Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
|
|
| Missing image NewryArmaghUKParliamentConstituency.png |
| Newry and Armagh in Northern Ireland |
Newry and Armagh is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
| Contents |
Boundaries
The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from the old Armagh constituency with the addition of Newry town from the old South Down constituency. In boundary changes in 1995 the seat was barely changed. It contains the entirity of Armagh district and the Newry half of Newry and Mourne district.
Proposed Boundary changes
At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. For Newry and Armagh, it proposes to transfer part of Newry to South Down. It is possible that this will be challenged in a round of public consultations or that the constituency name may be modified.
Westminster elections
Member of Parliament
The Member of Parliament since the 2005 general election is Conor Murphy of Sinn Féin. He succeeded Seamus Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, who stood down at that election, having represented the seat since a by-election in 1986.
Election results
Template:Election box begin Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box gain with party link Template:Election box end
Template:Election box begin
Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box hold with party link Template:Election box end
Assembly and Forum elections
The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election are:
- Paul Berry Democratic Unionist Party
- Dominic Bradley Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Davy Hyland Sinn Féin
- Danny Kennedy Ulster Unionist Party
- Conor Murphy Sinn Féin
- Patricia O'Rawe Sinn Féin
In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:
- Paul Berry Democratic Unionist Party
- John Fee Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Danny Kennedy Ulster Unionist Party
- Seamus Mallon Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Patrick McNamee Sinn Féin
- Conor Murphy Sinn Féin
In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from Newry & Armagh. They were as follows:
- Maria Caraher Sinn Féin
- Frank Feeley Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Danny Kennedy Ulster Unionist Party
- Seamus Mallon Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Patrick McNamee Sinn Féin
Politics and History of the constituency
For the history of the equivalent constituency prior to 1983, please see Armagh (constituency).
The constituency is overwhelming nationalist, though initially on its creation in 1983 Jim Nicholson of the Ulster Unionist Party won the seat due to the nationalist vote being divided between the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin. In 1986 Nicholson, along with all the other unionist MPs, resigned his seat in protest over the Anglo Irish Agreement and stood in a by-election to provide voters the opportunity to decide on it. However the nationalist parties contested the seat and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP gained sufficient votes to outpoll Nicholson and win the seat. Mallon has held it ever since.
The unionist vote in the constituency has declined somewhat in recent years, with the shift being more marked as both the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party now stand. The main attention has been upon the rise of the Sinn Féin vote. In the 2001 they surged forward, cutting Mallon's majority drastically, as well as heavily outpolling the SDLP in the equivalent area local elections held on the same day. Then in the 2003 Assembly election Sinn Féin won three seats to the SDLP's single one. Mallon stood down at the 2005 general election and, as widely predicted, the seat fell to Sinn Féin.