Constituencies and numbers of members.

1 The members of the Assembly shall be returned for the parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland. 2 Each constituency shall return five members. 3 An Order in Council under the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 changing a parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland shall have effect for the purposes of this Act in relation to— a the first election under section 31 or 32 for which the notice of election, which is required to be published under Assembly Election Rules, is published— i on a day after the end of the period of six months beginning with the day on which the Order comes into force, or ii if sooner, on or after the day on which Parliament is dissolved prior to the first parliamentary general election in relation to which the Order has effect; and b later elections under that section and by-elections. 4 In subsection (3), “ Assembly Election Rules ” means the rules in Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983, as applied by Article 3 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2599).