North Down (Assembly constituency)

North Down
County Constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly
North Down shown within Northern Ireland
Districts	Ards and North Down
Current constituency
Created	1973
Assembly Members	Steven Agnew Leslie Cree Gordon Dunne Alex Easton Stephen Farry Peter Weir

North Down is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. It usually shares boundaries with the North Down UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1983 to 1986 as the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes and from 1996 to 1997 when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983–95 constituency boundaries, was still in session.

Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998.

For further details of the history and boundaries of the constituency, see North Down (UK Parliament constituency).

Members

Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)

In 1973, elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The seven members elected from North Down were:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1973		John Brooke (UUP)		William Brownlow (UUP)		Robert Campbell (UUP)		James Kilfedder (UUP)		Charles Poots (DUP)		Lord Dunleath (Alliance Party)		Bertie McConnell (Alliance Party)
	Pro-Sunningdale

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975)

In 1975, elections were held to a Constitutional Convention which sought (unsuccessfully) to generate a consensus on the future of the province. The seven members elected from North Down were:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1975		John Taylor (UUP)		James Kilfedder (UUP)		Viscount Brookeborough (UPNI)		George Green (Vanguard)		Charles Poots (DUP)		Lord Dunleath (Alliance Party)		Bertie McConnell (Alliance Party)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)

In 1982, elections were held for an Assembly for Northern Ireland to hold the Secretary of State to account, in the hope that this would be the first step towards restoring devolution. North Down elected 8 members as follows:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1982		John Taylor (UUP)		William Bleakes (UUP)		Robert McCartney (UUP)		James Kilfedder (UPUP)		Lord Dunleath (Alliance Party)		John Cushnahan (Alliance Party)		Simpson Gibson (DUP)		Wesley Pentland (DUP)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Forum (1996)

In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Down. They were as follows:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1996		Alan McFarland (UUP)		Peter Weir (UUP)		St Clair McAlister (DUP)		Robert McCartney (UKUP)		Oliver Napier (Alliance Party)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Northern Ireland Assembly (1998–present)

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1998		Robert McCartney (UK Unionist)		John Gorman (UUP)		Alan McFarland (UUP)		Peter Weir (UUP / DUP)		Eileen Bell (Alliance Party)		Jane Morrice (NI Women's Coalition)
2003				Leslie Cree (UUP)								Alex Easton (DUP)
2007		Brian Wilson (Greens)								Stephen Farry (Alliance Party)
2011		Steven Agnew (Greens)				Gordon Dunne (DUP)

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

2016

2016 Assembly election: North Down
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1
	Green (NI)	Steven Agnew
	TUV	John Brennan
	SDLP	Conal Browne
	UUP	Chris Eisenstadt
	UUP	Alan Chambers
	DUP	Gordon Dunne
	DUP	Alex Easton
	Alliance	Stephen Farry
	NI Labour	Maria Lourenco
	Sinn Féin	Therese McCartney
	UUP	Carl McClean
	Alliance	Andrew Muir
	UKIP	Bill Piper[1]
	NI Conservatives	Frank Shivers
	DUP	Peter Weir
	Independent	Brian Wilson

2011

2011 Assembly election: North Down - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11
	DUP	Alex Easton	18.4%	5,175
	DUP	Gordon Dunne	13.3%	3,741	4,121
	DUP	Peter Weir	12.4%	3,496	4,101
	UUP	Leslie Cree	5.6%	1,585	1,609	1,610	1,678	1,692	2,796	2,853	3,310	3,361	4,410
	Alliance	Stephen Farry	11.1%	3,131	3,153	3,173	3,218	3,486	3,515	3,522	3,739	3,745	4,078
	Green (NI)	Steven Agnew	7.9%	2,207	2,220	2,262	2,315	2,553	2,605	2,615	2,812	2,820	3,193	3,229
	Alliance	Anne Wilson	7.5%	2,100	2,115	2,134	2,172	2,448	2,483	2,492	2,659	2,664	3,078	3,130
	Independent	Alan McFarland	6.7%	1,879	1,905	1,911	2,012	2,048	2,083	2,095	2,604	2,619
	Independent	Alan Chambers	6.3%	1,765	1,795	1,796	1,862	1,894	1,980	1,989
	UUP	Colin Breen	4.8%	1,343	1,359	1,360	1,443	1,449
	SDLP	Liam Logan	2.7%	768	772	953	961
	UKIP	Fred McGlade	2.2%	615	624	624
	Sinn Féin	Conor Kennan	1.0%	293	295
Electorate: 62,170   Valid: 28,098   Spoilt: 430 (1.51%)   Quota: 4,015   Turnout: 45.89%

2007

2007 Assembly election: North Down – 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	DUP	Alex Easton	16.1%	4,946
	Alliance	Stephen Farry	10.2%	3,131	3,135	3,144	3,202	3,337	3,511	3,875	4,466
	UUP	Leslie Cree	9.6%	2,937	2,953	2,966	3,017	3,112	3,393	3,466	3,531	3,789	4,687
	Green (NI)	Brian Wilson	9.2%	2,839	2,843	2,855	2,928	3,059	3,209	3,472	4,113	4,334	4,572
	DUP	Peter Weir	11.0%	3,376	3,507	3,513	3,566	3,615	3,688	3,749	3,755	4,231	4,380
	UUP	Alan McFarland	7.3%	2,245	2,251	2,253	2,283	2,402	2,481	2,579	2,641	2,941	3,986
	DUP	Alan Graham	7.0%	2,147	2,501	2,509	2,560	2,595	2,701	2,737	2,746	3,185	3,255
	UUP	Marion Smith	6.8%	2,098	2,103	2,107	2,163	2,234	2,331	2,398	2,457	2,641
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	5.9%	1,806	1,816	1,824	1,862	1,950	2,044	2,099	2,119
	SDLP	Liam Logan	3.6%	1,115	1,116	1,118	1,382	1,399	1,427	1,674
	Independent	Brian Rowan	3.9%	1,194	1,195	1,202	1,241	1,290	1,376
	Independent	Alan Chambers	3.7%	1,129	1,133	1,172	1,190	1,257
	NI Conservatives	James Leslie	2.8%	864	866	872	888
	Sinn Féin	Deaglan Page	1.3%	390	390	391
	PUP	Elaine Martin	1.2%	367	371	376
	Independent	Christopher Carter	0.4%	123	124
Electorate: 57,525   Valid: 30,707   Spoilt: 223 (0.72%)   Quota: 4,387   Turnout: 53.77%

2003

2003 Assembly election: North Down – 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11	Count 12	Count 13	Count 14
	UUP	Leslie Cree	12.6%	3,900	3,908	3,919	3,920	3,950	3,989	4,019	4,032	4,073	4,305	4,402	4,482
	Alliance	Eileen Bell	6.3%	1,951	1,957	1,962	1,970	1,983	1,992	2,008	2,595	2,820	2,946	3,602	4,137	5,237
	UUP	Alan McFarland	11.1%	3,421	3,429	3,437	3,439	3,467	3,514	3,557	3,570	3,606	3,730	3,833	4,083	4,292	4,502
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	10.9%	3,374	3,387	3,485	3,488	3,513	3,590	3,639	3,648	3,675	3,847	3,912	4,046	4,072	4,102
	DUP	Peter Weir	11.9%	3,675	3,681	3,704	3,704	3,761	3,802	3,822	3,826	3,839	3,906	3,922	4,018	4,026	4,031
	DUP	Alex Easton	11.6%	3,570	3,579	3,589	3,589	3,611	3,650	3,663	3,667	3,689	3,770	3,783	3,821	3,827	3,839
	UUP	Diana Peacocke	8.3%	2,566	2,568	2,587	2,589	2,623	2,636	2,677	2,688	2,729	2,795	2,934	3,065	3,258	3,418
	SDLP	Liam Logan	4.9%	1,519	1,522	1,523	1,732	1,734	1,738	1,741	1,785	1,851	1,870	2,077	2,158
	Independent	Brian Wilson	4.4%	1,350	1,355	1,357	1,359	1,371	1,415	1,429	1,437	1,489	1,598	1,718
	NI Women's Coalition	Jane Morrice	3.8%	1,181	1,188	1,192	1,201	1,219	1,242	1,259	1,287	1,478	1,587
	Independent	Alan Chambers	3.5%	1,077	1,099	1,102	1,102	1,119	1,185	1,206	1,214	1,242
	Green (NI)	John Barry	2.4%	730	733	734	748	762	768	786	800
	Alliance	Stephen Farry	2.3%	704	708	711	722	728	740	751
	NI Conservatives	Julian Robertson	1.6%	491	492	497	497	501	508
	Independent	Alan Field	1.4%	428	430	432	432	448
	PUP	David Rose	1.0%	316	317	327	327
	Sinn Féin	Maria George	0.9%	264	265	265
	UKIP	Tom Sheridan	0.7%	209	210
	Independent	Christopher Carter	0.4%	109
Electorate: 57,422   Valid: 30,835   Spoilt: 481 (1.54%)   Quota: 4,406   Turnout: 54.54%

1998

1998 Assembly election: North Down – 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11	Count 12
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	21.9%	8,188
	UUP	Alan McFarland	12.5%	4,653	4,856	4,984	5,108	5,274	5,466
	UUP	John Gorman	12.6%	4,719	4,798	4,922	4,954	5,049	5,346
	Alliance	Eileen Bell	9.8%	3,669	3,686	3,795	3,801	4,269	4,374	4,579	4,588	5,985
	NI Women's Coalition	Jane Morrice	4.8%	1,808	1,836	1,918	1,932	2,056	2,232	2,460	2,478	2,720	3,028	3,086	4,898
	UUP	Peter Weir	7.4%	2,775	2,851	2,890	2,930	3,050	3,180	3,664	3,748	3,920	4,122	4,593	4,751
	DUP	Alan Graham	4.2%	1,558	1,829	1,880	2,748	2,778	2,929	3,137	3,147	3,168	3,171	4,424	4,443
	SDLP	Marietta Farrell	5.5%	2,048	2,051	2,085	2,086	2,134	2,194	2,237	2,239	2,327	2,450	2,458
	UK Unionist	Elizabeth Roche	0.5%	173	1,798	1,847	1,993	2,019	2,063	2,225	2,230	2,256	2,265
	Alliance	Gavin Walker	4.6%	1,699	1,710	1,753	1,758	1,910	1,966	2,089	2,095
	Ulster Independence	Alan Chambers	3.7%	1,382	1,455	1,532	1,554	1,645	1,751
	PUP	Stewart Currie	3.7%	1,376	1,416	1,522	1,556	1,583
	Independent	Brian Wilson	3.6%	1,327	1,361	1,389	1,396
	DUP	St Clair McAlister	2.7%	1,013	1,291	1,354
	NI Conservatives	Leonard Fee	0.9%	337	365
	Ulster Democratic	Tom Lindsay	0.7%	265	295
	Labour Party NI	Vanessa Baird-Gunning	0.6%	212	218
	Independent	Christopher Carter	0.2%	72	77
	Natural Law	Andrea Gribben	0.1%	39	42
Electorate: 62,942   Valid: 37,313   Spoilt: 561 (1.48%)   Quota: 5,331   Turnout: 60.17%

1996 Forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.^[2]

Party		Candidate(s)	Votes	Percentage
	UUP	Peter Weir Alan McFarland Roy Bradford John Shields Irene Cree	9,270	25.6
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney Valerie Kinghan Patricia Watson	7,579	20.9
	DUP	St Clair McAlister Ruby Cooling Cecil Noble	6,699	18.5
	Alliance	Oliver Napier Brian Wilson Eileen Bell Larry Thompson Jane Copeland	6,186	17.1
	SDLP	Owen Adams John Burke	1,798	5.0
	PUP	Victor Ash Samuel Curry Neil Mehaffy Kenneth Sterrit	1,694	4.7
	Ulster Democratic	James McCullough Thomas Lindsay	651	1.8
	NI Women's Coalition	Emma McGuigan Ann Marie Foster Jane Morrice	496	1.4
	NI Conservatives	Ann Thompson Bruce Mulligan	444	1.2
	Independent Chambers	Alan Chambers James Arbuthnot Robert Irvine	334	0.9
	Green (NI)	Paddy McEvoy Mary Ringland	283	0.8
	Sinn Féin	Mairtin O Mulleoir John Smith	275	0.8
	Labour coalition	John Magennis Sean McGouran	171	0.5
	Independent DUP	Thomas O'Brien William Baxter	97	0.3
	Democratic Left	Daryl Armitage Tim Davis	95	0.3
	Workers' Party	Dessie O'Hagan Colum Mullan	60	0.2
	Ulster Independence	Geoffrey Watson Glenn Pollock	49	0.1
	Independent Voice	Christopher Carter Fidelma Carter	49	0.1
	Natural Law	Peter McGowan Thomas Mullins	15	0.0

1982 Assembly Election

1982 Assembly Election: North Down - 8 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11	Count 12	Count 13
	Ulster Popular Unionist	James Kilfedder	25.6%	13,958
	UUP	John Taylor	10.7%	5,852	7,258
	DUP	Simpson Gibson	8.2%	4,500	4,856	4,913	4,942	4,985	6,391
	Alliance	John Cushnahan	8.1%	4,416	4,492	4,501	4,502	4,936	4,943	6,068	6,069
	Alliance	Lord Dunleath	7.0%	3,841	4,210	4,284	4,293	4,881	4,919	5,960	5,961	6,161
	DUP	Wesley Pentland	6.1%	3,340	3,621	3,705	3,723	3,761	4,089	4,097	4,345	4,486	6,930
	UUP	Robert McCartney	6.9%	3,782	4,403	4,583	4,606	4,997	5,015	5,030	5,033	5,860	5,978	6,131
	UUP	William Bleakes	4.9%	2,692	2,930	3,028	3,049	3,202	3,241	3,244	3,246	4,401	4,778	5,278	5,336	5,383
	Ulster Popular Unionist	George Green	1.8%	958	4,266	4,472	4,508	4,596	4,679	4,685	4,689	4,967	5,126	5,330	5,364	5,377
	DUP	Charles Poots	5.1%	2,811	3,024	3,083	3,100	3,124	3,315	3,318	3,362	3,436
	UUP	Hazel Bradford	3.6%	1,966	2,448	2,694	2,722	2,931	3,028	3,033	3,037
	SDLP	Patrick Doherty	4.6%	2,536	2,546	2,547	2,549	2,567	2,568
	DUP	Thomas Gourley	3.8%	2,060	2,277	2,315	2,333	2,392
	Alliance	Brian Wilson	1.9%	1,055	1,118	1,135	1,136
	UUP	David McNarry	1.2%	671	827	924	936
	UUUP	Robert Gabbey	0.3%	181	217	228
Electorate: 103,619   Valid: 54,619   Spoilt: 1,182 (2.12%)   Quota: 6,069   Turnout: 55,801 (53.85%)

1975 Constitutional Convention

1975 Constitutional Convention election: North Down - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	UUP	James Kilfedder	37.5%	21,693
	UUP	John Taylor	12.5%	7,238
	Vanguard	George Green	7.6%	4,408	8,063
	DUP	Charles Poots	5.1%	2,962	6,778	7,072	7,137	7,209	7,228
	Alliance	Lord Dunleath	8.0%	4,616	5,109	5,119	5,201	5,569	7,182	9,226
	Alliance	Bertie McConnell	5.4%	3,099	3,420	3,427	3,549	3,619	4,377	5,710	7,064
	Unionist Party NI	Viscount Brookeborough	6.1%	3,555	4,435	4,459	4,873	6,340	6,416	6,480	6,535
	UUP	Neil Oliver	2.2%	1,257	5,727	6,180	6,333	6,453	6,494	6,508	6,515
	SDLP	Sean Hollywood	6.9%	3,988	4,005	4,006	4,014	4,056	4,150
	Alliance	Keith Jones	4.2%	2,424	2,550	2,553	2,586	2,646
	Unionist Party NI	William Brownlow	2.8%	1,638	1,939	1,950	2,281
	Unionist Party NI	Robert Campbell	1.6%	901	1,263	1,288
Electorate: 93,884   Valid: 57,779   Spoilt: 989 (1.68%)   Quota: 7,223   Turnout: 62.60%

1973 Assembly Election

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	UUP	Jim Kilfedder	20,684	Elected
	UUP	John Brooke	6,160	Elected
	Alliance	Lord Dunleath	4,482	Elected
	DUP	Charles Poots	4,364	Elected
	UUP	Robert Campbell	3,760	Elected
	Alliance	Bertie McConnell	3,271	Elected
	SDLP	Patrick McHenry	2,833	Not elected
	UUP	William Brownlow	2,620	Elected
	Vanguard	George Green	2,425	Not elected
	UUP	Andrew Donaldson	1,950	Not elected
	UUP	Kathleen McClure	1,796	Not elected
	Alliance	Cecilia Linehan	1,493	Not elected
	NI Labour	William Allen	1,354	Not elected
	Vanguard	Kenneth Leckey	1,290	Not elected
	UUP	Hans Jess	1,227	Not elected
	Alliance	John Marks	699	Not elected
	NI Labour	Kenneth Young	601	Not elected
	Vanguard	David Trimble	446	Not elected

References

2. 1996 Candidates – North Down, Northern Ireland Elections]

Coordinates: 54°37′53″N 5°40′52″W / 54.63139°N 5.68111°W