List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies: 4 borough constituencies in Belfast and 14 county constituencies elsewhere. Section 33 of 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; these often have different boundaries.
Constituencies
[edit]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. 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.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/NI_Parliamentary_Constituencies_2024.svg/615px-NI_Parliamentary_Constituencies_2024.svg.png)
2024 general election
[edit]Democratic Unionist Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Ulster Unionist Alliance Party Traditional Unionist Voice
Name[nb 1] | Electorate[3] | Majority[nb 2] | Member of Parliament | Unionist % | Nationalist %[a] | Other % | Map | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belfast East BC | 72,917 | 2,676 | Gavin Robinson | 55.4 | 1.4 | 43.2 | ![]() | |
Belfast North BC | 74,240 | 5,612 | John Finucane | 36.9 | 49.5 | 13.6 | ![]() | |
Belfast South & Mid Down BC | 74,749 | 12,506 | Claire Hanna | 27.0 | 49.1 | 23.9 | ![]() | |
Belfast West BC | 75,346 | 15,961 | Paul Maskey | 17.1 | 78.8 | 4.2 | ![]() | |
East Antrim CC | 73,302 | 1,306 | Sammy Wilson | 63.2 | 9.7 | 27.0 | ![]() | |
East Londonderry CC | 75,707 | 179 | Gregory Campbell | 47.3 | 42.6 | 10.1 | ![]() | |
Fermanagh & South Tyrone CC | 77,828 | 4,571 | Pat Cullen | 39.7 | 54.3 | 5.9 | ![]() | |
Foyle CC | 73,496 | 4,166 | Colum Eastwood | 13.9 | 78.8 | 7.3 | ![]() | |
Lagan Valley CC | 82,201 | 2,959 | Sorcha Eastwood | 59.1 | 2.1 | 38.8 | ![]() | |
Mid Ulster CC | 74,000 | 14,923 | Cathal Mallaghan | 31.8 | 63.5 | 4.8 | ![]() | |
Newry & Armagh CC | 78,244 | 15,493 | Dáire Hughes | 28.8 | 65.2 | 5.9 | ![]() | |
North Antrim CC | 74,697 | 450 | Jim Allister | 65.0 | 23.8 | 11.2 | ![]() | |
North Down CC | 73,885 | 7,305 | Alex Easton | 63.9[b] | 1.5 | 34.6 | ![]() | |
South Antrim CC | 77,058 | 7,512 | Robin Swann | 64.8 | 23.3 | 12.0 | ![]() | |
South Down CC | 76,248 | 9,280 | Chris Hazzard | 23.6 | 68.3 | 8.0 | ![]() | |
Strangford CC | 74,525 | 5,131 | Jim Shannon | 58.6 | 11.8 | 29.7 | ![]() | |
Upper Bann CC | 81,249 | 7,406 | Carla Lockhart | 53.4 | 33.3 | 13.3 | ![]() | |
West Tyrone CC | 74,269 | 15,917 | Órfhlaith Begley | 27.6 | 67.1 | 5.2 | ![]() |
- ^ Includes People Before Profit, which is classified as "other" in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
- ^ Includes Easton, who was supported by the DUP and TUV.
Historical representation by party
[edit]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)
[edit]Antrim
[edit]Londonderry
[edit]* 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
[edit]* 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
[edit]* Charles Brownlow was initially elected as a Tory but at some point changed his affiliation to sit with the Whigs.
Down
[edit]Constituency | 1801 | 01 | 1802 | 05 | 1806 | 1807 | 12 | 1812 | 15 | 17 | 1818 | 1820 | 21 | 1826 | 1830 | 1831 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Down | R Stewart | Meade | Hill | |||||||||||||
Savage | Ward | R Stewart | Forde | F Stewart | ||||||||||||
Downpatrick | C Rowley | SC Rowley | Hawthorne | Ruthven* | Croker | Hawthorne | Annesley | Maxwell | Ruthven |
* 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
[edit]1832 to 1885 (29 MPs)
[edit]Antrim
[edit]Conservative Whig Peelite Liberal
Constituency | 1832 | 1835 | 35 | 1837 | 38 | 41 | 1841 | 45 | 45 | 1847 | 52 | 1852 | 52 | 53 | 1857 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim | J. O'Neill | Alexander | E. Pakenham | ||||||||||||
G. Chichester | Irving | H. B. Seymour | E. C. Macnaghten | Macartney | |||||||||||
Belfast | A. Chichester | McCance | Dunbar | Gibson | J. Tennent | R. Tennent | Davison | ||||||||
J. Tennent | → | G. Chichester | Dunbar | Johnson | A. Chichester | → | Cairns | ||||||||
Carrickfergus | C. Dobbs | Kirk | Stapleton-Cotton | W. Dobbs | |||||||||||
Lisburn | Meynell | H. B. Seymour | J. Tennent | Smyth | Richardson |
Constituency | 1859 | 60 | 63 | 63 | 1865 | 66 | 1868 | 69 | 73 | 1874 | 78 | 1880 | 85 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim | T. Pakenham | G. H. Seymour | H. Seymour | Chaine | Sinclair | ||||||||
Upton | E. O'Neill | E. MacNaghten | |||||||||||
Belfast | Davison | Getty | Johnston | Ewart | |||||||||
Cairns | Lanyon | McClure | Corry | ||||||||||
Carrickfergus | Torrens | Dalway | Greer | ||||||||||
Lisburn | Richardson | Barbour | Verner | Wallace |
Londonderry
[edit]Constituency | 1832 | 33 | 1835 | 1837 | 1841 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 1847 | 52 | 1852 | 1857 | 57 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coleraine | Beresford* | Copeland | Litton | Boyd | Naas | Boyd | |||||||
Londonderry City | Ferguson | ||||||||||||
County Londonderry | Jones | Greer | |||||||||||
R. Bateson | R. Bateson jnr | T. Bateson | Clark |
Constituency | 1859 | 60 | 62 | 1865 | 1868 | 72 | 1874 | 78 | 1880 | 81 | 84 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coleraine | Boyd | Bruce | Taylor | Bruce | ||||||||
Londonderry City | Ferguson | McCormick | Hamilton | Dowse | Lewis | |||||||
County Londonderry | Dawson | Smyth | McClure | |||||||||
Heygate | Law | Porter | Walker |
*unseated on petition
Tyrone
[edit]Constituency | 1832 | 1835 | 1837 | 38 | 39 | 1841 | 1847 | 51 | 1852 | 1857 | 1859 | 1865 | 1868 | 73 | 1874 | 1880 | 80 | 81 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dungannon | J. Knox | T. Knox | T. Knox jnr | W. Knox | T. Dickson | J. Dickson | ||||||||||||
Tyrone | H. T. Lowry Corry | → | → | H. W. Lowry Corry | Litton | T. Dickson | ||||||||||||
Stewart | Hamilton | Alexander | Hamilton | → | → | Ellison-Macartney |
Armagh
[edit]Conservative Whig Peelite Liberal
Constituency | 1832 | 1835 | 1837 | 40 | 1841 | 1847 | 51 | 1852 | 55 | 1857 | 1859 | 64 | 1865 | 67 | 1868 | 71 | 73 | 1874 | 75 | 1880 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armagh | Dobbin | Curry | Rawdon | Moore | Bond | Miller | Bond | Miller | Vance | Beresford | ||||||||||
County Armagh | Acheson | Caulfeild | Close | Stronge | Close | |||||||||||||||
Verner | W. Verner jnr | E. Verner | Richardson | |||||||||||||||||
Newry | Hill | Brady | Ellis | F. J. Needham | → | Hallewell | Kirk | Quinn | Innes | Kirk | F. C. Needham | Whitworth | Thomson |
Down
[edit]Conservative Whig Peelite Liberal
Fermanagh
[edit]Constituency | 1832 | 34 | 1835 | 1837 | 40 | 1841 | 44 | 1847 | 51 | 1852 | 54 | 1857 | 59 | 1859 | 1865 | 1868 | 1874 | 1880 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enniskillen | A. Cole | H. Cole | Whiteside | J. Cole | Crichton | L. Cole | ||||||||||||
Fermanagh | Archdall | M. Archdale | W. Archdale | |||||||||||||||
W. Cole | Brooke | H. Cole | Crichton |
1885 to 1918 (25 MPs)
[edit]Antrim
[edit]Conservative Party Irish Unionist Russellite Unionist Independent Unionist
Armagh
[edit]Conservative Party Irish Unionist Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900) Irish National Federation Healyite Nationalist Nationalist Party
Constituency | 1885 | 86 | 1886 | 91 | 1892 | 1895 | 00 | 1900 | 1906 | 06 | 09 | Jan 1910 | Dec 1910 | 17 | 18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mid Armagh | McKane | Corry | → | Barton | Lonsdale | Lonsdale | |||||||||
North Armagh | Saunderson | → | Moore | Allen | |||||||||||
South Armagh | Blane | McHugh | J. Campbell | McKillop | O'Neill | Donnelly |
Belfast
[edit]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
[edit]Conservative Party Irish Unionist Russellite Unionist Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900) Irish National Federation Nationalist Party
Fermanagh
[edit]Irish Unionist Russellite Unionist Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900) Irish National Federation
Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 1892 | 1895 | 98 | 1900 | 03 | 1906 | Jan 1910 | Dec 1910 | 16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Fermanagh | Redmond | Dane | Archdale | Mitchell | Fetherstonhaugh | Archdale | |||||
South Fermanagh | H. Campbell | McGilligan | Jordan | → | Crumley |
Londonderry
[edit]Conservative Party Irish Unionist Liberal Unionist Liberal Party Irish Parliamentary Party (1885-90, 1900-22) / Irish National League (1890-1900) Irish National Federation
Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 91 | 1892 | 1895 | 99 | 1900 | 1906 | Jan 1910 | Dec 1910 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Londonderry City | Lewis | J. McCarthy | Ross | Knox | Moore | Hamilton | Hogg | Dougherty | ||||||
North Londonderry | Mulholland | → | Atkinson | Barrie | ||||||||||
South Londonderry | Healy | Lea | Gordon | → | Henry |
Tyrone
[edit]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
Constituency | 1885 | 1886 | 90 | 91 | 1892 | 1895 | 1900 | 02 | 1906 | 06 | 07 | Jan 1910 | Dec 1910 | 11 | 16 | 18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Tyrone | Reynolds | → | Doogan | → | Kettle | Redmond | Harbison | |||||||||
Mid Tyrone | Kenny | → | Murnaghan | → | Brunskill | McGhee | ||||||||||
North Tyrone | E. Hamilton | F. Hamilton | Hemphill | Dodd | Barry | Russell | ||||||||||
South Tyrone | O'Brien | Russell | → | → | Horner | Coote |
1918 to 1922 (30 MPs)
[edit]Irish Unionist Independent Unionist Labour Unionist Sinn Féin
1922 to 1950 (13 MPs)
[edit]Ulster Unionist Ulster Progressive Unionist Independent Unionist New Party Northern Ireland Labour Independent Labour Federation of Labour Irish Labour Nationalist Party
Constituency | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 29 | 1929 | 31 | 1931 | 34 | 1935 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 43 | 1945 | 46 | 48 | 49 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim (Two members) |
Craig | McConnell | Campbell | Haughton | ||||||||||||||
O'Neill | ||||||||||||||||||
Armagh | Allen | Harden | ||||||||||||||||
Belfast East | Dixon | Harland | Cole | |||||||||||||||
Belfast North | McConnell | Somerset | Neill | |||||||||||||||
Belfast South | Moles | Stewart | → | Gage | ||||||||||||||
Belfast West | Lynn | Allen | → | Browne | Beattie | → | → | → | ||||||||||
Down (Two members) |
Reid | Little | → | Mullan | ||||||||||||||
Simms | Vane-Tempest-Stewart | Smiles | ||||||||||||||||
Fermanagh and Tyrone (Two members) |
Harbison | Pringle | Harbison | Healy | Cunningham | |||||||||||||
Healy | Falls | Devlin | Stewart | Mulvey | ||||||||||||||
Londonderry | Macnaghten | Ross | ||||||||||||||||
Queen's University of Belfast | Whitla | Sinclair | Savory |
1950 to 1983 (12 MPs)
[edit]Periodic boundary reviews commenced in 1947.[4][5] 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.[6]
Unionist parties |
Ulster Unionist Protestant Unionist (pre-1971) / Democratic Unionist (post-1971) Vanguard Unionist / United Ulster Unionist (Mid Ulster, 1975-83) Conservative Party Independent Unionist Ulster Popular Unionist |
---|---|
Nationalist parties |
Independent Republican Unity Nationalist Party Anti H-Block (pre-1982) / Sinn Féin (post-1982) Republican Labour Social Democratic and Labour |
Other |
Constituency | 1950 ♦ | 51 | 1951 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 1955 | 57 | 59 | 1959 | 63 | 1964 | 1966 | 69 | 1970 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | Feb 1974 ♦ | Oct 1974 | 75 | 77 | 78 | 1979 | 80 | 81 | 81 | 82 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim N | H. O'Neill | P. O'Neill | Clark | Paisley | → | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Antrim S | Savory | Cunningham | Molyneaux | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Armagh | Harden | Armstrong | Maginnis | McCusker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Belfast E | McKibbin | McMaster | Craig | → | Robinson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Belfast N | Hyde | Mills | → | → | Carson | McQuade | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Belfast S | Gage | Campbell | Pounder | Bradford | → | Smyth | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Belfast W | Teevan3 | Beattie | McLaughlin | Kilfedder | Fitt | → | → | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Down N | Smiles | Ford | Currie | Kilfedder | → | → | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Down S | Orr | Powell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ferm. & S Tyr. | Healy | Grosvenor1 | Hamilton | McManus | West | Maguire | Sands | Carron | → | ||||||||||||||||||||
Londonderry | Ross | Wellwood | Chichester-Clark | Ross | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mid Ulster | Mulvey | O'Neill | Forrest2 | → | Devlin | → | Dunlop | → |
Notes:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
[edit]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.
Seats by political alignment (1983–present)
[edit]Boundary changes
[edit]See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/NI_Parliamentary_Constituencies_2024.svg/220px-NI_Parliamentary_Constituencies_2024.svg.png)
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.[7] 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.[8]
Under the recommendations, the following constituencies for Northern Ireland came into effect at the 2024 general election:[9]
Constituency | Electorate | Previous electorate[10] |
---|---|---|
Belfast East BC | 70,076 | 66,273 |
Belfast North BC | 71,372 | 72,332 |
Belfast South and Mid Down BC | 71,978 | 70,134 (former Belfast South constituency) |
Belfast West BC | 71,921 | 65,761 |
East Antrim CC | 69,936 | 64,907 |
East Londonderry CC | 72,213 | 69,359 |
Fermanagh and South Tyrone CC | 74,643 | 72,945 |
Foyle CC | 69,890 | 74,431 |
Lagan Valley CC | 76,332 | 75,884 |
Mid Ulster CC | 70,094 | 70,501 |
Newry and Armagh CC | 74,585 | 81,329 |
North Antrim CC | 71,165 | 77,156 |
North Down CC | 70,412 | 67,109 |
South Antrim CC | 71,646 | 71,915 |
South Down CC | 71,772 | 79,295 |
Strangford CC | 70,070 | 66,990 |
Upper Bann CC | 76,969 | 83,028 |
West Tyrone CC | 70,614 | 66,339 |
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).[11]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- List of changes to constituency boundaries: section 6 of Parliamentary constituency boundaries: the Fifth Periodical Review House of Commons Library
References
[edit]- ^ "FAQs". Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^ "Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016". Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ Uberoi, Elise; White, Isobel (25 February 2016). "Constituency boundary reviews and the number of MPs".
- ^ White, Isobel (28 July 2010). "Parliamentary constituency boundaries: the Fifth Periodical Review".
- ^ Whyte, Dr Nicholas. "Westminster election February 1974". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ^ "Guide to the 2023 Review". Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ "Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Publishes Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies". Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - PDF". Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. 28 June 2023. pp. 97–114. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Humphreys, Michael; Havlin, Sarah; Patterson, Vilma (28 June 2023). Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies (PDF). Belfast: Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-5286-4069-5. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ Humphreys, Havlin & Patterson 2023, p. 12.