North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
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| North Antrim in Northern Ireland |
North Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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Boundaries
The seat was created in 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. The seat has had relatively few changes over the years and currently contains exactly the districts of Ballymena, Ballymoney and Moyle.
The constituency is largely rural. Amongst the features within its boundaries are Rathlin Island and Giant's Causeway.
Proposed Boundary changes
At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. North Antrim currently has the largest electorate of any constituency in Northern Ireland and it is proposed to transfer the Glens, including Rathlin Island, in Moyle to East Antrim and rename that seat Antrim Coast & Glens. However this proposal has raised many questions, with some already arguing that the Glens have no natural ties to Jordanstown. The changes will be subject to a series of consultations and it remains to be seen whether these proposals will be upheld. If not then it is likely that some other changes will be performed.
Westminster elections
Member of Parliament
The Member of Parliament since the 1970 general election is the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley. He was initially elected as a member of the Protestant Unionist Party but since 1971 has sat for the Democratic Unionist Party
Election results
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MPs since 1950
- 1950 - 1953, Sir Hugh O'Neill Ulster Unionist Party
- 1953 by-election - 1959, Phelim Robert Hugh O'Neill Ulster Unionist Party
- 1959 - 1970 Henry Maitland Clark Ulster Unionist Party
- 1970 - present Ian Paisley Protestant Unionist Party (1970-1971); Democratic Unionist Party (1971-present)
N.B. North Antrim has had comparatively few MPs in its lifetime compared to other parliamentary constituencies. Sir Hugh O'Neill had sat for the predecessor seats of Mid Antrim between 1915 and 1922 and Antrim between 1922 until 1950, making this one of the few seats where four individuals between them represented the seat continuously over a period of ninety years.
Assemblies and Forum elections
The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election are:
- Robert Coulter Ulster Unionist Party
- Sean Farren Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Philip McGuigan Sinn Fein
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley, Jr. Democratic Unionist Party
- Mervyn Storey Democratic Unionist Party
In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:
- Robert Coulter Ulster Unionist Party
- Sean Farren Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Gardiner Kane Democratic Unionist Party
- James Leslie Ulster Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley, Jr. Democratic Unionist Party
- Gardiner Kane resigned from the Democratic Unionist Party and contested the 2003 election as an independent Unionist.
In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Antrim. They were as follows:
- Robert Coulter Ulster Unionist Party
- Sean Farren Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Joe Gaston Ulster Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley, Jr. Democratic Unionist Party
In 1982 elections were held for an Assembly for Northern Ireland to hold the Secretary of State to account, in the hope that this would be the first step towards restoring devolution. North Antrim elected 8 members as follows:
- Jim Allister Democratic Unionist Party
- Roy Beggs Ulster Unionist Party
- Cecil Cousley Democratic Unionist Party
- Sean Farren Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Joe Gaston Ulster Unionist Party
- Jack McKee Democratic Unionist Party
- Séan Neeson Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
In 1975 elections were held to a Constitutional Convention which sought (unsuccessfully) to generate a consensus on the future of the province. The seven members elected from North Antrim were:
- David Allen Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
- Ken McFaul Democratic Unionist Party
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
- Clifford Smyth Democratic Unionist Party
- John Turnley Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Hugh Wilson Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- William Wright Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The seven members elected from North Antrim were:
- John Baxter Ulster Unionist Party (pro Sunningdale Agreement)
- James Craig Democratic Unionist Party
- William Craig Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
- John O'Hagen Social Democratic and Labour Party
- David McCarthy Ulster Unionist Party (pro Sunningdale Agreement)
- Ian Paisley Democratic Unionist Party
- Hugh Wilson Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- David McCarthy was killed in a car crash. The subsequent by-election on June 20 1974 was won by Clifford Smyth of the Democratic Unionist Party
Politics and History of the constituency
For the history of the constituency prior to 1950, see Antrim (constituency).
North Antrim is an overwhelmingly Unionist seat but the Westminster elections have been relatively uncompetitive, with one man repeatedly winning by a landslide. The Reverend Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was first elected as a Protestant Unionist in the 1970 general election. The following year that party changed to the Democratic Unionist Party and Paisley has held the seat ever since. In elections at all levels the DUP have frequently had their highest share of the vote in North Antrim and have rarely been seriously challenged.
Surprisingly there is strong evidence of a number of Catholic voters in the constituency voting for Ian Paisley, presumably because of his strong reputation for his constituency work.
There is much speculation that Ian Paisley will step down at the next or subsequent UK general election. It is widely expected that if he does then the new DUP candidate will be his son, Ian Paisley, Jr..