Election countdown

The Assembly will dissolve at midnight on 24 March as the election countdown begins. On 5 May, elections will also be held for the 26 local councils as well as the referendum on the alternative vote.

Following the election of members, the Assembly must meet within eight days, beginning with the poll date and excluding Saturdays and Sundays. A spokeswoman for the Speaker’s Office said: “We might expect the first meeting to be sometime later in the week commencing 9 May, or at the latest on Monday 16 May.”

Local councils, however, do not go through dissolution. The new councillors come into office on the fourth day after election day and the outgoing members finish together on the same day.

West Belfast residents will have a fourth election as Gerry Adams has announced he will step down as MP in order to contest Louth in the Republic. The Irish general election takes place on 11 March.

When it comes to a parliamentary by- election, the chief whip of the party to which the member belonged usually moves a motion for the Speaker of the House of Commons to make a warrant for the issue of a writ of election on the seat. Any member who has taken their seat could do this.

The writ is then issued by the clerk and an election date must be set within a maximum of 18 working days from it is received by the Chief Electoral Officer.