From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Belfast West Borough constituency
Belfast West shown within Northern Ireland
Created:	1885, 1922
MP:	Gerry Adams
Party:	Sinn Féin
Type:	House of Commons
Districts:	Belfast, Lisburn
EP constituency:	Northern Ireland

For other constituencies of the same name, see Belfast West.

Belfast West is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons.

Contents 1 Boundaries 1.1 Proposed boundary changes 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Election results 4.1 Elections in the 2000s 4.2 Elections in the 1990s 4.3 Elections in the 1980s 4.4 Elections in the 1970s 4.5 Elections in the 1960s 4.6 Elections in the 1950s 4.7 Elections in the 1940s 4.8 Elections in the 1930s 4.9 Elections in the 1920s 4.10 Elections in the 1910s 4.11 Elections in the 1900s 4.12 Elections in the 1890s 4.13 Elections in the 1880s 5 Sources 6 See also

The seat was created in 1922 when as part of the establishment 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 west section of Belfast, though between 1983 and 1996/7 it included the area around the Docks on the north east side of the Lagan Estuary. Belfast West also contains part of the city of Lisburn.

At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. Belfast West currently has one of the smallest electorates of any constituency in Northern Ireland and it is proposed to expand it further into Lisburn, taking in areas currently contained in Lagan Valley.

Not included in the proposals is a common suggestion to reunite the five wards centred on the Shankill Road which are currently split between Belfast West and Belfast North. At the boundary commission hearings in September 2005, the issue of transferring the Crumlin and Woodvale wards to West Belfast to unite the Greater Shankill was raised by Alliance and a private individual but was vociferously opposed by the DUP led by local MP Nigel Dodds and to a lesser extent by the Ulster Unionists. Both the SDLP and Sinn Féin had little to say on the latter issue and neither opposed nor supported it. Additionally while the Belfast DUP, represented at the enquiry by Nigel Dodds MP, supported the retention of the status quo, Jeffrey Donaldson MP for Lagan Valley as well as numerous local residents (in a petition submitted to the Commission) opposed the addition of the Dunmurry and Seymour Hill areas.

The Commission's revised recommendations, published in May 2006, add the Dunmurry ward and the Northern part of Derriaghy ward. This is the first time that a ward will be split between constituencies by a boundary commission. It is likely that these changes will be final.

Belfast West has historically been the most nationalist of Belfast's four constituencies, though it is only in the last few decades that the votes for unionist parties have plunged to tiny levels. The constituency is largely made of a long, slender, belt along the Falls Road and its suburban extensions, with three of the five wards from the staunchly unionist Shankill area now something of a bolt-on, with a several kilometre long Peace Line dividing them from the rest of the constituency. There is also a smaller Protestant enclave at Suffolk.

Unsurprisingly, the tenor of the constituency is largely working class and in the 1991 census it was one of only twenty constituencies where the majority of housing was still council owned. Although there are now large pockets of middle-class housing in Andersonstown and other suburban parts of the seat. Closer to the centre public-sector terraced housing, both Victorian and high quality modern housing, predominates, while in the suburbs, leafy pockets are scattered among post-War housing estates such as Lenadoon and Twinbrook.

The Westminster constituency was consistently held by the Ulster Unionist Party but always had strong Labour movement sympathies. In the UK general election, 1923, the Belfast Labour Party came within 1,000 votes of taking the seat. A by-election in 1943 was won by John Beattie, standing for the Northern Ireland Labour Party. For the next twenty-three years the seat would regularly change from unionist to nationalist/labour, with the latter represented by a variety of parties.

In the 1966 general election the seat was won by Gerry Fitt of the Republican Labour Party. Later in 1970 he left that party to become a founder and first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. In the February 1974 general election, Belfast West was the only constituency in Northern Ireland to elect an MP supporting the Sunningdale Agreement. Fitt's majority was a narrow 2180 votes in February 1974 primarily due to the candidature of Albert Price the father of the Price sisters who were in prison in England for PIRA related offences. However the candidacy of a UVF backed candidate in October 1974 and a declining Unionist vote in 1979 led to him increasing his majorities in subsequent years. He retained the seat for the next nine years but increasingly distanced himself from nationalist groups and in late 1979 he left the SDLP altogether. He sat as an independent socialist but lost his seat in the 1983 when it was won by Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin. The Unionist vote which had still been at 30% in the 1982 Assembly elections was cut to 20% as a result of the 1983 boundary changes which, while adding the loyalist Glencairn area, removed the Donegall Road, Sandy Row and added the Nationalist Lenadoon area.

Adams' share of the vote, at 37%, was short of a majority and he achieved victory only due to Fitt and the SDLP candidate splitting the non-Sinn Féin vote. In the 1987 Adams narrowly held his seat, but lost it in the 1992 general election amidst a strong tactical voting campaign in favour of Joe Hendron of the Social Democratic and Labour Party by unionists in the Shankill Road area of the constituency. Hendron and his election agent were found guilty in an election court of having performed "corrupt and illegal practices" during the election by accepting advertising in the Irish News at less than the market rate, but the court upheld the election result.

In the mid 1990s the Boundary Commission originally suggested removing the Shankill wards from the constituency and replacing them with about half of the Belfast South constituency namely the 6 wards of the Balmoral Electoral Area and the Shaftesbury ward, effectively transforming the seat into a Belfast South West constituency.

The subsequent local enquiries were bitterly contested with the SDLP favouring the commission's original proposals which would add an area where Sinn Féin had little support (and aside from the Shaftesbury ward, had not contested in council elections), while Sinn Féin argued instead for adding the mostly republican Twinbrook and Poleglass estates (where they were outpolling the SDLP in council elections by a margin of 3 to 1.) With all parties except the SDLP supporting an option of retaining four seats in Belfast the latter option became the commissions final proposals and the Shankill wards remained in the constituency.

The boundary changes, coupled with the IRA ceasefire, meant that support for Sinn Féin in the constituency soared to new levels and in all elections held in the seat since 1996 they have taken over 50% of the vote. In 1997 Adams regained the Westminster seat. Few expect Sinn Féin to lose the seat again for many years.

The Member of Parliament since the 1997 general election is Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin. He previously held the seat between 1983 and 1992 when he lost it to Joe Hendron of the Social Democratic and Labour Party but regained it in 1997.

Year	Member	Party
1885	James Horner Haslett		Conservative
1886	Thomas Sexton		Irish Parliamentary
1890			Anti-Parnellite Nationalist1
1892	Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster		Liberal Unionist
1906	Joseph Devlin		Irish Parliamentary
Abolished 1918; revived 1922
1922	R. J. Lynn		Ulster Unionist
1929	W. E. D. Allen		Ulster Unionist
1931			New Party
1931	A. C. Browne		Ulster Unionist
1943	Jack Beattie		Labour (NI)
1943			Independent Labour
1945			Federation of Labour
1949			Irish Labour
1950	Rev James Godfrey MacManaway		Ulster Unionist
1950	Thomas Teevan		Ulster Unionist
1951	Jack Beattie		Irish Labour
1955	Patricia McLaughlin		Ulster Unionist
1964	James Kilfedder		Ulster Unionist
1966	Gerry Fitt		Republican Labour
1970			Social Democratic and Labour
1979			Independent Socialist
1983	Gerry Adams		Sinn Féin
1992	Joe Hendron		Social Democratic and Labour
1997	Gerry Adams		Sinn Féin

¹The Nationalists split into two opposing factions (pro- and anti-Charles Stewart Parnell) in December 1890. They re-merged in February 1900.

General Election 2005: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	24,348	70.5	+4.4
	Social Democratic and Labour	Alex Attwood	5,033	14.6	-4.3
	Democratic Unionist	Diane Dodds	3,652	10.6	+4.2
	Ulster Unionist	Chris McGimpsey	779	2.3	-3.9
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	432	1.3	-0.5
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Lynda Gilby	154	0.4	+0.2
	Independent	Liam Kennedy	147	0.4	+0.4
Majority			19,315	55.9	+8.7
Turnout			34,545	64.2	-4.5
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+4.4%

General Election 2001: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	27,096	66.1	+10.2
	Social Democratic and Labour	Alex Attwood	7,754	18.9	-19.8
	Democratic Unionist	Eric Smyth	2,641	6.4	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Chris McGimpsey	2,541	6.2	+2.8
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	736	1.8	+0.2
	Third Way	David Kerr	116	0.3	N/A
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Rainbow George Weiss	98	0.2	N/A
Majority			19,342	47.2
Turnout			40,982	68.7	-5.5
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	25,662	55.9	+ 13.8
	Social Democratic and Labour	Joe Hendron	17,753	38.7	- 4.9
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Parkinson	1,556	3.4
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	721	1.6	- 0.3
	Human Rights	Liam Kennedy	102	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	Mary Daly	91	0.2	- 0.3
Majority			7,909	17.2	+ 15.5
Turnout			45,885
	Sinn Féin gain from Social Democratic and Labour		Swing

General Election 1992: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Democratic and Labour	Joe Hendron	17,415	43.6	+ 7.9
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	16,826	42.1	+ 1.0
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Cobain	4,766	11.9	- 6.8
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	750	1.9	- 2.5
	Natural Law	Michael Kennedy	213	0.5	N/A
Majority			589	1.7	- 3.7
Turnout			34,545	73.2	+ 4.1
	Social Democratic and Labour gain from Sinn Féin		Swing

General Election 1987: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	16,862	41.1	+ 2.1
	Social Democratic and Labour	Joe Hendron	14,641	35.7	+ 9.4
	Ulster Unionist	Frank Millar	7,646	18.7	+ 12.9
	Workers' Party	Mary McMahon	1,819	4.4	- 0.1
Majority			2,221	5.4	- 7.6
Turnout				69.1	- 1.1
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Adams	16,379	39.0	N/A
	Social Democratic and Labour	Joe Hendron	10,934	26.1	- 14.4
	Independent Socialist	Gerry Fitt	10,326	24.6	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Passmore	2,435	5.8	- 19.0
	Workers' Party	Mary McMahon	1,893	4.5	- 2.4
Majority			5,445	13.0	- 11.7
Turnout				70.2	+ 13.7
	Sinn Féin gain from Social Democratic and Labour		Swing

Following the 1979 election, Fitt became increasingly at odds with the SDLP and left it, continuing to sit as an independent socialist.

General Election 1979: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Democratic and Labour	Gerry Fitt	16,480	40.5	- 8.5
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Passmore	8,245	24.8	- 11.7
	Democratic Unionist	William Dickson	3,716	11.2	N/A
	Republican Clubs	Brian Brennan	2,284	6.9	- 1.1
	Alliance	John Cousins	2,024	6.1	N/A
	Labour (NI)	Derek Peters	540	1.6	N/A
Majority			8,235	24.7	+ 12.2
Turnout				56.5	- 10.7
	Social Democratic and Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Democratic and Labour	Gerry Fitt	21,821	49.0	+ 8.0
	Democratic Unionist	John McQuade	16,265	36.5	0.0
	Republican Clubs	Kitty O'Kane	3,547	8.0	+ 1.5
	Volunteer Political Party	Ken Gibson	2,690	6.0	N/A
	Marxist-Leninist (Ireland)	Peter Kerins	203	0.5	N/A
Majority			5,556	12.5	+ 8.3
Turnout				67.2	- 4.3
	Social Democratic and Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Democratic and Labour	Gerry Fitt	19,554	41.0	N/A
	Democratic Unionist	John McQuade	17,374	36.5
	Independent Republican	Albert Price	5,662	11.9	N/A
	Republican Clubs	John Brady	3,088	6.5	N/A
	Labour (NI)	Billy Boyd	1,989	4.2	N/A
Majority			2,180	4.6	- 0.9
Turnout				71.5	- 13.0
	Social Democratic and Labour gain from Republican Labour		Swing

After the 1970 election Fitt left the Republican Labour Party to cofound the Social Democratic & Labour Party. The remains of Republican Labour had disintegrated by 1974.

General Election 1970: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	30,649	52.8	+ 0.8
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McRoberts	27,451	47.3	- 0.7
Majority			3,198	5.5	+ 1.4
Turnout				84.5	+ 9.7
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	26,292	52.0	+ 23.7
	Ulster Unionist	James Kilfedder	24,281	48.0	+ 6.8
Majority			2,011	4.1	- 8.7
Turnout				74.8	+ 0.1
	Republican Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 1964: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Kilfedder	21,337	41.2	- 12.9
	Republican Labour	Harry Diamond	14,678	28.3	N/A
	Labour (NI)	Billy Boyd	12,579	24.3	N/A
	Independent Republican	Billy McMillen	3,256	6.3	N/A
Majority			6,659	12.8	- 3.8
Turnout				74.7	+ 2.0
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Patricia McLaughlin	28,898	54.1	- 4.2
	Ind. Labour Group	John Joseph Brennan	20,062	37.6	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Thomas Heenan	4,416	8.3	- 6.1
Majority			8,836	16.6	- 14.3
Turnout				72.7	- 2.0
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Patricia McLaughlin	34,191	58.3	+ 8.3
	Irish Labour	Jack Beattie	20,062	27.4	- 22.6
	Sinn Féin	Eamonn Boyce	8,447	14.4	N/A
Majority			18,141	30.9	+ 30.9
Turnout				74.7	- 9.4
	Ulster Unionist gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 1951: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Jack Beattie	33,174	50.0	+ 3.7
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Teevan	33,149	50.0	- 1.5
Majority			25	0.0	- 5.2
Turnout				84.1	+ 0.5
	Irish Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

Belfast West by-election, 1950
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Teevan	31,796	50.8	- 0.7
	Irish Labour	Jack Beattie	30,833	49.2	+ 2.9
Majority			913	1.5	- 4.0
Turnout			62,629
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Godfrey MacManaway	33,917	51.5	+ 5.0
	Irish Labour	Jack Beattie	30,539	46.3	- 7.2
	Sinn Féin	Jimmy Steele	1,482	2.2	N/A
Majority			3,378	5.2	- 1.8
Turnout				83.6	+ 10.5
	Ulster Unionist gain from Independent		Swing

General Election 1945: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Jack Beattie	30,787	53.5	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Knox Cunningham	26,729	46.5	- 16.1
Majority			4,058	7.0	- 18.2
Turnout				73.1	+ 5.1
	Independent Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

Belfast West by-election, 1943
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour (NI)	Jack Beattie	19,936	46.2	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Knox Cunningham	14,426	33.4	- 29.2
	UIUA	W. M. Milton	7,551	17.5	N/A
	Independent Republican	H. C. Corvin	1,250	2.9	- 34.5
Majority			5,510	12.8	- 12.4
Turnout				54.8	- 13.2
	Labour (NI) gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 1935: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Alexander Browne	34,060	62.6	+ 4.0
	Independent Republican	Charles Leddy	20,313	37.4	- 4.0
Majority			13,747	25.2	+ 8.0
Turnout				68.0	- 0.1
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Alexander Browne	31,113	58.6	+ 0.7
	Nationalist (NI)	Thomas Joseph Campbell	22,006	41.4	- 0.7
Majority			9,107	17.2	+ 1.4
Turnout				68.1	- 5.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Note: The sitting MP, W.E.D. Allen, had joined the New Party earlier in 1931 but did not contest the seat at the general election.

General Election 1929: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	W. E. D. Allen	33,274	57.9	+ 3.4
	Independent Republican	Frank MacDermott	24,177	42.1	N/A
Majority			9,097	15.8	+ 1.7
Turnout				73.9	- 5.2
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	R. J. Lynn	28,435	54.5	+ 1.6
	Labour (NI)	Harry Midgley	21,122	40.4	- 3.7
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Nash	2,688	5.1	N/A
Majority			7,313	14.1	+ 8.3
Turnout				79.1	+ 8.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	R. J. Lynn	24,975	52.9	N/A
	Belfast Labour	Harry Midgley	22,255	47.1	N/A
Majority			2,720	5.8	N/A
Turnout				70.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

In the 1922 General Election, R. J. Lynn was elected unopposed.

General Election December 1910: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Joseph Devlin	4,543	52.7	-0.2
	Liberal Unionist	J. Boyd Carpenter	4,080	47.3	+1.1
Majority			463	5.4	-1.3
Turnout			8,623	93.4	-1.8
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing

General Election January 1910: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Joseph Devlin	4,651	52.9	+3.7
	Liberal Unionist	J. Boyd Carpenter	4,064	46.2	-2.8
	Ind. Nationalist	P. J. Magee	75	0.9	N/A
Majority			587	6.7	+6.5
Turnout			8,790	95.2	+0.6
	Irish Parliamentary hold		Swing

General Election 1906: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Joseph Devlin	4,138	49.2	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	J. R. Smiley	4,122	49.0	N/A
	Liberal	A. M. Carlisle	153	1.8	N/A
Majority			16	0.2	N/A
Turnout			8,413	94.6	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

At the United Kingdom general election, 1900 and the Belfast West by-election, 1903, Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster was elected unopposed.

At the United Kingdom general election, 1895, Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster was elected unopposed.

General Election 1892: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster	4,266	55.5	N/A
	Anti-Parnellite Nationalist	Thomas Sexton	3,427	44.5	-6.2
Majority			839	10.9	+9.6
Turnout			7,693
	Liberal Unionist gain from Irish Parliamentary		Swing

General Election 1885: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Parliamentary	Thomas Sexton	3,832	50.7	+0.9
	Conservative	James Horner Haslett	3,729	49.3	-0.9
Majority			103	1.3	+0.8
Turnout			7,561
	Irish Parliamentary gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1885: Belfast West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Horner Haslett	3,778	50.2	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary	Thomas Sexton	3,743	49.8	N/A
Majority			35	0.5	N/A
Turnout			7,521		N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page (Complete list of MPs)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 - 1949
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 - 1970
• The Liberal Year Book For 1917, Liberal Publication Department
• The Constitutional Year Book For 1912, Conservative Central Office
• The Constitutional Year Book For 1894, Conservative Central Office

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

v • d • e Constituencies in Northern Ireland
DUP	Belfast East · Belfast North · East Antrim · East Londonderry · Lagan Valley · North Antrim · South Antrim · Strangford · Upper Bann
Sinn Féin	Belfast West · Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Mid Ulster · Newry and Armagh · West Tyrone
SDLP	Belfast South · Foyle · South Down
UUP	North Down
Northern Ireland European constituency     DUP (1 seat)  ·   Sinn Féin (1 seat)  ·   UUP (1 seat)