Belfast South (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Belfast South (disambiguation).

54.577°N 5.923°W / 54.577; -5.923

Belfast South
Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast South shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1921
Abolished	1929
Election method	Single transferable vote

Belfast South was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1929. It returned four MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Boundaries

Belfast South was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and contained the Cromac, Ormeau and Windsor wards of the County Borough of Belfast. The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 divided the constituency into four constituencies elected under first past the post: Belfast Ballynafeigh, Belfast Cromac, Belfast Willowfield and Belfast Windsor.^[1]

Second Dáil

In May 1921, Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic run by Sinn Féin, passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil.^[2] All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but as no Sinn Féin MP was elected for Belfast South, it was not represented there.^[3]

Politics

Belfast South was a strongly Unionist area, returning four Unionists in 1921 and 3 Unionists and 1 Independent Unionist MP in 1925. Even following its abolition, Ballynafeigh, Cromac, and Windsor only ever elected Unionist MPs.

MPs

Election	Member (Party)		Member (Party)		Member (Party)		Member (Party)
MPs (1921)		Thomas Moles (Ulster Unionist Party)		Hugh Pollock (Ulster Unionist Party)		Julia McMordie (Ulster Unionist Party)		Crawford McCullagh (Ulster Unionist Party)
MPs (1925)						Arthur Black (Ulster Unionist Party)		Philip James Woods (Independent Unionist)
MPs (1925 by-election)								Anthony Babington (Ulster Unionist Party)

Election results

24 May 1921 General Election: Belfast South (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	UUP	Thomas Moles	42.5	17,248
	UUP	Hugh Pollock	15.6	6,334	11,866
	UUP	Crawford McCullagh	12.5	5,068	7,679
	Sinn Féin	Dermot Barnes	6.7	2,719	2,720	2,721
	UUP	Julia McMordie	5.9	2,372	4,197	8,784
	Nationalist	B. McCoy	4.2	1,688	1,690	1,693
	Belfast Labour	James Baird	2.2	875	891	905
Electorate: 40,566   Valid: 36,304   Quota: 7,261   Turnout: 89.5%

1925 General Election: Belfast South (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Ind. Unionist	Philip James Woods	20.5	8,814
	UUP	Thomas Moles	18.0	7,756
	UUP	Hugh Pollock	9.9	4,291	4,816	5,961
	Town Tenants Association	William Magill	7.7	3,320	5,382	5,436	5,442	5,573
	UUP	Arthur Black	7.4	3,176	3,440	3,821	3,892	5,710
	UUP	Crawford McCullagh	4.0	1,707	1,857	2,220	2,291
Electorate: 43,164   Valid: 29,064   Quota: 5,813   Turnout: 67.3%

Woods declined the seat, having also been elected for Belfast West.

1925 Belfast South by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Anthony Babington	18,857	68.0
	NI Labour	G. M. Donaldson	8,856	32.0
Majority			10,001	36.1
Turnout			27,713	64.2	−3.1
	UUP hold		Swing