Belfast West (Assembly constituency)

Belfast West
Borough Constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly
Belfast West shown within Northern Ireland
Districts	Belfast, Lisburn
Current constituency
Created	1973
Assembly Members	Alex Attwood (SDLP) Fra McCann (Sinn Féin) Jennifer McCann (Sinn Féin) Rosie McCorley (Sinn Féin) Sue Ramsey(Sinn Féin) Pat Sheehan (Sinn Féin)

Belfast West 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 Belfast West UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1973 to 1974, 1983 to 1986 and 2010-2011 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 Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency).

Members

Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)

In 1973, elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The six members elected from West Belfast were:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1973		John Laird (UUP)		Paddy Devlin (SDLP)		Desmond Gillespie (SDLP)		Jean Coulter (Vanguard)		Bob Cooper (Alliance Party)		Hugh Smyth (Independent Unionist)
1973	Anti-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 six members elected from West Belfast were:

Election	Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)
1975		John Laird (UUP)		Paddy Devlin (SDLP)		Joe Hendron (SDLP)		Jean Coulter (UUP)		Bob Cooper (Alliance Party)		Hugh Smyth (Independent Unionist)

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. West Belfast elected 4 members as follows:

Election	MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)		MLA (Party)
1982		Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin)		Will Glendinning (Alliance)		Joe Hendron (SDLP)		Thomas Passmore (UUP)

Northern Ireland Forum (1996)

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

Election	Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)		Name (Party)
1996		Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin)		Annie Armstrong (Sinn Féin)		Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin)		Dodie McGuinness (Sinn Féin)		Joe Hendron (SDLP)

Northern Ireland Assembly (1998–present)

Election
1998	Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin)	Bairbre De Brun (Sinn Féin)	Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin)	Sue Ramsey (Sinn Féin)	Joe Hendron (SDLP)	Alex Attwood (SDLP)
2003		Bairbre De Brun (Sinn Féin)	Fra McCann (Sinn Féin)	Michael Ferguson (Sinn Féin)	Diane Dodds (DUP)
November 2004 co-option		Sue Ramsey (Sinn Féin)		Michael Ferguson (Sinn Féin)	Diane Dodds (DUP)
2007				Paul Maskey (Sinn Féin)	Jennifer McCann (Sinn Féin)
December 2010 co-option	Pat Sheehan (Sinn Féin)
2011
July 2012 co-option				Rosie McCorley (Sinn Féin)
November 2014 co-option		Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin)		Rosie McCorley (Sinn Féin)

Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

2016

2016 Assembly election Belfast West
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1
	People Before Profit	Gerry Carroll ^[1]	22.9	8,299
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey	13.1	4,769
	Sinn Féin	Jennifer McCann	12.1	4,386
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann	11.1	4,028
	DUP	Frank McCoubrey	10.4	3,766
	Sinn Féin	Pat Sheehan	9.7	3,516
	Sinn Féin	Rosie McCorley	8.4	3,053
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	7.3	2,647
	UUP	Gareth Martin	1.8	654
	Workers' Party	Conor Campbell	1.5	532
	Green (NI)	Ellen Murray ^[2]	0.9	327
	Alliance	Jemima Higgins	0.8	291
Electorate: - Valid: - Spoilt: - Quota: 5,182 Turnout: 56.7%

2011

2011 Assembly election:^[3] Belfast West - 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
	Sinn Féin	Paul Maskey	15.4	5,343
	Sinn Féin	Jennifer McCann	15.1	5,239
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann	12.9	4,481	4,587.96	4,604.96	4,613.08	4,645.50	4,682.60	4,735.84	4,837.22	4,838.34	5,167.34
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	10.9	3,765	3,776.69	3,780.09	3,787.09	3,890.45	3,939.62	4,083.74	4,719.58	4,780.65	5,151.65
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey	11.9	4,116	4,340.28	4,350.88	4,358.19	4,377.40	4,394.47	4,407.47	4,423.94	4,433.99	4,683.90	4,823.06
	Sinn Féin	Pat Sheehan	10.8	3,723	3,737.35	3,960.50	3,971.78	3,996.39	4,016.61	4,029.73	4,051.85	4,054.90	4,249.77	4,327.19
	DUP	Brian Kingston	7.5	2,587	2,587.28	2,587.33	2,587.33	2,600.45	2,604.45	2,607.45	2,617.57	3,834.57	3,866.57	3,866.57
	People Before Profit	Gerry Carroll	4.8	1,661	1,664.85	1,665.85	1,701.85	1,732.85	1,853.97	1,939.09	1,977.31	1,999.31
	UUP	Bill Manwaring	4.2	1,471	1,471.21	1,471.36	1,473.36	1,503.41	1,512.41	1,517.41	1,526.41
	SDLP	Colin Keenan	2.3	802	803.26	804.41	807.41	853.58	878.63	981.82
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	1.7	586	586.63	587.03	590.10	607.24	644.38
	Socialist Party	Pat Lawlor	1.1	384	384.42	384.92	399.92	408.92
	Alliance	Dan McGuinness	1.1	365	367.66	368.76	370.76
	Independent	Brian Pelan	0.4	122	122.77	122.92
Electorate: 61,520 Valid: 34,645 Spoilt: 973 Quota: 4,950 Turnout: 35,618 (57.9%)

2007

2007 Assembly election: Belfast West - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	17.8	6,029
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey	14.0	4,715	5,266.60
	Sinn Féin	Paul Maskey	12.9	4,368	4,758.60	4,774.05	4,783.95	4,821.80	5,074.80
	Sinn Féin	Jennifer McCann	12.6	4,265	4,294.80	4,665.75	4,667.70	4,693.50	4,848.50
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	9.0	3,036	3,148.80	3,149.70	3,196.90	3,234.90	4,779.10
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann	12.6	4,254	4,323.80	4,344.95	4,353.80	4,378.00	4,646.85
	DUP	Diane Dodds	10.8	3,661	3,661.00	3,661.15	3,671.15	3,677.15	4,166.00
	SDLP	Margret Walsh	3.2	1,074	1,086.20	1,087.10	1,110.30	1,156.50
	People Before Profit	Seán Mitchell	2.3	774	789.00	789.60	830.40	968.80
	UUP	Louis West	1.7	558	558.80	558.80	579.80	581.80
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	1.3	434	440.00	440.45	452.65	452.65
	Republican Sinn Féin	Geraldine Taylor	1.3	427	429.00	429.45	437.05
	Alliance	Dan McGuinness	0.4	127	132.40	133.30
	Make Politicians History	Rainbow George	0.2	68	69.00	69.00
Electorate: 50,792 Valid: 33,790 Spoilt: 448 Quota: 4,828 Turnout: 34,238 (67.4%)

Note: All Republican Sinn Féin candidates appeared as Independent on the ballot paper.

2003

2003 Assembly election: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	18.9	6,199
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	11.2	3,667	3,796.60	3,901.04	3,956.28	6,096.28
	Sinn Féin	Bairbre de Brun	12.4	4,069	4,476.52	4,494.96	4,504.92	4,665.68	5,229.68
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann	13.0	4,263	4,337.16	4,360.88	4,363.36	4,525.00	4,905.00
	Sinn Féin	Michael Ferguson	11.7	3,849	3,912.84	3,921.56	3,945.12	4,000.00	4,117.00	4,346.00	4,448.60
	DUP	Diane Dodds	7.7	2,554	2,554.00	2,631.00	4,144.24	4,256.24	4,272.40	4,274.40	4,277.09
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey	9.1	2,988	3,673.20	3,699.68	3,705.92	3,768.84	3,923.84	4,084.84	4,190.29
	SDLP	Joe Hendron	7.9	2,583	2,654.28	2,849.72	3,108.72
	UUP	Chris McGimpsey	3.6	1,170	1,174.56	1,298.57
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	2.5	813	814.68	862.68
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	1.2	407	410.84
	Independent	John MacVicar	0.6	211	211.24
	Alliance	Dan McGuiness	0.2	75	78.20
	Independent	David Kerr	0.1	16	16.00
Electorate: 50,861 Valid: 32,854 Spoilt: 673 Quota: 4,694 Turnout: 33,527 (65.9%)

Note: David Kerr sought election as an Ulster Third Way candidate, and appeared as such on the ballot paper.

1998

1998 Assembly election: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	21.7	9,078
	SDLP	Joe Hendron	14.7	6,140
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey	9.4	3,946	5,223.15	5,235.00	5,236.44	5,253.27	5,262.62	5,276.34	7,371.34
	Sinn Féin	Bairbre de Brun	11.2	4,711	5,341.00	5,381.35	5,383.83	5,405.11	5,409.11	5,421.89	5,705.26	6,993.67
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey	10.3	4,330	4,831.20	4,852.35	4,856.41	4,889.20	4,901.27	4,909.82	5,242.20	5,324.61	6,328.43
	SDLP	Alex Attwood	10.2	4,280	4,647.85	4,738.25	4,838.85	5,117.87	5,127.22	5,234.49	5,327.61	5,343.69	5,349.52
	UUP	Chris McGimpsey	3.9	1,640	1,641.40	1,674.40	1,675.58	1,808.99	2,757.44	4,827.29	4,837.64	4,837.64	4,837.64
	Sinn Féin	Michael Ferguson	6.2	2,585	2,791.85	2,838.45	2,840.71	2,867.12	2,871.84	2,896.95
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	5.2	2,180	2,186.65	2,206.75	2,208.63	2,342.94	2,716.06
	DUP	Margaret Ferris	3.2	1,345	1,347.80	1,354.50	1,354.80	1,784.22
	UK Unionist	Thomas Dalzell-Sheridan	1.6	666	671.25	677.25	677.37
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	1.5	607	630.10	658.80	660.68
	Alliance	Dan McGuiness	0.3	129	165.40
	Independent	Mary Cahillane	0.3	128	151.80
	Natural Law	Michael Kennedy	0.1	29	31.45
Electorate: 50,861 Valid: 41,794 Spoilt: 960 Quota: 5,971 Turnout: 42,754 (70.5%)

Note: Mary Cahillane sought election as a Pro-Agreement Socialist candidate, and appeared as such on the ballot paper.

1996 Forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.^[4]

	Candidate(s)	Votes	Percentage
Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams Dodie McGuinness Alex Maskey Annie Armstrong Marie Moore	22,355	53.4
SDLP	Joe Hendron Alex Attwood Margaret Walsh Patricia Lewsley Mary Muldoon	11,087	26.5
PUP	Hugh Smyth Mina Wardle	1,982	4.7
DUP	Eric Smyth Margaret Ferris	1,769	4.2
UUP	Fred Parkinson John McDonald	1,489	3.6
Workers' Party	John Lowry Jim Pollock	984	2.4
Ulster Democratic	Frank McCoubrey Delwyn Williams	848	2.0
Alliance	Dan McGuinness Patricia Mallon Glyn Roberts	340	0.8
Labour coalition	Mary Cahillane Isabel Cowan Barbara Lynn Brian McDermott Terence McDonagh	319	0.8
NI Women's Coalition	Vera McKee Mary Catney Ann Hall Julie Cullen	252	0.6
Green (NI)	Jude Stephens Philip Kearney David Taylor	156	0.4
NI Conservatives	Charles Balmer David Munster	60	0.1
Independent DUP	Florence Baxter William Clements	36	0.1
Ulster Independence	Kenneth McClinton Clifford Peoples	43	0.1
Democratic Left	Mary McMahon Freddie Rea	37	0.1
Natural Law	Michael Kennedy Vivien Martin	30	0.1
Communist Party	Barry Bruton Daniella Egerton	28	0.1
Independent Voice	Bernard McGrath Susan McGrath	26	0.1
Independent Chambers	Ruth Patty Richard Stewart	12	0.0

1982

1982 Assembly Election: Belfast West - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	28.4	9,740
	SDLP	Joe Hendron	15.2	5,207	5,309.30	6,003.30	7,965.30
	UUP	Thomas Passmore	13.1	4,505	4,505.00	4,509.00	5,128.00	5,130.00	5,131.86	5,151.79	5,165.55
	Alliance	Will Glendinning	8.0	2,733	2,764.50	2,805.10	2,847.10	3,072.70	3,651.16	4,525.99	5,163.20
	DUP	Billy Dickson	12.8	4,394	4,396.10	4,399.10	4,849.40	4,866.40	4,869.09	4,892.81	4,918.60
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey	1.8	627	3,240.00	3,326.20	3,326.20	3,397.60	3,565.93	3,824.22
	Workers' Party	Mary McMahon	7.3	2,493	2,512.80	2,566.90	2,580.90	2,662.80	3,017.13
	SDLP	Cormac Boomer	6.3	2,145	2,204.40	2,452.50	2,454.50
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	3.7	1,255	1,255.30	1,256.30
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	3.0	1,016	1,024.10
	People's Democracy	John McAnulty	0.4	144	161.10
Electorate: 57,726 Valid: 34,259 Spoilt: 1,819 Quota: 6,852 Turnout: 36,078 (62.50%)

1975 Constitutional Convention

1975 Constitutional Convention: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	UUP	John Laird	23.6	8,433
	SDLP	Paddy Devlin	17.5	6,267
	UUP	Jean Coulter	6.5	2,325	4,209.48	4,209.48	4,226.65	4,235.65	5,710.65
	Alliance	Bob Cooper	9.2	3,293	3,362.81	3,495.11	3,679.76	4,341.58	4,428.25	4,472.89	4,915.13
	SDLP	Joe Hendron	8.0	2,840	2,841.56	3,058.82	3,180.76	3,607.50	3,611.04	3,611.66	4,901.95
	Independent Unionist	Hugh Smyth	7.4	2,644	3,235.63	3,236.35	3,252.92	3,256.31	4,127.80	4,684.56	4,693.55
	SDLP	Desmond Gillespie	5.6	1,986	1,988.73	2,506.59	2,652.23	3,254.10	3,257.10	3,257.72	4,513.76
	SDLP	Paschal O'Hare	6.9	2,452	2,453.95	2,578.87	2,691.07	3,115.67	3,118.63	3,121.11
	DUP	Edith Goligher	5.5	1,958	2,668.19	2,669.63	2,686.41	2,688.59
	Independent	Thomas Conaty	5.7	2,052	2,052.78	2,133.96	2,302.18
	Republican Clubs	John Sullivan	1.8	660	661.17	676.29
	Republican Clubs	John Brady	1.2	418	418,78	432.82
	Republican Clubs	Bernard McDonagh	0.7	262	263.17	268.21
	Communist Party	John Morris	0.2	86	86.00	87.62
	Communist Party	Peter Kerrins	0.1	44	44.78	45.50
Electorate: 63,869 Valid: 37,514 (58.7%) Spoilt: 1,794 Quota: 5,103 Turnout: 35,720

Note: John Laird, Jean Coulter and Edith Goligher were all UUUC endorsed candidates.

1973

1973 Assembly Election: Belfast West
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
	UUP	John Laird	27.7	11,479
	SDLP	Paddy Devlin	18.7	7,743
	Independent Unionist	Hugh Smyth	8.8	3,625	5,997.09
	Vanguard	Jean Coulter	4.3	1,765	3,606.42	3,606.42	3,634.31	3,638.30	3,704.33	3,707.56	5,610.71	6,281.71
	Alliance	Bob Cooper	7.6	3,160	3,262.90	3,374.22	3,374.89	3,382.61	3,637.01	3,810.76	3,866.68	5,042.61	5,221.61	5,378.06	5,597.46
	SDLP	Desmond Gillespie	4.7	1,940	1,940.00	2,520.29	2,520.30	2,527.93	2,590.38	2,953.00	2,953.49	2,993.58	2,994.58	3,404.51	4,961.35
	SDLP	Gerry Campbell	4.3	1,764	1,764.49	2,269.34	2,268.35	2,277.35	2,325.48	2,698.95	2,699.95	2,835.67	2,837.67	3,320.88	4,399.77
	SDLP	Desmond O'Donnell	5.1	2,112	2,113.47	2,341.17	2,321.17	2,353.40	2,394.93	2,734.28	2,734.78	2,763.39	2,764.39	3,037.25
	Republican Clubs	Raymond O'Hagan	3.4	1,389	1,389.00	1,438.91	1,438.91	1,465.37	2,134.58	2,537.47	2,538.47	2,563.10	2,564.10
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	4.7	1,942	2,204.15	2,214.73	2,216.67	2,237.90	2,333.56	2,388.08	2,538.10
	DUP	Willam Spence	3.3	1,366	2,270.05	2,270.05	2,286.85	2,293.62	2,236.40	2,239.40
	Republican Labour	Paddy Kennedy	4.2	1,750	1,750.49	1,970.37	1,970.37	1,984.60	2,036.94
	Republican Clubs	John O'Hare	1.7	702	703.47	715.43	715.44	725.44
	Alliance	Reginald Donnelly	0.5	194	202.33	223.49	223.51	225.00
	Alliance	Maureen Smyth	0.4	169	232.70	238.22	238.67	242.67
	NI Labour	Patrick Doherty	0.4	151	152.47	172.02	172.03	174.03
	Communist Party	James Stewart	0.3	123	130.35	131.96	132.20
Electorate: 70,791 Valid: 44,208 Spoilt: 2,834 Quota: 5,911 Turnout: 41,374

Note: John Laird, Hugh Smyth, Jean Coulter and William Spence used the label "West Belfast Loyalist Coalition" simultaneously whilst standing under different party affiliations.

References

↑ "People Before Profit - North". People Before Profit Alliance. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
↑ "Ellen Murray". Anthony Flynn. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
↑ http://www.eoni.org.uk/index/elections/elections-2011-results-and-statistics/ni-assembly-election-2011-results-by-stage.htm
↑ 1996 Candidates – West Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections

Sources

Northern Ireland Assembly

Assembly	Speaker Assembly Commission Acts Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Parliament Buildings

Committees	Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister Agriculture and Rural Development Culture, Arts and Leisure Education Employment and Learning Enterprise, Trade and Investment Environment Finance and Personnel Health, Social Services and Public Safety Regional Development Social Development

Constituencies	Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West East Antrim East Londonderry Fermanagh and South Tyrone Foyle Lagan Valley Mid Ulster Newry and Armagh North Antrim North Down South Antrim South Down Strangford Upper Bann West Tyrone

Parties	Current: Alliance Democratic Unionist Green NI21 Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Traditional Unionist Voice UKIP Ulster Unionist

Elections	1998 2003 2007 2011 2016

Procedure	Cross-community vote

See also	Good Friday Agreement St Andrews Agreement

Coordinates: 54°35′11″N 6°00′06″W / 54.58639°N 6.00167°W / 54.58639; -6.00167

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