NI Election 2022: Key points from party manifestoes
Last updated 4th May 2022
16 parties are fielding 215 candidates in the Stormont Assembly Election 2022, while 24 Independents are also vying for seats.
Here are some key points from the manifestoes of the biggest parties.
Sinn Fein has 34 candidates in the running, and the party is tipped to become Stormont’s largest for the first time since the Assembly was formed in 1998.
Surveys by LucidTalk, Survation and the Irish Institute have all predicted that the Irish republican party will come out on top after the votes are cast and counted.
Sinn Fein's manifesto says the party wants to...
🏥Invest £1bn in the health service over three years
🔥 Immediately allocate £330million to cost of living interventions, including a £230 payment to every household
🏠 Deliver over 100k homes over the next 15 years
💰End zero-hour contracts and devolve powers to set minimum wage
🤝🏼 Establish an all-island Citizens’ Assembly to discuss constitutional future
The DUP has put forward 30 candidates who are promising to deliver on a ‘five-point plan’ while insisting they are the only way unionists can prevent Sinn Fein from winning this election.
However, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said they will not form an Executive unless issues with the NI Protocol are addressed by the UK government.
The Democratic Unionist Party gained 28 seats in 2017 after getting over 28% of the vote share, but opinion polls have indicated that this may not be the case this time around following anger over a walk-out in protest over the NI protocol, as well as uncertainly over whether or not the party will re-enter devolved government after the votes have been cast and counted.
The DUP's manifesto says the party wants to...
🏥 Invest £1bn to cut hospital waiting lists using a partnership with the independent sector, train more GPs
🚢 Lobby for UK government to replace NI Protocol with other arrangements that restore place in UK internal market
💻 Make NI 100% fibre broadband
👔 Support 20k jobs in the next 5 years and create 5k new technology jobs
💰Deliver 30 hours of free childcare a week to working families, deliver Energy Efficiency schemes, and support hard pressed families with an energy support payment
27 Ulster Unionist candidates have been put forward for a party recently rebranded as more liberal. Several candidates this year are gay, while Gaelic sports featured in the party’s election broadcast.
However, the leader, Doug Beattie, got into hot water over allegedly racist and misogynistic tweets from a decade ago, and this could have done some damage.
He further lost support from some loyalists, over a decision not to attend anti-protocol rallies amid concerns they were creating tensions among communities here.
The UUP's manifesto says the party would like to...
🔥 Bring home heating under the remit of the Utility Regulator, lobby Westminster to lower fuel duty for all, establish a Fuel Poverty Task Force, and work to introduce ‘Warm Homes discount’ to Northern Ireland
🚢 Address the sea border issue by creating a new criminal offence to knowingly export goods designed for the UK Internal Market into the EU Single Market, and set up a compliance body with ROI
🏥 Use theatres better by working longer days and moving to a seven-day health service
🏫Establish a Single Education System based on the Controlled education
Opinion polls have predicted that the Alliance Party, which has 24 candidates, could come in third place. Naomi Long’s party does not designate as Nationalist or Unionist but as ‘other’, meaning that even if the party manages to come in second place, it could not nominate a Deputy First Minister. The party’s vote share grew by over two per cent in the 2017 Assembly Election.
The Alliance Party's manifesto says the party would like to...
🔥 Introduce a home heating support grant voucher scheme, targeted at low-income households, and roll out a £20 per week child payment to protect children already vulnerable to poverty
🏥 Implement the expert recommendations in the Bengoa Report, invest in 10-year mentla health strategy and address deprivation that leads to illness
🌳 Deliver a Green New Deal to create at least 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2030, and create a new Department for Energy and Climate Change
🛣️ Create an independent infrastructure commission with a 30-year vision, increase spend on active travel, and develop an all-Ireland rail network through a new 5-year plan
22 candidates will be on ballot papers across NI for the SDLP, which has dedicated much of its’ manifesto to tackling the cost of living crisis. Although the social democratic and Irish nationalist party was Stormont’s third largest party in 2017, a pre-election survey by the Irish Institute has suggested that popularity is likely to drop.
The prediction comes despite big successes for the party in the 2019 Westminster elections. However, the party is still feeling confident that as well as retaining seats in Derry, South Belfast and Newry and Armagh, gains can be made in at least Foyle and West Belfast.
The SDLP's manifesto says the party would like to...
🔥 Pass emergency laws to release £300m of deadlocked Stormont funds and use it to tackle cost of living – this would include a £200 payment to all households and an extra £100 for low-income households
🍽️ Relaunch the Free School Meal Payment Scheme from 1 April for the remainder of the year including through the Summer, meaning £1272 of support to a family with two children who receive free school meals
🏥 Invest £1bn in the health service and support a 6% pay rise for nurses
💰 Invest £500 in every child’s future when they are born, with another £500 invested when they’re 10
The profile of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) has been raised due its’ strong stance in opposition to any Irish Sea Border.
Leader Jim Allister (North Antrim) garnered much support at rallies against the Irish Sea Border. The party is running 19 candidates, and hopes to increase its' number of MLAs from one.
The TUV's manifesto says the party wants to...
🚢 Remove the NI Protocol
🔥 Stop using money on ‘translations’ at Stormont and use the money to fund cost of living crisis assistance
🗣️ Resist implementation of Irish Language legislation
🗳️ Change Stormont system from mandatory coalition (of nationalist and unionist parties) to a voluntary coalition of willing parties, OR ‘legislative devolution’, which would mean the assembly runs Stormont rather than the Executive
The Green Party, which had two MLAs in Stormont’s last mandate, is running 18 candidates.
The party is hoping to keep seats in South Belfast and North Down, but is also feeling hopeful that inroads can be made in East and North Belfast.
The Green Party's manifesto says the party wants to...
🏫 End academic selection, ensure all children have access to academic selection, and increase school-starting age to six
💰 Support the reintroduction of the Universal Credit, introduce a Basic Income pilot for young people leaving care, and continue to oppose “zero-hours” contracts
🏠 Deliver at least 2,500 energy efficient social housing units per year, and provide more financial support to households in fuel poverty
🚌 Continue to phase out the current bus fleet to be replaced by electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles and begin the electrification of rail, and move to end Northern Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels while investing in renewable electricity
West Belfast socialist Gerry Carroll will be hoping is popularity will pave the way for some of People Before Profit’s 11 other candidates running in this election.
Their push for workers rights and drive to help the war on the cost of living crisis could help them secure a second seat – it’s thought that there could be some chance for Sean Harkin in Foyle – his party colleague Eamonn McCann missed out on a seat in 2017 by less than 700 votes.
People Before Profit's manifesto says the party wants to...
🔥 Launch an Emergency Hardship Fund to distribute a direct payment of £1,000 to households hit by the cost of living crisis, including all but the top fifth of earner, funded through taxing the most wealthy
💰 Increase the minimum wage to £15 an hour, with government subsidies for small businesses
🏥 End agency usage to save millions, ensure all NHS staff are afforded permanent, protected contracts with full employment rights and equal pay, and increase investment in GPs by 15%
🌳 Create a ‘Just Transition and Workers’ fund to offer re-skilling or re-training on full pay for those moving to green jobs, and implement energy strategies that are exclusively renewable, clean, and green
A dozen candidates from the relatively new, all-island, nationalist pro-life party Aontu are also in the running.
Aontú's manifesto says the party wants to...
🗳️Reform Stormont so that if politicians walk out of the Executive, they no not get paid
🤰 Support women with unwanted pregnancies by providing economic support for housing, food and healthcare
🇮🇪 Start conversations with London and Dublin about Irish Unity
Six candidates are standing for the Workers party and the Progressive Unionist Party has three politicians standing.
The Socialist Party and the Irish Republican Socialist Party are running two candidates apiece, while The NI Conservatives, the Cross Community Labour Alternative, Resume NI and the Heritage Party all have just one person contesting this election.
Meanwhile there are 24 independent candidates hoping to be selected.
Find the full list of who’s appearing on ballot papers in each of NI’s 18 constituencies HERE
Stay up to date on this year's election coverage on air, online and on social with Cool FM & Downtown Radio.