Paul Givan: Sinn Féin, SDLP, and Alliance together hold a majority in the Northern Ireland Assembly and vote together on most issues. Our verdict: Unverified.
Paul Givan made the claim in an article published by the Newsletter, dated 10 November 2026.
Our verdict
Unverified
We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute Paul Givan's claim that Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party together hold a majority in the Northern Ireland Assembly and vote together on most issues. The only seat figures we found date from the 2022 election, and the evidence on voting behaviour is limited to isolated examples.
Know something that settles it? Send us evidenceWhat we found
The claim has two parts: that the three parties hold a majority, and that they vote together on most issues. On the first part, the Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service records that after the 2022 election Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party held 52 of the Assembly's 90 seats, which is more than half. But that figure is from 2022, and we could not find a current party-by-party seat table for November 2026, so we cannot say whether the three parties still hold a majority today. On the second part, the evidence is thin. An Assembly report from 22 September 2025 records a DUP member saying the three parties had previously backed certain climate targets, which points to agreement on one issue. But an Assembly report from 19 May 2025 records the SDLP and an Alliance member taking opposing positions on the 2025-26 Budget. Neither shows how often the three parties vote together across the full range of issues. We therefore could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute the claim, and we invite readers who have relevant records to send them to us.
The evidence
4 sources, all background: none settles the claim either way.
- Background
The Newsletter article records Paul Givan stating that Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party together hold a majority and vote as a bloc. [1]
- Background
The Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service states that, as of the 2022 election, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party collectively held 52 of the Assembly's 90 seats, a majority. [2]
- Background
A separate Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service page lists 2022 election totals that sum to 52 seats for Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the SDLP, more than half of the Assembly's 90 seats. [3]
- Background
An Assembly report from 22 September 2025 records a DUP member saying Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the SDLP had previously supported certain climate targets, implying agreement on that specific issue. [4]
What we could not confirm
- Whether Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party still hold a majority of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly as of November 2026, given possible co-options, resignations or party changes since the 2022 election.
- Whether the three parties vote together on most issues, as no systematic record or statistical analysis of Assembly division outcomes was found.
How we checked
We looked at the original Newsletter article, Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service pages on MLAs and constituencies, and official Assembly reports of sittings in 2025 for any record of party seat numbers or voting behaviour. We reviewed 5 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]www.newsletter.co.uk · Paul Givan: ‘Time all shades of unionism acted with their head’
- [2]education.niassembly.gov.uk · Who are your MLAs? | Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service
- [3]Northern Ireland Assembly Education Service · Your MLAs, Your Constituency
- [4]aims.niassembly.gov.uk · The Northern Ireland Assembly · September 22, 2025
Help us check this claim
We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute this claim. If you know of an official record, dataset, transcript or report that settles it, send us the link. We review every submission and update this fact check when the evidence changes the picture.
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