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==Westminster elections==
==Westminster elections==


The [[Member of Parliament]] since the [[UK general election, 2001|2001 general election]] is [[Nigel Dodds]]of the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]. He defeated [[Cecil Walker]] of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] who had sat for the seat since [[UK general election, 1983|1983]].
The [[Member of Parliament]] since the [[UK general election, 2001|2001 general election]] is [[Nigel Dodds]] of the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]. He defeated [[Cecil Walker]] of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] who had sat for the seat since [[UK general election, 1983|1983]].


===MPs since 1922===
===MPs since 1922===

Revision as of 20:48, 28 July 2004

North Belfast is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Boundaries

The seat was created in 1922 when as part of the establishement of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the north section of Belfast, though at times the area around the Docks on the north side of the Lagan Estuary has instead been part of variously East Belfast and West Belfast. North Belfast also contains part of the district of Newtownabbey.

Proposed Boundary changes

At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. North Belfast currently has one of the smallest electorates of any constituency in Northern Ireland and it is proposed to expand it further into Newtownabbey, taking in areas currently contained in both East Antrim and South Antrim.

Westminster elections

The Member of Parliament since the 2001 general election is Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party. He defeated Cecil Walker of the Ulster Unionist Party who had sat for the seat since 1983.

MPs since 1922

Assemblies and Forum elections

The six MLAs for the consituency elected in the 2003 election are:

In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:

Changes 1998-2003

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

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 Blefast elected 5 members as follows:

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 North Belfast were:

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

Politics and History of the constituency

North Belfast has a unionist majority though the nationalist vote is considerable. It has generated particular interest for a number of highly unusual elections results, as well as for several candidates and MPs prominently disagreeing with their parties.

Of the five main political parties in Northern Ireland, four (the Ulster Unionist Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Fein) all have relatively strong support bases and routinely poll similar results. Other parties such as the Alliance, Progressive Unionist Party, Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, Conservatives and the Workers' Party have at times polled significantly, as have independent candidates, with the result that many elections have been won on comparitively low shares of the vote. The elections to the various assemblies have often seen the seats for the constituency heavily split - in 1998 no party won more than one Assembly seat.

The seat was consistently held by the Ulster Unionist Party from its creation until the 1970s. In 1972 the first notable dissent occurred when the sitting MP, Stratton Mills, dissented from the UUP's decision to withdraw from the Conservative whip at Westminster over the suspension of the Stormont Parliament. Mills remained as a Conservative MP, but the following year Mills joined the Alliance, giving them their only Westminster representation to date.

In the February 1974 general election the seat was won by John Carson of the Ulster Unionist Party with backing by the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party on a united slate in opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement. Carson's victory came despite a majority of votes being cast for pro Sunningdale candidates, albeit split between the Pro Assembly Unionists, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Northern Ireland Labour Party. Carson held his seat in the October 1974 election but was deselected by the local Ulster Unionists over his support for the minority Labour government.

The 1979 general election saw one of the most dramatic results of all when Johnny McQuade of the Democratic Unionist Party won the seat with a mere 27.6% of the vote - the third lowest total for a successful candidate in a UK general election in the twentieth century. This came about due to the strong showing of several other parties, dividng the vote strongly. McQuade also had the distinction of being the oldest person to be initially elected to Westminster in the 20th century and did not restand at the next general election.

In 1983, Cecil Walker regained the seat for the UUP, beating George Seawright of the DUP. In the 1987 general election the UUP and DUP agreed a pact in opposition to the Anglo Irish Agreement. Seawright had been expelled from the DUP and stood in the election, reviving the Protestant Unionist Party label, but was unsuccessful.

Walker continued to hold the seat until 2001 but gained a reputation for inactivity. In the 2001 general election the DUP contested the seat for the first time since 1983, with their candidate Nigel Dodds campaigning heavily on both their opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and Walker's record. Walker also suffered from a disastrous television interview during the campaign. In the election Walker's vote collapsed to a mere 12%, coming fourth whilst Dodds won the seat. The UUP vote fell even further in the 2003 Assembly election and it seems extremely doubtful that they will retake the seat at the next general election.

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