valid votes: 51,974; SF majority 53

@ member of the Assembly

One of SF's two dramatic gains in the election, though the margin was so narrow that the defeated UUP were threatening a court case. A six-seat Assembly election, based on these votes, would give SF and the UUP two seats each, and one each to the SDLP and Dixon.

2001 Local Government Election (7 June)

SF 16193 (31%)
UUP 15385 (30%)
SDLP 9560 (18%)
DUP 8502 (16%)
UKUP 182 (0.4%)
Independents 1969 (4%)
Total valid votes 51791

These votes would have given the UUP and SF two seats each, and the SDLP and DUP one each.

1998 Assembly Election (25 June; six seats)

* elected in 1996 Forum/talks election from Fermanagh-South Tyrone

No big surprise here as Sinn Féin consolidated their lead over the SDLP for the Nationalist vote. The UKUP started in sixth place, but were overtaken by the DUP's Maurice Morrow when his running-mate was eliminated. The UUP's Joan Carson took the last seat with 6,582 votes to Jim Dixon's 5,001, and Foster's undistributed surplus of 203 would have widened the gap. Dixon was to wreak revenge in 2001.

1997 Local Government Election

First preference votes cast in the whole of the Fermanagh council area and three Dungannon electoral areas were as follows:

Ulster Unionist Party 17,875 votes (39%)
Sinn Fein 10,413 votes (23%)
Social Democratic and Labour Party 8,329 votes (18%)
Democratic Unionist Party 5,563 votes (12%)
Non Party 1250 votes (3%)
Independent Nationalist 909 votes (2%)
Progressive Socialist 581 votes (1%)
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 523 votes (1%)
Democratic Left 412 votes (1%)
Women's Coalition 319 votes (1%)
Total valid votes 46,174 (71.24% of electorate)

1997 Westminster Election

1996 Forum election

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) 15,542 (32%) Ken Maginnis, Sam Foster elected
Sinn Féin (SF) 11,666 (24%); Gerry McHugh elected
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) 10,399 (22%); Tommy Gallagher elected
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 6,589 (14%); Maurice Morrow elected
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) 831 (2%)
United Kingdom Unionist Party (UKUP) 468 (1%)
Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) 464 (1%)
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) 461 (1%)
Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) 410 (1%)
Labour (Lab) 297 (1%)
Green Party 208 (0.43%)
Workers Party (WP) 199 (0.41%)
Ulster Independence Movement (UIM) 189 (0.39%)
Democratic Left (DL) 128 (0.27%)
Independent McMullan 118 (0.25%)
Conservative Party (Con) 113 (0.23%)
Independent Chambers 36 (0.07%)
Natural Law Party (NLP) 23 (0.05%)

Electorate: 63,716; votes cast: 48,355 (75.8%); spoilt votes: 214 (0.4%); valid votes: 48,141

Maginnis had been elected to the 1982 Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

See also: Full 2003 results from Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Full 1998 results from Fermanagh and South Tyrone | The Boundary Commission's Provisional Recommendations | Boundary Commission 2003 | Jim Riley's analysis of votes and seats in the 1998 Assembly election | The constituencies

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.
 

This page has been developed with the support of a project grant from the New Initiatives Fund of the Electoral Commission. However, any views expressed on this page or, in particular, other pages of this website are those of the author and not necessarily shared by The Electoral Commission.

Nicholas Whyte, 3 June 1998; last updated 9 May 2010.