Strangford (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Strangford is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Strangford
County constituency for the House of Commons
Strangford as of 2024
Major settlements	Newtownards, Comber
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Jim Shannon (DUP)
Created from	North Down, Belfast South and Belfast East[1]

The constituency's current MP is Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who has served since the 2010 election.

Constituency profile

Strangford covers the settlements either side of Strangford Lough.

In 2024, for the first time, the town of Strangford is included in the constituency due to boundary changes, after previously being in South Down.

The seat is strongly unionist, and one of 7 areas of Northern Ireland which voted to leave the European Union.^[2]

Boundaries

The seat was created after boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of North Down. At its creation the constituency was formed from the local government district of Ards, and the Castlereagh districts of Beechill, Fourwinds, Hillfoot, Lower Braniel, Minnowburn, Moneyreagh, Newtownbreda, and Upper Braniel.^[3]

In 1995, the Commission controversially recommended abolishing the constituency and dividing it between North Down and new constituencies of Mid Down, and Castlereagh and Newtownards. This was successfully opposed in local enquiries and from the 1997 general election it was made up of parts of the districts of Ards, Castlereagh and Down.

For the 2010 general election the electoral wards which made up the constituency were:^[4]

• Ballygowan, Ballyrainey, Ballywalter, Ballyhalbert, Bradshaw's Brae, Carrowdore, Central, Comber East, Comber North, Comber West, Glen, Gregstown, Killinchy, Kircubbin, Lisbane, Loughries, Movilla, Portaferry, Portavogie, Scrabo and Whitespots, from the Ards district.
• From the Down district; Ballymaglave, Ballynahinch East, Derryboy, Killyleagh, Kilmore and Saintfield
• The Moneyreagh ward from Castlereagh district

For the 2024 general election, boundaries changed. The current electoral wards are:^[5]

Constituency	Ward
Strangford	Ballynahinch
	Ballyward-Strangford
	Crossgar and Killyleagh
	Derryboy
	Drumaness
	Kilmore
	Quoile-Strangford
	Strangford-Strangford
	Ballygowan
	Ballywalter
	Carrowdore-Strangford
	Comber North
	Comber South
	Comber West
	Conway Square
	Cronstown
	Glen
	Gregstown
	Killinchy
	Kircubbin
	Loughries-Strangford
	Movilla
	Portaferry
	Portavogie
	Scrabo
	West Winds

History

For the history of the equivalent constituencies prior to 1950 please see Down (UK Parliament constituency) and from 1950 until 1983, please see North Down.

The constituency has been represented by Unionist candidates since it was formed. There have not been significant votes for parties outside the traditional unionist block, although the Alliance has saved its deposit in every election.

The main interest in elections has been the contest between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Until 2001, the UUP were clearly ahead of the DUP in the Westminster elections, but elections to regional assemblies and local government were much closer. In 2001 the sitting MP John Taylor stood down and the contest to succeed him was fierce. The seat was won by Iris Robinson for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the subsequent 2003 assembly election saw the DUP increase their vote further.

Members of Parliament

The first Member of Parliament for the seat was John Taylor of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). After the 2001 general election, he was succeeded by Iris Robinson (the wife of Peter Robinson) of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Robinson resigned in January 2010 after a scandal involving financial dealings.^[6] However, no by-election was held, as the next general election was held in May. Jim Shannon (DUP) has held the seat since 2010.

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1983	John Taylor	Ulster Unionist
	2001	Iris Robinson	Democratic Unionist*
	2010	Jim Shannon

^* Note: Iris Robinson left the DUP shortly before taking Chiltern Hundreds to leave the Commons. The seat was vacant from 13 January 2010 until the general election on 6 May 2010.

Election results

Strangford Westminster election results 1983–2024

Elections in the 2020s

2024 general election: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	15,559	40.0	−0.5
	Alliance	Michelle Guy	10,428	26.8	+0.6
	UUP	Richard Smart	3,941	10.1	+0.9
	TUV	Ron McDowell	3,143	8.1	New
	Sinn Féin	Noel Sands	2,793	7.2	−0.4
	SDLP	Will Polland	1,783	4.6	−5.4
	Green (NI)	Alexandra Braidner	703	1.8	±0.0
	Independent	Garreth Falls	256	0.7	New
	Independent	Gareth Burns	157	0.4	New
	NI Conservatives	Barry Hetherington	146	0.4	−3.0
Majority			5,131	13.2	−5.6
Turnout			38,909	52.2	−4.6
Registered electors			74,525
	DUP hold		Swing	−0.55

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Strangford^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	17,705	47.2	−14.8
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	10,634	28.4	+13.7
	UUP	Phillip Smith	4,023	10.7	−0.7
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	1,994	5.3	−0.9
	NI Conservatives	Grant Abraham	1,476	3.9	+2.6
	Green (NI)	Maurice Macartney	790	2.1	+0.5
	Sinn Féin	Ryan Carlin	555	1.5	−1.3
	UKIP	Robert Stephenson	308	0.8	New
Majority			7,071	18.8	−28.5
Turnout			37,485	56.0	−4.4
Registered electors			66,938
	DUP hold		Swing	−14.3

2017 general election: Strangford^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	24,036	62.0	+17.6
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	5,693	14.7	+0.9
	UUP	Mike Nesbitt	4,419	11.4	−2.9
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,404	6.2	−0.7
	Sinn Féin	Carole Murphy	1,083	2.8	+0.2
	Green (NI)	Ricky Bamford	607	1.6	New
	NI Conservatives	Claire Hiscott	507	1.3	−5.1
Majority			18,343	47.3	+17.2
Turnout			38,749	60.4	+7.6
Registered electors			64,327
	DUP hold		Swing	+8.4

2015 general election: Strangford^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	15,053	44.4	−1.5
	UUP	Robert Burgess	4,868	14.3	−13.5
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	4,687	13.8	+5.1
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,335	6.9	+0.2
	UKIP	Joe Jordan[13]	2,237	6.6	New
	NI Conservatives	Johnny Andrews[14]	2,167	6.4	New
	TUV	Stephen Cooper	1,701	5.0	−0.6
	Sinn Féin	Sheila Bailie	876	2.6	−1.0
Majority			10,185	30.1	+12.0
Turnout			33,924	52.8	−0.9
Registered electors			64,289
	DUP hold		Swing	+6.0

2010 general election: Strangford^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	14,926	45.9	−8.8
	UCU-NF	Mike Nesbitt	9,050	27.8	+2.6
	Alliance	Deborah Girvan	2,828	8.7	+0.5
	SDLP	Claire Hanna	2,164	6.7	±0.0
	TUV	Terry Williams	1,814	5.6	New
	Sinn Féin	Michael Coogan	1,161	3.6	−0.1
	Green (NI)	Barbara Haig	562	1.7	New
Majority			5,876	18.1	−17.4
Turnout			32.505	53.7	−3.4
Registered electors			60,539
	DUP hold		Swing	−7.6

Elections in the 2000s

2005 general election: Strangford^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Iris Robinson	20,921	56.5	+13.7
	UUP	Gareth McGimpsey	7,872	21.3	−19.0
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	3,332	9.0	+2.3
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,496	6.7	+0.6
	NI Conservatives	Terry Dick	1,462	3.9	New
	Sinn Féin	Dermot Kennedy	949	2.6	+0.4
Majority			13,049	35.2	+32.7
Turnout			37,032	53.6	−6.3
Registered electors			68,570
	DUP hold		Swing	+16.4

2001 general election: Strangford^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Iris Robinson	18,532	42.8	+12.6
	UUP	David McNarry	17,422	40.3	−4.0
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	2,902	6.7	−6.4
	SDLP	Danny McCarthy	2,646	6.1	−0.6
	Sinn Féin	Liam Johnston	930	2.2	+1.0
	NI Unionist	Cedric Wilson	822	1.9	New
Majority			1,110	2.5
Turnout			43,254	59.9	+0.4
Registered electors			72,192
	DUP gain from UUP		Swing	−8.3

Elections in the 1990s

1997 general election: Strangford^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John David Taylor	18,431	44.3	−4.7
	DUP	Iris Robinson	12,579	30.2	+10.3
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	5,467	13.1	−3.0
	SDLP	Peter O'Reilly	2,775	6.7	New
	NI Conservatives	Gilbert Chalk	1,743	4.2	−10.0
	Sinn Féin	Garret O'Fachtna	503	1.2	New
	Natural Law	Sarah Mullins	121	0.3	−0.4
Majority			5,852	14.1	−15.0
Turnout			41,619	59.5	−5.5
Registered electors			70,073
	UUP hold		Swing	−7.6

Notional 1992 Election Result: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	N/A	20,473	49.0	N/A
	DUP	N/A	8,295	19.9	N/A
	Alliance	N/A	6,736	16.1	N/A
	NI Conservatives	N/A	5,945	14.2	N/A
	Others	N/A	295	0.7	N/A
Majority			12,178	29.1	N/A

1992 general election: Strangford^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John David Taylor	19,517	43.6	−32.3
	DUP	Sammy Wilson	10,606	23.7	New
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	7,585	16.9	−3.4
	NI Conservatives	Stephen Eyre	6,782	15.1	New
	Natural Law	David Shaw	295	0.7	New
Majority			8,911	19.9	−35.7
Turnout			44,785	65.0	+7.4
Registered electors			68,901
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

1987 general election: Strangford^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John David Taylor	28,199	75.9	+27.1
	Alliance	Addie Morrow	7,553	20.3	+4.5
	Workers' Party	Imelda Elizabeth Hynds	1,385	3.7	New
Majority			20,646	55.6	+36.8
Turnout			37,137	57.6	−7.3
Registered electors			64,429
	UUP hold		Swing

1986 Strangford by-election^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John David Taylor	32,627	94.2	+45.4
	"For the Anglo-Irish Agreement"	"Peter Barry" (Wesley Robert Williamson)[22]	1,993	5.8	New
Majority			30,634	88.4	+69.6
Turnout			34,620	55.0	−9.9
Registered electors			62,854
	UUP hold		Swing

1983 general election: Strangford^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John David Taylor	19,086	48.8
	DUP	Simpson Gibson	11,716	30.0
	Alliance	Addie Morrow	6,171	15.8
	SDLP	James Curry	1,713	4.4
	Independent Labour	Samuel Raymond Heath	430	1.1
Majority			7,370	18.8
Turnout			39,116	64.9
Registered electors			60,179
	UUP win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland
• Strangford (Assembly constituency)