With polling in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election well under way, there’s one thing that all the main political parties can agree on - the importance of this election for the future of our country.
From Michelle O’Neill to Jeffrey Donaldson to Naomi Long, prominent party leaders have called Thursday’s poll, "the most important in a generation", so with the stakes so high, let's take a look at where the five major parties in NI stand as the ballot day approaches.
The last Assembly election saw the DUP maintain the top spot in Stormont by the finest of margins- they gained one seat more than their fierce rivals Sinn Féin.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the 2022 election
However, if they are to remain the largest party and win the right to appoint the First Minister they will need to upset the polls, as they are currently 6 points behind the largest nationalist party.
Alliance have also performed well in the pre-election polls, and will be aiming to leapfrog the SDLP and the UUP to become the 3rd largest party in Stormont.
Party Priorities
Each party has placed the health service and the cost-of-living crisis at the forefront of their election manifestos. However, their priorities diverge from there - below we consider each party’s priorities for the upcoming term briefly.
Alliance
At 94 pages long, the Alliance manifesto is the longest of any of the parties contesting the election. They place great importance on building a shared future together, seeking to bring an end to the ‘two communities’ narrative that we hear so much about in our local politics.
To do this, they want to fundamentally change the structure of our government, by scrapping mandatory coalition, reforming the petition of concern and bringing an end to sectarian designation.
A home heating grant scheme for low-income households and a £20-a-week child payment are proposed to address the cost-of-living crisis. Alliance also support the Bengoa health reforms and emphasise that they would push for them to be implemented faster to combat the long waiting list times.
The party campaign for a single, integrated education for all pupils in NI. They also want to implement an affordable childcare scheme to help working families.
Party leader Naomi Long says “a vote for Alliance is the strongest endorsement you can give for a politics focused on delivery, not drama.”
SDLP
The SDLP manifesto places a particular emphasise on children and young people.
The party make 5 key pledges to voters about their priorities for the upcoming term. These include giving a £200 payout to every home, and £1200 to families with at least two children on free school meals before December.
A £1 billion extra investment into the health service is on the agenda, and a 6% pay rise for nurses. In addition they wish to increase free pre-school childcare provision from 12.5 hours per week to 30.
SDLP believe that the shortage in social housing needs to be addressed and seek to double the investment in the Social Housing Development Programme.
They also want to ‘invest £500 in every child’s future when they’re born, with an additional £500 when they turn 10 in a Children’s Future Fund.’
UUP
The Ulster Unionist Party has undergone a period of modernisation since Doug Beattie’s appointment as leader last May. The parties manifesto outlines several areas they want to focus on when Stormont returns.
Beattie points out that Robin Swann and the UUP took on the responsibility for the Health Department last term when other parties passed up on the role. The party want to maximise potential of the health service by introducing an independent Chief Executive to oversee the NHS and ensure there is accountability for the decisions made in its management.
UUP also highlights that it has opposed the Protocol since its creation and wants to continue to pursue common sense alternatives that will prevent checks on goods travelling between GB and NI as well as between NI and the ROI.
They also seek to introduce a Single Education System, creating a system that unites religions and properly prepares our young people for the diverse world we live in.
DUP
The current largest party in Stormont have also released a 5 point plan, with the headings; Fix the NHS, Grow the Economy, Keep our schools world-class, Help working families and Remove the NI Protocol.
Some of the specific proposals include investing an extra £1 billion in the health service, training more GPs each year, and implementing Bengoa reforms to fix our health service at the root of the problem.
They also want to support the creation of 20,000 new jobs in the next 5 years, including 5,000 new jobs within the tech industry.
Among the party’s plans to help hard-pressed families, an Energy Support Payment to relive the burden of ever-increasing energy prices. They also want to deliver 30 hours of free childcare per week for families with 3 and 4 year olds.
The NI Protocol is also a huge issue for all unionist parties, and the DUP say the Brexit Protocol undermines Northern Ireland’s position as part of the UK and demand that a new arrangement is agreed that is accepted by unionists in NI as well as nationalists.
Sinn Féin
Vying to be the first nationalist party to occupy the top spot in Stormont since Northern Ireland’s creation, Sinn Féin have all the motivation they need for Thursday’s election. The party’s manifesto is concise and seeks to avoid controversy.
Health is the number one spending priority, and like the DUP they seek to provide an extra £1 billion funding to the NHS over the next 3 years.
The party also wants to secure a date from the British and Irish governments for a United Ireland referendum and lay down the necessary framework to prepare for Irish unity. However with the cost-of-living crisis at the forefront of the agenda for all parties, Sinn Féin do not make this their focal point.
Various plans to help families with rising costs are proposed, including supplying a £230 to every household, pushing for £6 million funding to freeze public transport fares and giving business additional rates holidays to help protect jobs.
The verdict?
Recent circumstances in Northern Ireland have resulted in a shift in priorities for the public and parties alike. Whether a citizen identifies themselves as a ‘unionist’, ‘nationalist’ or ‘other’, there are very real challenges facing everyone as health waiting list times are the worst in the UK by some margin and living prices skyrocket. These physical needs have been reflected in all the parties’ manifestos as they contest the election.
However, it is also impossible to neglect the political significance of Thursday’s election. Stormont’s largest party coming from the nationalist side of the community for the first time would mark a significant moment in the country’s history and inevitably open more debate on a future Irish unity referendum.
On the other hand, a strong unionist vote would downplay such a debate in the near future and send a message to the British government that the NI Protocol is a problem which must be addressed.
The Alliance surge in recent years provides another option for voters if they wish to signal their displeasure with the tribal politics that has often dominated local affairs in recent decades.
These factors make it easy to see why key politicians have been playing up the election’s significance and when the public have had their say on May 5th, we will hope to know more about the direction that our government is heading.
Read more: Green Party suspends Stormont Assembly election candidate
Read more: Main issues and themes set to factor when NI goes to the polls
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
