Northern Ireland Assembly Elections, 7 March 2007
Candidates

Below is a breakdown and analysis of the candidates for the Assembly elections by party and constituency. Following is a complete list of all female candidates, their party and constituency.

Breakdown by Party

The gender of candidates for the 2007 Assembly elections continues the pattern of previous Assembly contests, with women, at 18%, yet again significantly under-represented. Of the 257 candidates, 47 ar womena and 210 are men. This overall figure masks considerable variation between the parties. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) with 14 women (40%) among a total of 35 candidates and the Alliance Party, fielding 7 (39%) women from a total of 18, offer women the most extensive opportunities for winning an Assembly seat. For the SDLP, this represents a significant increase in the proportion of female candidates selected to run as compared with 2003. Rather surprisingly, given its past positive record, Sinn Fein's candidate gender ratio, at 9 (24%) women of 37, is lower than before and also lower than that of the SDLP. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) register a minor increase in women political hopefuls, selecting 6 (13%) women from a total of 46 candidates. There is only one woman (3%) in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) line-up. Among the category 'Others', The Green Party has selected 4 women (31%) from a total of 13 to run in this election. The small Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), now headed by Dawn Purvis has selected three candidates in all, tow (66.7%) of whom are women.

An all-male ballot will take place in East Antrim, while in Foyle, voters will be presented with equal numbers of female and male candidates. In three constituencies, only one woman made it onto the ballot - East Londonderry, Lagan Valley and North Belfast.

Breakdown by Constituency

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Female Candidates