Belfast Dock (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°36′47″N 5°55′44″W / 54.613°N 5.929°W / 54.613; -5.929

Belfast Dock
Former Borough Constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast Dock shown within Belfast and Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1973
Election method	First past the post

Belfast Dock was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Belfast Dock was a borough constituency comprising part of northern Belfast. It was created in 1929 when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland.

Belfast Dock was created by the division of Belfast East into four new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.^[1]

The boundaries were the same as the former Dock ward. This meant that the boundary ran from Carlisle Circus, along Clifton Street, up North Queen Street, along Great George's Street, along the Belfast Lough, along Brougham Street and Duncairn Gardens and from the top of Duncairn Gardens, along the Antrim Road to Carlisle Circus. Consequently, the constituency was almost identical to the current New Lodge ward.

The constituency is now part of Belfast North.

Politics

The constituency was one of the most marginal in the Northern Ireland Parliament changing hands at every election until 1965. In the five elections from 1933 to 1953 the incumbent member lost his seat. ^[1]

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1929	Charles Blakiston-Houston	Ulster Unionist Party
1933	Harry Midgley	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1938	George Anthony Clark	Ulster Unionist Party
1945	Hugh Downey	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1949	Thomas Loftus Cole	Ulster Unionist Party
1953	Murtagh Morgan	Irish Labour Party
1958	William Oliver	Ulster Unionist Party
1962	Gerry Fitt	Irish Labour Party
1965		Republican Labour Party
1970		Social Democratic and Labour Party
1973	Constituency abolished

Elections results

Northern Ireland 1921–72

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General Election 22 May 1929: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Charles Blakiston-Houston	4,035	46.6	N/A
	NI Labour	Dawson Gordon	3,003	34.7	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Woods Gyle	1,619	18.7	N/A
Majority			1,032	11.9	N/A
Turnout				73.7	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Harry Midgley	4,893	57.0	+22.3
	UUP	Charles Blakiston-Houston	3,685	43.0	-3.6
Majority			1,208	14.0	+2.1
Turnout				77.5	+3.8
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Anthony Clark	3,578	42.6	-0.4
	Nationalist	James Collins	2,891	34.5	N/A
	NI Labour	Harry Midgley	1,943	22.9	-34.1
Majority			687	8.1	-5.9
Turnout				82.5	+5.0
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 14 June 1945: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Hugh Downey	3,985	57.7	+34.8
	UUP	George Anthony Clark	2,924	42.3	-0.3
Majority			1,061	15.4	+7.3
Turnout				78.5	-4.0
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,674	52.0	+9.7
	NI Labour	Hugh Downey	3,390	48.0	-9.7
Majority			284	4.0	-11.4
Turnout				79.8	+1.3
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 22 October 1953: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Murtagh Morgan	3,537	51.3	N/A
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,358	48.7	-3.3
Majority			179	2.6	-1.4
Turnout				75.9	-3.9
	Irish Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Oliver	3,156	52.1	+3.4
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	2,900	47.9	-3.4
Majority			256	4.2	-1.6
Turnout				73.9	-2.0
	UUP gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,288	54.2	+6.3
	UUP	William Oliver	2,781	45.8	-6.3
Majority			507	8.4	+4.2
Turnout				77.9	+4.0
	Irish Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,326	62.3	N/A
	UUP	William Oliver	2,016	37.7	-8.1
Majority			1,310	24.6	+16.2
Turnout				70.3	-7.6
	Republican Labour gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,274	62.8	+0.5
	UUP	Harold E. Smith	1,936	37.2	-0.5
Majority			1,338	25.6	+1.0
Turnout				72.2	-1.9
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

References

1 2 The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast

Parliament of Northern Ireland constituencies

1921–1929	1929–1973

Antrim	Antrim Borough Bannside Carrick Larkfield (from 1969) Larne Mid Antrim Newtownabbey (from 1969) North Antrim South Antrim

Armagh	Central Armagh Mid Armagh North Armagh South Armagh

Belfast East	Belfast Bloomfield Belfast Dock Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria

Belfast North	Belfast Clifton Belfast Duncairn Belfast Oldpark Belfast Shankill

Belfast South	Belfast Ballynafeigh Belfast Cromac Belfast Willowfield Belfast Windsor

Belfast West	Belfast Central Belfast Falls Belfast St Anne's Belfast Woodvale

Down	Ards Bangor (from 1969) East Down Iveagh Lagan Valley (from 1969) Mid Down Mourne North Down South Down West Down

Fermanagh and Tyrone	East Tyrone Enniskillen Lisnaskea Mid Tyrone North Tyrone South Fermanagh South Tyrone West Tyrone

Londonderry	City of Londonderry Foyle Mid Londonderry North Londonderry South Londonderry

Queen's University	Queen's University (to 1969)

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