Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Belfast South was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Map of boundaries 2010–2024

Belfast South
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Belfast South in Northern Ireland
Districts of Northern Ireland	Belfast Castlereagh
Electorate	60,914 (March 2011)
Borough	Belfast
1922–2024
Seats	1
Created from	Belfast Cromac Belfast Ormeau
Replaced by	Belfast South and Mid Down
1885–1918
Seats	1
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Belfast
Replaced by	Belfast Cromac Belfast Ormeau

From the 2024 general election, it was succeeded by the constituency of Belfast South and Mid Down.

History

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Belfast South tended to elect 'rebel unionists' such as William Johnston, who famously defied a ban on Orange marches, and Thomas Sloan, founder of the Independent Orange Order.

Belfast South contained some of Belfast's most expensive residential districts as well as Queen's University Belfast. The overall tenor of the constituency is middle-class – young, trendy and cosmopolitan towards the city centre, with Northern Ireland's biggest concentrations of both students and ethnic minorities, and further out from the city centre it is settled and prosperous. Despite this, significant pockets of inner-city working class areas such as the Markets and a number of isolated suburban estates exist in the constituency.

There had been particularly rapid demographic change in Belfast South from around the year 2000. The 2011 census revealed that Belfast South consisted of a slightly larger Catholic population than Protestant and while the constituency traditionally has had a unionist majority, the nationalist vote surpassed this in more recent elections. There have also been strong votes for other parties such as the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Green Party, the Conservatives and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. The constituency has witnessed a steady series of candidates backed by groups who aspire to support the British Labour Party despite its prior ban on membership and organisation in Northern Ireland, though their results have been minimal. Until the 1990s the main focus of attention had been on contests between unionist candidates.

In the February 1974 general election the seat was won by Robert Bradford of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party on a united anti-Sunningdale Agreement slate with the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. He defeated Rafton Pounder, the sitting Unionist MP who defended his seat as a Pro-Assembly Unionist. Bradford held the seat for the next seven years, though in February 1978 he and the rump of Vanguard reunited with the Ulster Unionists. At the end of 1981 Bradford was assassinated by the IRA in a Belfast community centre while hosting a political surgery.

The subsequent by-election garnered much interest as it was expected that the Democratic Unionist Party would take the seat, building on their steady rise which had seen them gain both Belfast North and Belfast East at the previous general election. However, the DUP came third, behind the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and the UUP's candidate Martin Smyth won the seat, holding it until 2005. The by-election was extremely significant at the time in that it was the first at which the DUP tide ebbed.

In January 2005 Smyth announced that he would be retiring at the 2005 general election, raising speculation both as to whom the Ulster Unionists would field in succession to him and what effect a different candidate would have upon their share of the vote. The UUP selected Assembly member Michael McGimpsey, albeit with a highly controversial and bitter selection. McGimpsey was repudiated by many prominent Unionists, including both Smyth and former UUP leader James Molyneaux. The DUP selected Jimmy Spratt and offered an electoral pact to the UUP that would give each party a free run at one out of South Belfast and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. This offer was rejected by the UUP.

In the event, the DUP and UUP both fielded candidates which split the vote. The nationalist vote mainly went for the SDLP over Sinn Féin, with the result that the SDLP took the seat despite a majority of votes cast for unionist candidates.^[1]

In the 2010 general election, Sinn Féin opted not to stand against the SDLP to avoid splitting the nationalist vote.^[2] The SDLP won the seat with a majority of 6,000. This was the seat in which the Alliance Party had their second-best showing, polling 15% of the votes. Alasdair McDonnell retained the seat in May 2015, with only 24.5% of the vote, as Sinn Féin opted to stand. This is the smallest proportion of the vote a winning candidate has ever achieved in a UK general election.^[3]

In the 2017 general election the seat was won by Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP^[4] with Alasdair McDonnell losing his seat along with all other SDLP MPs in Northern Ireland.^[5] This was won back for the SDLP by Claire Hanna in 2019, with Sinn Féin again opting not to stand.^[6] This was the first time since 1987 that the winning candidate in the constituency had a majority of the vote.

Boundaries

1885–1918: In the Borough of Belfast, that part of Cromac ward not in the constituency of Belfast East, that part of St. George's ward not in the constituency of Belfast West, and the townlands of Malone Lower and that part of Malone Upper within the parliamentary borough in the parish of Shankill.

1922–1974: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor, the District of Lisburn electoral divisions of Ardmore, Dunmurry, Finaghy, and Upper Malone, and the Rural District of Hillsborough electoral divisions of Breda and Edenderry.

1983–1997: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Cromac, Donegall, Finaghy, Malone, Ormeau, Rosetta, St George's, Stranmillis, University, Upper Malone, Willowfield, and Windsor.

1997–2010: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Blackstaff, Botanic, Finaghy, Malone, Musgrave, Ravenhill, Rosetta, Shaftesbury, Stranmillis, Upper Malone, Windsor, and Woodstock, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Beechill, Cairnshill, Galwally, Knockbracken, Minnowburn, and Newtownbreda.

2010–2024: The District of Belfast wards above and the District of Castlereagh wards as above plus Carryduff East, Carryduff West, Hillfoot, and Wynchurch.

The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the representation of Northern Ireland in the Westminster Parliament was reduced from 30 MPs to 13 MPs. The seat was centred on the Belfast City Council districts of Balmoral, Laganbank and Pottinger and also contains part of the district of Castlereagh.

Prior to the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission proposed expanding Belfast South further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in both Strangford and Belfast East. This was strongly opposed by the DUP but supported by the Ulster Unionists. It was also one of the issues that generated the most negative comments in the written submissions with a petition representing half of Cregagh's residents opposing its move.

Following the local enquiries, the Boundary Commission proposed retaining the Cregagh ward in East Belfast while transferring instead the Hillfoot ward. These proposals were submitted as final recommendations and were put into force through the passing of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order^[7] in 2008.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat would be replaced by Belfast South and Mid Down, to be first contested at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.^[8][9]

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament for Belfast South at the time of its abolition was Claire Hanna of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, who defeated Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party in the 2019 general election.

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William Johnston	Independent Conservative
	1886		Irish Conservative
	1891		Irish Unionist
	1902	Thomas Sloan	Independent Unionist
	1910	James Chambers	Irish Unionist
	1917	William Arthur Lindsay
1918		constituency abolished
1922		constituency recreated
	1922	Thomas Moles	Ulster Unionist
	1929	William Stewart
	1938		Progressive Unionist
	1945	Conolly Gage	Ulster Unionist
	1952	David Campbell
	1963	Rafton Pounder
	February 1974	Robert Bradford	Vanguard Unionist
	1977		Ulster Unionist
	1982	Martin Smyth
	2003		Independent Unionist
	2004		Ulster Unionist
	2005	Alasdair McDonnell	Social Democratic and Labour
	2017	Emma Little-Pengelly	Democratic Unionist
	2019	Claire Hanna	Social Democratic and Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Belfast South^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Claire Hanna	27,079	57.2	+31.3
	DUP	Emma Little-Pengelly	11,678	24.7	−5.7
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw	6,786	14.3	−3.9
	UUP	Michael Henderson	1,259	2.7	−0.8
	Aontú	Chris McHugh	550	1.2	New
Majority			15,401	32.5	N/A
Turnout			47,352	67.6	+1.5
Registered electors			70,047
	SDLP gain from DUP		Swing	+18.5

This seat saw the largest SDLP vote share and the largest increase in vote share for the party at the 2019 general election. This came as Sinn Féin did not contest the seat. It also saw the only fall in vote share for Alliance.^[11]

2017 general election: Belfast South^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Emma Little-Pengelly	13,299	30.4	+8.2
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	11,303	25.9	+1.4
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw	7,946	18.2	+1.0
	Sinn Féin	Máirtín Ó Muilleoir	7,143	16.3	+2.4
	Green (NI)	Clare Bailey	2,241	5.1	−0.6
	UUP	Michael Henderson	1,527	3.5	−5.6
	NI Conservatives	Clare Salier	246	0.6	−0.9
Majority			1,996	4.5	N/A
Turnout			43,699	66.1	+6.1
Registered electors			66,105
	DUP gain from SDLP		Swing	+3.5

2015 general election: Belfast South^[14][15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	9,560	24.5	−16.5
	DUP	Jonathan Bell	8,654	22.2	−1.5
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw	6,711	17.2	+2.2
	Sinn Féin	Máirtín Ó Muilleoir	5,402	13.9	New
	UUP	Rodney McCune	3,549	9.1	−8.2
	Green (NI)	Clare Bailey	2,238	5.7	+2.7
	UKIP	Bob Stoker	1,900	4.9	New
	NI Conservatives	Ben Manton	582	1.5	New
	Workers' Party	Lily Kerr	361	0.9	New
Majority			906	2.3	−15.0
Turnout			38,957	60.0	+2.6
Registered electors			64,927
	SDLP hold		Swing	−7.5

The SDLP won the lowest winning share of the vote in modern British history.

2010 general election: Belfast South^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	14,026	41.0	+8.7
	DUP	Jimmy Spratt	8,100	23.7	−5.9
	UCU-NF	Paula Bradshaw[19]	5,910	17.3	−4.9
	Alliance	Anna Lo	5,114	15.0	+7.7
	Green (NI)	Adam McGibbon	1,036	3.0	New
Majority			5,926	17.3	+13.4
Turnout			34,186	57.4	−5.1
Registered electors			59,524
	SDLP hold		Swing	+6.7

Elections in the 2000s

2005 general election: Belfast South^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	10,339	32.3	+1.7
	DUP	Jimmy Spratt	9,104	28.4	New
	UUP	Michael McGimpsey	7,263	22.7	−22.1
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey	2,882	9.0	+1.4
	Alliance	Geraldine Rice	2,012	6.3	+0.9
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Lynda Gilby	235	0.7	+0.4
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	193	0.6	+0.1
Majority			1,235	3.9	N/A
Turnout			32,028	60.8	−3.1
Registered electors			52,218
	SDLP gain from UUP		Swing	−13.4

2001 general election: Belfast South^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	17,008	44.8	+8.8
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	11,609	30.6	+6.3
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams	2,968	7.8	+4.8
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey	2,894	7.6	+2.5
	Alliance	Geraldine Rice	2,042	5.4	−7.5
	PUP	Dawn Purvis	1,112	2.9	−11.5
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	204	0.5	−0.2
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Rainbow George Weiss	115	0.3	New
Majority			5,399	14.2	+2.5
Turnout			37,952	63.9	+1.7
Registered electors			59,436
	UUP hold		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 1990s

1997 general election: Belfast South^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	14,201	36.0	−18.7
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	9,601	24.3	+10.1
	PUP	David Ervine	5,687	14.4	New
	Alliance	Steve McBride	5,112	12.9	−2.8
	Sinn Féin	Seán Hayes	2,019	5.1	+2.6
	NI Women's Coalition	Annie Campbell	1,204	3.0	New
	NI Conservatives	Myrtle Boal	962	2.4	−9.3
	Independent Labour	Niall Cusack	292	0.7	New
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	286	0.7	New
	Natural Law	James Anderson	120	0.3	New
Majority			4,600	11.7	−19.3
Turnout			39,484	62.2	−2.3
Registered electors			63,633
	UUP hold		Swing	−13.4

1997 Changes are compared to the 1992 notional results shown below.

Notional 1992 UK general election result : Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	N/A	23,258	52.7	N/A
	Alliance	N/A	6,921	15.7	N/A
	SDLP	N/A	6,266	14.2	N/A
	NI Conservatives	N/A	5,154	11.7	N/A
	Others	N/A	1,437	3.3	N/A
	Sinn Féin	N/A	1,116	2.5	N/A
Majority			16,337	37.0	N/A

1992 general election: Belfast South^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	16,336	48.6	−9.2
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	6,266	18.7	+5.6
	Alliance	John Montgomery	5,054	15.0	−6.3
	NI Conservatives	Andrew Fee	3,356	10.0	New
	Sinn Féin	Seán Hayes	1,123	3.3	+0.1
	Labour and Trade Union	Peter Hadden	875	2.6	New
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	362	1.1	−3.6
	Natural Law	Teresa Mullen	212	0.6	New
Majority			10,070	29.9	−6.6
Turnout			33,584	64.5	+4.2
Registered electors			52,050
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

1987 general election: Belfast South^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	18,917	57.8	+7.8
	Alliance	David Cook	6,963	21.3	−2.6
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	4,268	13.1	+4.5
	Workers' Party	Gerard Carr	1,528	4.7	+2.4
	Sinn Féin	Seán McKnight	1,030	3.2	+0.2
Majority			11,954	36.5	+10.5
Turnout			32,706	60.3	−9.3
Registered electors			54,208
	UUP hold		Swing

1986 Belfast South by-election^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	21,771	71.3	+21.3
	Alliance	David Cook	7,635	25.0	+1.1
	Workers' Party	Gerry Carr	1,109	3.6	+1.3
Majority			14,136	46.3	+20.3
Turnout			30,515	56.9	−12.7
Registered electors			53,944
	UUP hold		Swing

Note: The by-election was caused by the decision of all Unionist MPs to resign their seats and seek re-election on a platform of opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

1983 general election: Belfast South^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	18,669	50.0	−11.7
	Alliance	David Cook	8,945	23.9	−1.2
	DUP	Raymond McCrea	4,565	12.2	N/A
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	3,216	8.6	−0.7
	Sinn Féin	Sean McKnight	1,107	3.0	New
	Workers' Party	Gerry Carr	856	2.3	New
Majority			9,724	26.0	−10.6
Turnout			37,358	69.6	+1.7
Registered electors			53,674
	UUP hold		Swing

1982 Belfast South by-election^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	17,123	39.3	−22.4
	Alliance	David Cook	11,726	26.9	+1.8
	DUP	William McCrea	9,818	22.6	New
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	3,839	8.8	+0.9
	Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party	John McMichael	576	1.3	New
	United Labour Party	Brian Caul	303	0.7	New
	One Human Family	Jagat Narain	137	0.3	New
	Peace State	Simon Hall-Raleigh	12	0.03	New
Majority			5,397	12.4	−24.2
Turnout			43,534	66.2	−1.7
Registered electors			66,219
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1979 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Bradford	28,875	61.7	+2.5
	Alliance	Basil Glass	11,745	25.1	+2.1
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell	3,694	7.9	+3.2
	Unionist Party NI	Victor Brennan	1,784	3.8	New
	Labour Integrationist	Jeffrey Dudgeon	692	1.5	New
Majority			17,130	36.6	+0.4
Turnout			46,790	67.9	+0.2
Registered electors			68,920
	UUP hold		Swing

October 1974 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	Robert Bradford	30,116	59.2	+16.6
	Alliance	John Glass	11,715	23.0	+13.1
	Ind. Unionist	Stanley McMaster	4,982	9.8	New
	SDLP	Ben Caraher	2,390	4.7	−3.3
	NI Labour	Erskine Holmes	1,643	3.2	−1.5
Majority			18,401	36.2	+28.5
Turnout			50,846	67.7	−1.9
Registered electors			75,112
	Vanguard hold		Swing

February 1974 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	Robert Bradford	22,083	42.6	New
	Pro-Assembly Unionist	Rafton Pounder	18,085	34.9	New
	Alliance	David Cook	5,118	9.9	New
	SDLP	Ben Caraher	4,149	8.0	New
	NI Labour	Erskine Holmes	2,455	4.7	−24.9
Majority			3,998	7.7	N/A
Turnout			51,890	69.6	+1.2
Registered electors			75,443
	Vanguard gain from UUP		Swing

1970 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Rafton Pounder	27,523	70.4	+5.0
	NI Labour	John Coulthard	11,567	29.6	−5.0
Majority			15,956	40.8	+10.0
Turnout			39,090	68.4	+5.1
Registered electors			57,112
	UUP hold		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1960s

1966 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Rafton Pounder	23,329	65.4	−4.4
	NI Labour	Erskine Holmes	12,364	34.6	+12.2
Majority			10,965	30.8	−16.6
Turnout			35,693	63.3	−5.0
Registered electors			56,390
	UUP hold		Swing

1964 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Rafton Pounder	27,422	69.8	−0.1
	NI Labour	John Barkley	8,792	22.4	+0.8
	Ulster Liberal	Judith Rosenfield	1,941	4.9	−2.6
	Ind. Republican	Robert McKnight	1,159	3.0	New
Majority			18,630	47.4	−0.9
Turnout			39,314	68.3	−3.8
Registered electors			57,558
	UUP hold		Swing

1963 Belfast South by-election^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Rafton Pounder	17,989	64.3	−5.6
	NI Labour	Norman Searight	7,209	25.8	+4.2
	Ulster Liberal	Albert Hamilton	2,774	9.9	+2.4
Majority			10,780	38.5	−9.8
Turnout			27,972	48.3	−23.8
Registered electors			57,864
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

1959 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Campbell	30,164	69.9	−8.5
	NI Labour	Norman Searight	9,318	21.6	+4.0
	Ulster Liberal	Sheelagh Murnaghan	3,253	7.5	New
	Sinn Féin	Brendan O'Reilly	434	1.0	−2.9
Majority			20,846	48.3	−12.5
Turnout			43,169	72.1	+6.4
Registered electors			59,864
	UUP hold		Swing

1955 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Campbell	33,392	78.4	+2.6
	NI Labour	Edward Brown	7,508	17.6	−3.6
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Kearney	1,679	3.9	New
Majority			25,884	60.8	+9.2
Turnout			42,579	65.7	−8.1
Registered electors			64,844
	UUP hold		Swing

1952 Belfast South by-election^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Campbell	23,067	75.1	−0.7
	NI Labour	Samuel Napier	7,655	24.9	+0.7
Majority			15,412	50.2	−1.4
Turnout			30,722	46.4	−27.4
Registered electors			65,196
	UUP hold		Swing

1951 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Hugh Gage	37,046	75.8	+0.6
	NI Labour	Robert McBrinn	11,815	24.2	−0.6
Majority			25,231	51.6	+1.2
Turnout			48,861	73.8	+4.5
Registered electors			66,212
	UUP hold		Swing

1950 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Hugh Gage	34,620	75.2	+23.0
	NI Labour	James McKernan	11,428	24.8	+7.3
Majority			23,192	50.4	+28.5
Turnout			46,048	69.3	+2.9
Registered electors			66,486
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Conolly Gage	24,282	52.2	N/A
	Commonwealth Labour	Harry Midgley	14,096	30.3	New
	NI Labour	James Morrow	8,166	17.5	New
Majority			10,186	21.9	N/A
Turnout			46,544	66.4	N/A
Registered electors			70,140
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

1935 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			63,004
	UUP hold

1931 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Stewart	Unopposed
Registered electors			59,394
	UUP hold

Elections in the 1920s

1929 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Stewart	24,019	62.9	N/A
	Ind. Unionist	Philip James Woods	14,148	37.1	New
Majority			9,871	25.8	N/A
Turnout			38,167	64.7	N/A
Registered electors			59,025
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1924 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Moles	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

1923 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Moles	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

1922 general election: Belfast South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Moles	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP win (new seat)

Elections in the 1910s

July 1917 Belfast South by-election^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Arthur Lindsay	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

April 1917 Belfast South by-election^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Chambers	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

December 1910 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Chambers	5,585	67.2	+5.3
	Ind. Unionist	Thomas Sloan	2,722	32.8	−5.3
Majority			2,863	34.4	+10.6
Turnout			8,307	78.2	−9.6
Registered electors			10,622
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	+5.3

January 1910 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Chambers	5,772	61.9	+16.9
	Ind. Unionist	Thomas Sloan	3,553	38.1	−16.9
Majority			2,219	23.8	N/A
Turnout			9,325	87.8	+3.0
Registered electors			10,622
	Irish Unionist gain from Ind. Unionist		Swing	+16.9

Elections in the 1900s

1906 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	Thomas Sloan	4,450	55.0	N/A
	Irish Unionist	Arthur Hill	3,634	45.0	N/A
Majority			816	10.0	N/A
Turnout			8,084	84.8	N/A
Registered electors			9,538
	Ind. Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1902 Belfast South by-election^[31][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	Thomas Sloan	3,795	56.1	New
	Irish Unionist	Charles William Dunbar Buller	2,969	43.9	N/A
Majority			826	12.2	N/A
Turnout			6,764	66.0	N/A
Registered electors			10,246
	Ind. Unionist gain from Irish Unionist		Swing	N/A

1900 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Johnston	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1890s

1895 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Johnston	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,192
	Irish Unionist hold

1892 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Johnston	Unopposed
Registered electors			7,563
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1880s

1886 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	William Johnston	4,542	87.4	+21.4
	Irish Parliamentary	Andrew McErlean	657	12.6	New
Majority			3,885	74.8	N/A
Turnout			5,199	77.1	−4.1
Registered electors			6,740
	Irish Conservative gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

1885 general election: Belfast South^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	William Johnston	3,610	66.0
	Liberal	John Workman	990	18.1
	Ind. Conservative	Robert Seeds	871	15.9
Majority			2,620	47.9
Turnout			5,471	81.2
Registered electors			6,740
	Ind. Conservative win (new seat)