Belfast Central (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
54°35′49″N 5°55′52″W / 54.597°N 5.931°W
Belfast Central | |
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Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland | |
![]() Belfast Central shown within Belfast and Belfast shown within Northern Ireland | |
Former constituency | |
Created | 1929 |
Abolished | 1973 |
Election method | First past the post |
Belfast Central was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
Boundaries
[edit]Belfast Central was a borough constituency comprising part of central Belfast. It was created in 1929, when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland.
Belfast Central was created by the division of Belfast West into four new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.[1]
The constituency consisted of inner city areas of Belfast equivalent to the modern areas of Unity, Brown Square, John Street and Lancaster Street. Residential redevelopment caused the electorate to fall sharply from 20,399 in 1929 to 6,384 in 1969. By the time of the dissolution of the Stormont Parliament, it had just over 2,500 voters.
The constituency is now part of Belfast North and Belfast West with most of the former seat now part of the New Lodge ward.
Politics
[edit]The constituency was one of the most staunchly nationalist in Belfast. It was initially held by Nationalist Party members, then later by a variety of labour movement activists and members of smaller nationalist parties.[1] In 1953, a split between three Labour candidates led to the Unionist candidate finishing just 576 votes behind the victor.
Members of Parliament
[edit]Year | Name | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1929 | Joseph Devlin | Nationalist | |
1934 | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Nationalist | |
1946 | Frank Hanna | NI Labour | |
1949 | Independent Labour | ||
1949 | Irish Labour | ||
1949 | Independent Labour | ||
1958 | Ind. Labour Group | ||
1965 | John Joseph Brennan | National Democratic | |
1969 | Paddy Kennedy | Republican Labour |
Election results
[edit](1921–72) |
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Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist | Joseph Devlin | 10,624 | 71.8 | ||
UUP | David Cecil Lindsay | 4,163 | 28.2 | ||
Majority | 6,461 | 43.6 | |||
Turnout | 14,787 | 72.5 | |||
Nationalist win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist | Joseph Devlin | 7,411 | 61.4 | −10.4 | |
Irish Republican | Patrick Thornbury | 4,650 | 38.6 | New | |
Majority | 2,761 | 22.8 | −20.8 | ||
Turnout | 12,061 | 63.6 | −7.9 | ||
Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | 4,948 | 47.3 | −14.1 | |
NI Labour | William McMullen | 3,784 | 36.2 | New | |
Anti-Partition | Harry Diamond | 1,518 | 14.5 | New | |
Ulster Democratic | William McKeaveney | 214 | 2.0 | New | |
Majority | 1,164 | 11.1 | −11.7 | ||
Turnout | 10,464 | 55.7 | N/A | ||
Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NI Labour | Frank Hanna | 5,566 | 66.7 | New | |
Socialist Republican | Victor Halley | 2,783 | 33.3 | New | |
Majority | 2,783 | 33.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 8,349 | 52.4 | N/A | ||
NI Labour gain from Nationalist | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent Labour | Frank Hanna | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Independent Labour gain from Nationalist | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent Labour | Frank Hanna | 3,902 | 35.3 | N/A | |
UUP | Joseph Foster Cairns | 3,326 | 30.0 | New | |
Independent Irish Labour | Timothy Joseph O'Sullivan | 2,437 | 22.0 | New | |
Irish Labour | Jack Beattie | 1,406 | 12.7 | New | |
Majority | 576 | 5.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 11,071 | 69.9 | N/A | ||
Independent Labour hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Labour Group | Frank Hanna | 4,683 | 46.8 | −31.5 | |
UUP | William Craig | 3,228 | 32.2 | +2.2 | |
Irish Labour | Desmond Patrick Marrinan | 2,105 | 21.0 | +8.3 | |
Majority | 1,455 | 14.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,016 | 71.6 | +1.7 | ||
Ind. Labour Group gain from Independent Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Labour Group | Frank Hanna | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
Ind. Labour Group hold | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Democratic | John Joseph Brennan | Unopposed | N/A | N/A | |
National Democratic gain from Ind. Labour Group | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican Labour | Paddy Kennedy | 2,032 | 56.9 | New | |
National Democratic | John Joseph Brennan | 1,538 | 43.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 494 | 13.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 3,570 | 58.3 | N/A | ||
Republican Labour hold | Swing | N/A |