South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
Coordinates: 54°43′16″N 6°14′28″W / 54.721°N 6.241°W
South Antrim | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of South Antrim in Northern Ireland. | |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1885, 1950 |
Member of parliament | Danny Kinahan (UUP) |
Created from | Antrim |
1885–1922 | |
Replaced by | Antrim |
Created from | Antrim, Lisburn |
Overlaps | |
European Parliament constituency | Northern Ireland |
South Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons represented since 2015 by Danny Kinahan of the Ulster Unionist Party.
Boundaries
From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency. It comprised the baronies of Massereene Upper, Massereene Lower, and Antrim Upper, and parts of the Baronies of Upper Toome and Belfast Upper, and so much of the Parliamentary Borough of Belfast as was in the County of Antrim.
It returned one Member of Parliament. In 1922, it was merged into a new Antrim constituency.
The seat was re-created in 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. The seat was reduced in size for the 1974 general election, with the town of Carrickfergus and the areas between it and Larne town transferred to North Antrim. Additionally some territory was transferred to Belfast West.[1] Despite these changes, the seat had become the largest in the entire United Kingdom by the time of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1982, by which time its electorate had passed the 131,000 mark.[2] For the 1983 general election Northern Ireland received new seats. Consequently, South Antrim was significantly reduced, losing a lot of territory to the new seats of East Antrim and Lagan Valley as well as minor sections to Belfast West, Belfast North and Upper Bann. The new South Antrim which was fought for the 1983 election contained only 43% of the previous seat.[3] In 1995 there were minor changes around the borders with North Belfast and West Belfast. The seat fought at the 2005 election encompassed the entirety of the district of Antrim and part of the district of Newtownabbey.
Following consultation of boundary changes across Northern Ireland, the altered South Antrim constituency fought at the 2010 general election is made up as follows:[4]
- Glenavy from Lisburn City government area
- Ballyclare North, Ballyclare South, Ballyduff, Ballynure, Ballyrobert, Burnthill, Carnmoney, Doagh, Hawthorne, Mallusk, and Mossley, from Newtownabbey
- The district of Antrim
History
South Antrim is an overwhelmingly unionist constituency which once had the strongest vote for the Ulster Unionist Party anywhere in the province. From 1886 to 1974 the Conservative and Unionist members of the United Kingdom House of Commons formed a single Parliamentary party, and they continuously represented South Antrim
In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a British General Election. In the 1979 general election James Molyneaux had the largest majority of any MP in the entire of the United Kingdom, helped also by having one of the largest electorates.
The boundary changes in 1983 reduced the Ulster Unionist vote somewhat, with a significant portion now contained in the new Lagan Valley (which Molyneaux then contested) but the constituency still gave strong results for the party.
However, in April 2000 the Ulster Unionist incumbent, Clifford Forsythe, died suddenly. The ensuing by-election took place amidst a fierce political struggle between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party over the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement that the UUP were themselves split over. The DUP had not contested the seat at the previous general election but on this occasion stood William McCrea, the former MP for Mid Ulster, who campaigned strongly on the DUP's refusal to co-operate with Sinn Féin in the absence of arms decommissioning by the IRA. The local UUP branch selected David Burnside to contest the seat who declared that he had supported the Good Friday Agreement at the time that it was signed but had since become disillusioned with its implementation. As a result many commentators predicted that whatever the outcome of the election it was a severe blow for the UUP's leader David Trimble. On a low turnout amidst a fierce contest McCrea narrowly won the seat.
Burnside was nominated again to contest the seat in the 2001 general election in which he overturned McCrea's majority, aided by tactical voting by SDLP and Alliance voters. However the DUP were eager to regain the seat and in the 2003 Assembly election they outpolled the UUP by 298 votes. In the 2005 general election McCrea defeated Burnside in their third contest, but with a noticeably lower swing than those garnered by other DUP candidates who ousted UUP MPs. McCrea held the seat in the 2010 general election with a reduced majority. The seat was won by the UUP at the 2015 general election following the defeat of McCrea by Danny Kinahan.
Members of Parliament
The current Member of Parliament is Danny Kinahan of the Ulster Unionist Party. He was first elected to the seat in 2015, defeating the incumbent William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party.
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1885 | William Ellison-Macartney | Conservative | |
1886 | Irish Unionist | ||
1903 by-election | Charles Craig | Irish Unionist | |
1921 | Ulster Unionist | ||
1922 | constituency abolished | ||
1950 | constituency recreated | ||
1950 | Douglas Lloyd Savory | Ulster Unionist | |
1955 | Knox Cunningham | Ulster Unionist | |
1970 | James Molyneaux | Ulster Unionist | |
1983 | Clifford Forsythe | Ulster Unionist | |
2000 by-election | William McCrea | Democratic Unionist | |
2001 | David Burnside | Ulster Unionist | |
2005 | William McCrea | Democratic Unionist | |
2015 | Danny Kinahan | Ulster Unionist |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
General Election 2015: South Antrim[5][6] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Danny Kinahan | 11,942 | 32.7 | +2.3 | |
DUP | William McCrea | 10,993 | 30.1 | −3.8 | |
Sinn Féin | Declan Kearney | 4,699 | 12.9 | -1.0 | |
Alliance | Neil Kelly | 3,576 | 9.8 | +2.1 | |
SDLP | Roisin Lynch | 2,990 | 8.2 | −0.5 | |
TUV | Rick Cairns | 1,908 | 5.2 | −0.2 | |
NI Conservatives | Alan Dunlop | 415 | 1.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 949 | 2.6 | |||
Turnout | 36,523 | 54.2 | +0.3 | ||
UUP gain from DUP | Swing | +3.0 | |||
General Election 2010: South Antrim[7] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
DUP | William McCrea | 11,536 | 33.9 | −4.3 | |
UCU-NF | Reg Empey | 10,353 | 30.4 | +1.3 | |
Sinn Féin | Mitchel McLaughlin[8] | 4,729 | 13.9 | +2.3 | |
SDLP | Michelle Byrne[9] | 2,955 | 8.7 | −3.7 | |
Alliance | Alan Lawther | 2,607 | 7.7 | −0.9 | |
TUV | Mel Lucas | 1,829 | 5.4 | +5.4 | |
Majority | 1,183 | 3.5 | −5.6 | ||
Turnout | 34,009 | 53.9 | −3.4 | ||
DUP hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 2000s
General Election 2005: South Antrim[10] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
DUP | William McCrea | 14,507 | 38.2 | +3.4 | |
UUP | David Burnside | 11,059 | 29.1 | −8.0 | |
SDLP | Noreen McClelland | 4,706 | 12.4 | +0.3 | |
Sinn Féin | Henry Cushinan | 4,407 | 11.6 | +2.2 | |
Alliance | David Ford | 3,278 | 8.6 | +4.1 | |
Majority | 3,448 | 9.1 | |||
Turnout | 37,957 | 56.7 | −5.8 | ||
DUP gain from UUP | Swing | +5.7 | |||
General Election 2001: South Antrim[11] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | David Burnside | 16,366 | 37.1 | −20.4 | |
DUP | William McCrea | 15,355 | 34.8 | 0.0 | |
SDLP | Sean A. McKee | 5,336 | 12.1 | −4.1 | |
Sinn Féin | Martin Meehan | 4,160 | 9.4 | +3.9 | |
Alliance | David Ford | 1,969 | 4.5 | −7.2 | |
NI Unionist | Norman Boyd | 972 | 2.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,011 | 2.3 | |||
Turnout | 44,158 | 62.5 | +4.6 | ||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
By-election 2000: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
DUP | William McCrea | 11,601 | 38.0 | N/A | |
UUP | David Burnside | 10,779 | 35.3 | −22.2 | |
SDLP | Donovan McClelland | 3,496 | 11.4 | −4.7 | |
Sinn Féin | Martin Meehan | 2,611 | 8.5 | +3.0 | |
Alliance | David Ford | 2,031 | 6.6 | −5.0 | |
Natural Law | David H. Collins | 49 | 0.2 | −0.3 | |
Majority | 822 | 2.7 | |||
Turnout | 30,567 | 43 | |||
DUP gain from UUP | Swing | 5.7 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
General Election 1997: South Antrim[12] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Clifford Forsythe | 23,108 | 57.5 | −13.9 | |
SDLP | Donovan McClelland | 6,497 | 16.2 | +3.4 | |
Alliance | David Ford | 4,668 | 11.6 | +0.7 | |
PUP | Hugh Smyth | 3,490 | 9.0 | N/A | |
Sinn Féin | Henry Cushinan | 2,229 | 5.5 | +2.5 | |
Natural Law | Barbara A. Briggs | 203 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 16,611 | 41.3 | |||
Turnout | 40,195 | 57.8 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1992: South Antrim[13] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Clifford Forsythe | 29,956 | 70.9 | +1.1 | |
SDLP | Donovan McClelland | 5,397 | 12.8 | +2.9 | |
Alliance | John K. Blair | 5,244 | 12.4 | −3.6 | |
Sinn Féin | Henry John Cushinan | 1,220 | 2.9 | −1.5 | |
Independent | Denis J. Dino Martin | 442 | 1.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 24,559 | 58.1 | |||
Turnout | 42,259 | 62.9 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1980s
General Election 1987: South Antrim[14] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Clifford Forsythe | 25,395 | 69.8 | +24.1 | |
Alliance | Gordon Mawhinney | 5,808 | 16.0 | +4.1 | |
SDLP | Donovan McClelland | 3,611 | 9.9 | +1.2 | |
Sinn Féin | Henry John Cushinan | 1,592 | 4.4 | +0.2 | |
Majority | 19,587 | 53.8 | |||
Turnout | 36,406 | 62.9 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
South Antrim by-election, 1986 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Clifford Forsythe | 30,087 | 94.1 | +48.4 | |
"For the Anglo-Irish Agreement" | "Peter Barry" | 1,870 | 5.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 28,217 | 88.3 | |||
Turnout | 31,957 | 53.5 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election 1983: South Antrim[15] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Clifford Forsythe | 17,727 | 45.7 | ||
DUP | Roy Thompson | 10,935 | 28.2 | ||
Alliance | Gordon Mawhinney | 4,612 | 11.9 | ||
SDLP | Alban Maginness | 3,377 | 8.7 | ||
Sinn Féin | Sean H. Laverty | 1,629 | 4.2 | ||
Workers' Party | Kevin Smyth | 549 | 1.4 | ||
Majority | 6,792 | 17.5 | |||
Turnout | 38,829 | 65.5 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1970s
General Election 1979: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | James Molyneaux | 50,782 | 69.0 | ||
Alliance | Charles Kinahan | 11,914 | 16.2 | ||
SDLP | Patrick Rowan | 7,432 | 10.1 | ||
United Labour Party | Bob Kidd | 1,895 | 2.6 | ||
Republican Clubs | Kevin Smyth | 1,615 | 2.2 | ||
Majority | 38,868 | 52.8 | |||
Turnout | 73,638 | 58.2 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election October 1974: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | James Molyneaux | 48,892 | 71.5 | ||
Alliance | Charles Kinahan | 10,460 | 15.3 | ||
SDLP | Patrick Rowan | 9,061 | 13.2 | ||
Majority | 38,432 | 56.2 | |||
Turnout | 68,413 | 58.1 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election February 1974: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | James Molyneaux | 48,203 | 67.6 | ||
Alliance | Charles Kinahan | 12,559 | 17.6 | ||
SDLP | Patrick John Rowan | 8,769 | 12.3 | ||
Independent | Bob Kidd | 1,801 | 2.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 35,644 | 50.0 | |||
Turnout | 71,332 | 61.1 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1970: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | James Molyneaux | 59,589 | 61.2 | ||
NI Labour | Robert Johnston | 19,971 | 20.5 | ||
Independent Unionist | Tom Caldwell | 10,938 | 11.2 | ||
National Democratic | Daniel MacAllister | 6,037 | 6.2 | ||
Liberal | Rodney Smith | 913 | 0.9 | ||
Majority | 39,618 | 40.7 | |||
Turnout | 97,448 | 68.0 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | 97,448 | |||
Elections in the 1960s
General Election 1966: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Knox Cunningham | 40,840 | 64.3 | ||
NI Labour | Sydney Stewart | 22,672 | 35.7 | ||
Majority | 18,168 | 28.6 | |||
Turnout | 63,512 | 55.9 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1964: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Knox Cunningham | 47,325 | 69.9 | ||
NI Labour | Sydney Stewart | 16,531 | 24.4 | ||
Independent Republican | Leo Wilson | 3,830 | 5.7 | ||
Majority | 30,794 | 45.5 | |||
Turnout | 67,686 | 64.3 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1950s
General Election 1959: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Knox Cunningham | 52,786 | 95.1 | ||
Sinn Féin | Michael Traynor | 2,745 | 4.9 | ||
Majority | 50,041 | 90.1 | |||
Turnout | 55,531 | 59.3 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1955: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Knox Cunningham | 50,347 | 90.7 | ||
Sinn Féin | Michael Traynor | 5,155 | 9.3 | ||
Majority | 45,192 | 81.4 | |||
Turnout | 55,502 | 65.3 | |||
UUP hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1951: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Douglas Lloyd Savory | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election 1950: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
UUP | Douglas Lloyd Savory | 41,023 | 83.6 | N/A | |
NI Labour | Edward Brown | 8,068 | 16.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 32,955 | 67.1 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 49,091 | 63.3 | N/A | ||
UUP win (new seat) | |||||
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1918: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Curtis Craig | 13,270 | 85.1 | N/A | |
Sinn Féin | Kevin Roantree O'Shiel | 2,318 | 14.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,952 | 70.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 15,558 | 67.1 | N/A | ||
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election Dec 1910: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Curtis Craig | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election January 1910: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Curtis Craig | 5,310 | 69.41 | N/A | |
Liberal | William Moffat Clow | 2,340 | 30.59 | N/A | |
Majority | 2,970 | 38.82 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 9,900 | 77.27 | N/A | ||
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1900s
General Election 1906: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Curtis Craig | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
South Antrim by-election, 1903 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | Charles Curtis Craig | 4,464 | 55.25 | +0.86 | |
Russellite Unionist | Samuel Robert Keightley | 3,615 | 44.75 | +44.75 | |
Majority | 849 | 10.51 | +1.73 | ||
Turnout | 10,236 | 78.93 | +13.86 | ||
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election 1900: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | William Grey Ellison Macartney | 3,674 | 54.39 | N/A | |
Independent Unionist | Samuel Lawther | 3,081 | 45.61 | N/A | |
Majority | 593 | 8.78 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,381 | 65.07 | N/A | ||
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1890s
General Election 1895: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | William Grey Ellison Macartney | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election 1892: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | William Grey Ellison Macartney | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1880s
General Election 1886: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Irish Unionist | William Grey Ellison Macartney | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
General Election 7 December 1885: South Antrim | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | William Grey Ellison Macartney | 5,047 | 57.83 | N/A | |
Liberal | John Doherty Barbour | 3,680 | 42.17 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,367 | 15.66 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,824 | 80.63 | N/A | ||
See also
References
- ↑ historic boundary changes
- ↑ South Antrim results 1973–1982
- ↑ Almanac of British Politics, 3rd ed, Robert Waller
- ↑ OPSI SI
- ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ↑ http://www.eoni.org.uk/Elections/Election-results-and-statistics/Election-results-and-statistics-2003-onwards/Elections-2015/UK-Parliamentary-Election-Results/UK-Parliamentary-Election-Result-Belfast-East-(13)
- ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ↑ Candidates, Sinn Féin
- ↑ Byrne: It's time for real change in South Antrim, SDLP
- ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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