Data shows Alliance vote with Sinn Fein more often than the SDLP do - unionists say it 'confirms their suspicions'
A new website has revealed that the Alliance Party votes with Sinn Fein more often than the SDLP does, sparking criticism from unionists.
Alliance has hit back, saying that it considers all motions in the Assembly on their “individual merits” and that it does not see the world through “orange and green goggles”.
The figures appear on the site StormontWatch.com, which went live in spring.
It takes data from the Northern Ireland Assembly website and breaks it down in a more user-friendly fashion to show trends in voting patterns, as well as things like the MLAs with the highest expenses, the ones who ask the greatest number of questions, and more.
One segment of the site is titled “smaller party alignment with SF & DUP”.
It states that out of the 249 times the Assembly has voted since May 2022 on bills, amendments, and motions, Alliance have voted the same way as Sinn Fein on 181 (or 73%) of occasions – more than any other party.
Meanwhile the SDLP voted the same way as Sinn Fein 171 times (69% of the time).
The statistics also show that, during the same period, Alliance voted the same way as the DUP 56 times (23% of the time), and the SDLP voted the same way as the DUP just 12 times (5%).
Ulster Unionist deputy leader Diana Armstrong (Fermanagh and South Tyrone, pictured) said: “This confirms what many of us suspected.
"When the voting record is laid bare, Alliance's carefully cultivated image as the 'neither one thing nor the other' party doesn't hold up.
"If they're voting with Sinn Fein more often than the SDLP is, that's not neutrality, that's a political choice, and voters deserve to know it.”
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston (North Antrim) said: “This statistic does not come as a surprise to me.
"Some months I coined the phrase ‘Nationalist and Republican Alliance to describe a voting bloc in the Assembly.
"There is a growing awareness with the public that Alliance are not a middle of the road party, but side with Sinn Fein on the vast majority of issues, and it is causing unease with many traditional Alliance voters.
“This data will prove most useful in upcoming Assembly election.
"Alliance have peaked and I believe that in a large number of issues - from ‘rigorous implementation of the Protocol’ and the impact that has had on business, denying biological reality when it comes to women’s rights, and disregarding the concerns of many ordinary people when it comes to uncontrolled immigration, they are out of touch with the public."
And the DUP’s David Brooks (East Belfast) said: “Very broadly-based statistics like this can never tell the full story, and there will be occasions where Executive Parties will vote to support agreed strategies such as the Programme for Government when opposition parties will not.
"However, there is an overall trend whereby the non-unionist parties appear to have a greater overall voting alignment than unionist parties.
"That is another example of the need for a more cohesive unionism that can act together in the wider interest.
"We have seen positive examples recently such as on the minimum age of criminal responsibility, but unionism acting together is something we should be aiming for more often.”
In response, the Alliance Party issued a statement which said: “Alliance votes on every issue based on its individual merits, weighed against our principles and policies.
"How others vote is a matter for them.
"Others may be obsessed with viewing everything through orange and green goggles, and looking at how others vote, but that’s not how we do politics.
"Alliance will continue to focus on delivering for the people of Northern Ireland and the growing number of people who reject this very brand of tribal head counting."
Stormont Watch is the creation of Nicholas Shaw from Co Down.
He said: “I started digging into the Assembly data and was struck by how much information was already publicly available.
"I wanted to build a platform that would make that data easier to understand, keep itself up to date using AI, and give voters a clearer picture of how their MLAs and parties compare.
"The Assembly website is comprehensive and well-maintained.
"Stormont Watch builds on that by bringing together information, highlighting patterns that are difficult to spot in the raw record, and presenting it in a way that is clear, visual and easy to explore.
“Politics is full of claims. Stormont Watch exists to help people compare those claims with the public record.”