South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
|
|
| Missing image SouthAntrimUKParliamentConstituency.png |
| South Antrim in Northern Ireland |
South Antrim 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 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. The seat became one of the largest in the entire United Kingdom until 1983 when Northern Ireland received new seats. South Antrim was cut down heavily, losing a lot of territory to the new seats of East Antrim and Lagan Valley. In 1995 there were minor changes around the borders with North Belfast and West Belfast. The seat currently encompasses the entirity of the district of Antrim and part of the district of Newtownabbey.
Proposed Boundary changes
At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to transfer part of Newtownabbey from South Antrim to the North Belfast constituency. The changes will be subject to a series of consultations and it remains to be seen whether these proposals will be upheld.
Westminster elections
Member of Parliament
The Member of Parliament is William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party. He was first elected to the seat in a by-election in 2000 but in the 2001 general election he was defeated by David Burnside of the Ulster Unionist Party. In the 2005 general election McCrea reversed that defeat.
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 with party link 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 candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box hold 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 candidate with party link Template:Election box candidate with party link 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 candidate with party link Template:Election box majority Template:Election box turnout Template:Election box hold with party link Template:Election box end
MPs since 1950
- 1950 - 1955 Prof. Sir Douglas Lloyd Savory Ulster Unionist Party
- unknown - 1983 James Molyneaux Ulster Unionist Party
- 1983 - 2000 Clifford Forsythe Ulster Unionist Party
- 2000 - 2001 William McCrea Democratic Unionist Party
- 2001 - 2005 David Burnside Ulster Unionist Party
- 2005 - present William McCrea Democratic Unionist Party
Assemblies and Forum elections
The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election are:
- Thomas Burns Social Democratic and Labour Party
- David Burnside Ulster Unionist Party
- Wilson Clyde Democratic Unionist Party
- David Ford Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Paul Girvan Democratic Unionist Party
- Jim Wilson Ulster Unionist Party
In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:
- Norman Boyd UK Unionist Party
- Wilson Clyde Democratic Unionist Party
- David Ford Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Donovan McClelland Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Duncan Shipley-Dalton Ulster Unionist Party
- Jim Wilson Ulster Unionist Party
In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Antrim. They were as follows:
- Wilson Clyde Democratic Unionist Party
- John Hunter Ulster Unionist Party
- Peter King Ulster Unionist Party
- Trevor Kirkland Democratic Unionist Party
- Donovan McClelland Social Democratic and Labour 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. South Antrim elected 10 members (an exceptionally high number which some commentators believe to be impractical) as follows:
- Fraser Agnew Ulster Unionist Party
- William Beattie Democratic Unionist Party
- William Bell Ulster Unionist Party
- Seamus Close Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Ivan Davis Democratic Unionist Party
- Clifford Forsythe Ulster Unionist Party
- Gordon Mawhinney Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- James McDonald Social Democratic and Labour Party
- James Molyneaux Ulster Unionist Party
- Roy Thompson 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 eight members elected from South Antrim were:
- Austin Ardill Ulster Unionist Party
- William Beattie Democratic Unionist Party
- Anne Dickson Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
- Stewart Dunlop Democratic Unionist Party
- Charles Kinahan Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Kennedy Lindsay Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
- Vincent McCloskey Social Democratic and Labour Party
- George Morrison Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The eight members elected from South Antrim were:
- Austin Ardill Ulster Unionist Party anti Sunningdale
- William Beattie Democratic Unionist Party
- Anne Dickson Independent Unionist
- Derrick Crothers Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Kennedy Lindsay Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
- Vincent McCloskey Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Peter McLachlan Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
- Nat Minford Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
Politics and History of the constituency
For the history of the constituency prior to 1950, see Antrim (constituency).
South Antrim is an overwhelmingly Unionist seat which once had the strongest vote for the Ulster Unionist Party anywhere in the province. In the 1979 general election James Molyneaux had the largest majority of any MP in the entire of the United Kingdom, helped also by having one of the largest electorates.
The boundary changes in 1983 reduced the Ulster Unionist vote somewhat, with a significant portion now contained by the new Lagan Valley (which Molyneaux now contested) but the constituency still gave strong results.
However on April 27 2000 the incumbent MP, Clifford Forsythe died. The ensuing by-election took place amidst a fierce political struggle between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party over the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement that the UUP were themselves split over. The DUP had not contested the seat at the previous general election but on this occasion stood William McCrea, the former MP for Mid Ulster, who campaigned strongly on the DUP's refusal to co-operate with Sinn Fein in the absence of progress on arms decommissioning. The local UUP branch selected David Burnside to contest the seat who declared that he had supported the Good Friday Agreement at the time that it was signed but had since become disillusioned with its implementation. As a result many commentators predicted that whatever the outcome of the election it was a severe blow for the UUP's leader David Trimble. On a low turnout amidst a fierce contest McCrea narrowly won the seat.
Burnside was nominated again to contest the seat in the 2001 general election in which he overturned McCrea's majority, aided by tactical voting by SDLP and Alliance voters. However the DUP remained eager to regain the seat and in the 2003 Assembly election they outpolled the UUP by 298 votes. In the 2005 general election McCrea defeated Burnside in their third contest, but with a noticably lower swing than those garnered by other DUP candidates who ousted UUP MPs.