Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 facts for kids
| Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
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| Long title | An Act to reduce the number of members of the Assembly returned for each constituency. |
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| Citation | 2016 c. 29 |
| Introduced by | Stewart Dickson |
| Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 22 July 2016 |
| Commencement | 2 March 2017 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk | |
The Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 is a law passed in 2016 by the Northern Ireland Assembly. This law changed the number of politicians, called Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), in the Assembly.
Before this law, there were 108 MLAs. After it, the number dropped to 90. MLAs are chosen using a system called single transferable vote (STV). Northern Ireland has 18 areas, called Westminster constituencies. Each area used to elect 6 MLAs, but after this law, they elected 5.
Why the Assembly Changed
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 created the Northern Ireland Assembly. This law said that each area in Northern Ireland would elect six members.
Later, in 2014, people in Northern Ireland felt that their Assembly had too many members. The House of Lords in the UK Parliament then suggested a change. They added an idea to a different law that would let the Northern Ireland Assembly reduce its own size.
The UK government, through the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, supported this idea. They wanted to make sure there was wide support for the change. Key political parties in Northern Ireland, like the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, also agreed to the plan.
How the Law Was Passed
In 2015, Stewart Dickson from the Alliance Party introduced the new law to the Northern Ireland Assembly. This law proposed reducing the number of MLAs from six to five in each of the 18 areas.
The bill was passed by everyone in the Assembly. There were no votes against it. Queen Elizabeth II officially approved the law on 22 July 2016. The plan was for the law to start at the next election for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
However, in 2017, a disagreement between some leaders caused the Northern Ireland government to stop working. Because of this, a new election had to be called quickly. This snap election happened on 2 March 2017.
As a result, the new law started sooner than planned. The 2017 Assembly election was the first time the number of MLAs was reduced. Instead of 108 MLAs, only 90 were elected.
