Fact checkPoliticsPublished November 10, 2026

Paul Givan: Unionist parties have not won more than 50% of the vote in a Northern Ireland Assembly election since 2003, and their vote share was in the low 40s in 2022. Our verdict: True.

Paul Givan: Unionist parties have not won more than 50% of the vote in a Northern Ireland Assembly election since 2003, and their vote share was in the low 40s in 2022. Our verdict: True.
Photo: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street / Wikimedia Commons, OGL 3
Paul GivanSpeechNovember 10, 2026

Paul Givan made the claim in an article published by the Newsletter on 10 November 2026, discussing unionism's electoral performance.

Our verdict

True

Paul Givan's claim is accurate. Unionist parties have not won more than 50% of the vote in a Northern Ireland Assembly election since 2003, and their combined vote share in 2022 was in the low 40s.

What we found

We looked at official election results and research papers from the Northern Ireland Assembly, along with results published by the BBC, the Guardian and the House of Commons Library. The Northern Ireland Assembly's own research on party performance since 1998 shows that the combined unionist vote has stayed below 50% at every Assembly election since 2003. For 2022, the figures add up to roughly 43% for the DUP, UUP, TUV and independent unionists, which matches the description of a vote share in the low 40s. Both parts of the claim therefore hold up.

The evidence

5 of 6 sources support the claim; none contradict it.

Contradict 0Support 5Background 1
When each source was published
theguardian.com · May 2022 · supports the claimniassembly.gov.uk · May 2022 · supports the claimeducation.niassembly.gov.uk · Oct 2023 · supports the claimeducation.niassembly.gov.uk · Oct 2025 · supports the claimMay 2022Oct 2025
  • Background

    Paul Givan states that unionist parties have not exceeded 50% of the vote in Assembly elections since 2003 and that their share was in the low 40s in 2022. [1]

  • Supports the claim

    Official data confirms that the combined unionist vote share (DUP, UUP and other unionists) has remained below 50% in all Assembly elections since 2003. [2]

  • Supports the claim

    Historical data confirms that the combined unionist vote share has stayed below 50% in Assembly elections since 2003. [3]

  • Supports the claim

    In the 2022 Assembly election, the DUP and UUP received 21.3% and 11.2% of the vote respectively, and the total unionist share, including other unionist parties, was in the low 40s. [4]

  • Supports the claim

    The combined first-preference vote for the DUP, UUP, TUV and independent unionists in 2022 was approximately 43%. [5]

  • Supports the claim

    The combined unionist vote in 2022 remained consistent with 2017 levels, which were in the low 40s. [6]

How we checked

We examined official Northern Ireland Assembly research papers on party performance since 1998 and detailed 2022 election results from the BBC, the Guardian and the House of Commons Library. We reviewed 7 relevant sources.

Sources

  1. [1]www.newsletter.co.uk · Paul Givan: ‘Time all shades of unionism acted with their head’
  2. [2]education.niassembly.gov.uk · Electoral Performance of the five Main Parties, 1998 - 2022 · October 23, 2023
  3. [3]education.niassembly.gov.uk · Electoral Performance of the five Main Parties, 1998 – 2024 · October 31, 2025
  4. [4]theguardian.com · Northern Ireland election 2022 live results: assembly seats and votes · May 6, 2022
  5. [5]bbc.com · Northern Ireland Assembly Election Results 2022
  6. [6]niassembly.gov.uk · Election Report: Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 5 May 2022 · May 11, 2022

Have evidence we missed?

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