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List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Northern Ireland is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies: 4 borough constituencies in Belfast and 14 county constituencies elsewhere. The Northern Ireland Act 1998 provides that the constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly are the same as the constituencies that are used for the United Kingdom Parliament.[1] Parliamentary constituencies are not used for local government, which is instead carried out by 11 district councils.

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Constituencies

Each constituency returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons at Westminster and five Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont.[2] Six MLAs were returned per constituency until the Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 reduced the number to five, effective from the 2017 Assembly election.[3]

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2024 general election

  Democratic Unionist   Sinn Féin   Social Democratic and Labour   Ulster Unionist   Alliance Party   Traditional Unionist Voice

More information Name, Electorate ...
  1. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
  1. Includes People Before Profit, which is classified as "other" in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
  2. Includes Easton, who was supported by the DUP and TUV.
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Historical representation by party

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Where a cell is marked → (with a different colour of frame to the preceding cell) it indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party affiliation. Changes are dated in the header row: either a general election (four-figure year, bold, link) or by-election or change in affiliation (two-figure year, italic, link or details appear on hover).

1801 to 1832 (22 MPs)

Antrim

  Tory   Whig

Londonderry

  Tory   Whig

More information Constituency ...

* Sir George Hill, 2nd Baronet, was elected to sit as MP for both Coleraine and Londonderry City in the 1806 general election and chose to continue to sit for Londonderry City, hence the 1807 by-election, in which Walter Jones was restored to his seat.

Tyrone

  Tory   Whig   Independent

* At both the 1802 and 1806 elections, George Knox was returned for both Dungannon and Dublin University and chose to sit for the university seat.

Armagh

  Tory   Whig

* Charles Brownlow was initially elected as a Tory but at some point changed his affiliation to sit with the Whigs.

Down

  Tory   Whig

More information Constituency ...

* The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith suggests that after the 1806 election there was a petition, which led to Edward Southwell Ruthven (Whig) being unseated and John Wilson Croker (Tory) being declared duly elected. Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by BM Walker, does not make any reference to such a petition.

Fermanagh

  Tory

1832 to 1885 (29 MPs)

Antrim

  Conservative   Whig   Peelite   Liberal

More information Constituency ...

Londonderry

  Conservative   Whig   Liberal

*unseated on petition

Tyrone

  Conservative   Peelite   Liberal

More information Constituency ...

Armagh

  Conservative   Whig   Peelite   Liberal

More information Constituency ...

Down

  Conservative   Whig   Peelite   Liberal

Fermanagh

  Conservative

More information Constituency ...

1885 to 1918 (25 MPs)

Antrim

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Russellite Unionist    Independent Unionist

Armagh

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation    Healyite Nationalist    Nationalist Party

Belfast

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Independent Unionist    Liberal Unionist    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation    Nationalist Party    Labour Unionist

Down

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Russellite Unionist    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation    Nationalist Party

Fermanagh

   Irish Unionist    Russellite Unionist    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation

Londonderry

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Liberal Unionist    Liberal Party    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation

Tyrone

   Conservative Party    Irish Unionist    Russellite Unionist    Liberal Unionist    Liberal Party    Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900)    Irish National Federation    Nationalist Party

1918 to 1922 (30 MPs)

   Irish Unionist    Independent Unionist    Labour Unionist    Sinn Féin

1922 to 1950 (13 MPs)

  Ulster Unionist   Ulster Progressive Unionist   Independent Unionist   New Party   Northern Ireland Labour   Independent Labour   Federation of Labour   Irish Labour   Nationalist Party

1950 to 1983 (12 MPs)

Periodic boundary reviews commenced in 1947.[5][6] The elections at which these were implemented are tagged with diamond suit characters, ♦.

The 1st Periodic Review boundary map can be viewed on the ARK elections website. Changes in the 2nd review were relatively minor.[7]

More information Unionist parties, Nationalist parties ...

Notes:

  1. The constituency was won by Philip Clarke of Sinn Féin, but he was unseated on petition on the basis that his criminal conviction (for Irish Republican Army activity) made him ineligible. Instead, the seat was awarded to the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate.
  2. The seat was originally won by Tom Mitchell of Sinn Féin, but Mitchell was subsequently unseated upon petition, on the grounds that his terrorist convictions made him ineligible to sit in Parliament. The seat was awarded to Charles Beattie of the UUP. However, Beattie in turn was also found ineligible to sit due to holding an office of profit under the crown, triggering a further by-election.
  3. Original winner of the 1950 election in that seat, James Godfrey MacManaway (UUP), disqualified due to being a clergyman. Teevan won the subsequent by-election

1983 to present (17, then 18 MPs)

3rd and 4th Review boundary maps can be viewed on the ARK elections website: 1983, 1997.

  Alliance Party   Democratic Unionist   Independent   Sinn Féin   Social Democratic and Labour   Traditional Unionist Voice   UK Unionist Party   Ulster Popular Unionist   Ulster Unionist

1Paisley Jr was suspended from the DUP between July and November 2018.

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Seats by political alignment (1983–present)

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Boundary changes

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2025–present

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Constituencies since 2025

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021. In accordance with the provisions of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, the number of constituencies allocated to Northern Ireland was unchanged, at 18.[8] Initial proposals were published on 20 October 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 17 November 2022. Final recommendations were published on 28 June 2023.[9][10]

Under the recommendations, the following constituencies for Northern Ireland came into effect at the 2024 general election:[11]

More information Constituency, Type ...

Belfast South and Mid Down is a new constituency, replacing the former Belfast South constituency which had a much smaller area. All of the others have undergone boundary changes, primarily to bring the electorate within the range of 69,724 to 77,062 as required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended in 2020.[13]

2010–2025

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Constituencies from 2010

Under the Fifth Periodic Review, the following configuration of constituencies was adopted in 2008.[14][15] They were used in four general elections: 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, and also in four Assembly elections: 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2022.

1997–2010

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Constituencies from 1997

Under the Fourth Periodic Review, the following configuration of constituencies was adopted in 1995.[16] They were used in three general elections: 1997, 2001 and 2005, and also in four Northern Ireland-wide elections: the Forum election in 1996, and the Assembly elections in 1998, 2003 and 2007.

1983–1997

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Constituencies from 1983

Under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1979, the number of seats permitted for Northern Ireland was increased from 12 to "not greater than 18 or less than 16".[17] This followed the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973.

Under the Third Periodic Review, the following configuration of constituencies was adopted in 1982, with an increase from 12 to 17 constituencies.[18] They were used in three general elections: 1983, 1987, and 1992.

1974–1983

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Constituencies from 1974

Under the Second Periodic Review, the following configuration of constituencies was adopted in November 1970, after the general election earlier that year.[19] They were used in three general elections: February 1974, October 1974, and 1979, and also in three Northern Ireland-wide elections: the 1973 Assembly election, the 1975 Constitutional Convention election, and the 1982 Assembly election.

1950–1974

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Constituencies from 1950

Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, the following configuration of constituencies was adopted.[20] They were used in seven general elections: 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970.

The First Periodic Review, which reported in 1954 and took effect at the 1955 United Kingdom general election, made no changes to the number or boundaries of Northern Ireland constituencies.

The introduction of these constituencies accompanied the abolition of the Queen's University of Belfast constituency. It also abolished the two-member constituencies.

Under the new boundaries, Antrim was split into two single-member constituencies: North Antrim and South Antrim. Down was likewise split into North Down and South Down. Tyrone and Fermanagh was split into Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the south, and Mid Ulster in the north, which also gained further area from the Londonderry constituency.

1922–1950

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Constituencies from 1922

Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Northern Ireland was created on 3 May 1921,[4] and the number of seats at Westminister in the area it covered was reduced in number from 30 to 13, across 10 constituencies.[21]

Under these boundaries, Antrim, Down, and Fermanagh and Tyrone each elected two MPs using the bloc voting system, and Northern Ireland had one university constituency, the Queen's University of Belfast constituency. As with other university constituencies in the UK, the QUB constituency elected 1 MP by the graduates of the university, regardless of where they resided, in addition to any other vote they might have.

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See also

References

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