Belfast Dock (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Belfast Dock Parliament of Northern Ireland Borough constituency


Belfast Dock shown within Belfast and Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Created:	1929
Abolished:	1973
Election Method:	First past the post

Belfast Dock was a constituency of the Northern Ireland Parliament.

1 Boundaries
2 Politics
3 Members of Parliament
4 Elections results
5 References

[edit] Boundaries

Belfast Dock was a borough constituency comprising part of eastern 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 Dock was created by the division of Belfast East into four new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Northern Ireland Parliament was prorogued in 1972 and formally abolished in 1973.^[1]

The boundaries were the same as the former Dock Ward. This meant that the boundary ran from Carlisle Circus, along Clifton Street, up North Queen Street, along Great George's street, along the Belfast Lough, along Brougham Street and Duncairn Gardens and from the top of Duncairn Gardens, along the Antrim Road to Carlisle Circus. Consequently the constituency was almost identical to the current New Lodge ward.

The constituency is now part of Belfast North.

[edit] Politics

The constituency was one of the most marginal in the Northern Ireland parliament changing hands at every election until 1965. In the five elections from 1933 to 1953 the incumbent member lost their seat. ^[1]

[edit] Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1929	Charles Blakiston-Houston	Ulster Unionist Party
1933	Harry Midgley	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1938	George Anthony Clark	Ulster Unionist Party
1945	Harry Downey	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1949	Thomas Loftus Cole	Ulster Unionist Party
1953	Murtagh Morgan	Irish Labour Party
1958	William Oliver	Ulster Unionist Party
1962	Gerry Fitt	Irish Labour Party
1965		Republican Labour Party Social Democratic and Labour Party
1969		Republican Labour Party Social Democratic and Labour Party
1973	Constituency abolished

[edit] Elections results

Government
Northern Ireland 1921-72
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Northern Ireland 1921-72

Governor of Northern Ireland
Privy Council
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
Cabinet Governments: Craigavon ministry · Andrews ministry Brookeborough ministry · O'Neill ministry Chichester-Clark ministry · Faulkner ministry Elections: 1921 · 1925 · 1929 · 1933 1938 · 1945 · 1949 · 1953 1958 · 1962 · 1965 · 1969 By-elections Members: 1921 · 1925 · 1929 · 1933 1938 · 1945 · 1949 · 1953 1958 · 1962 · 1965 · 1969
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Senate Speaker Leader of the Senate Deputy leader of the Senate
House of Commons Speaker Constituencies
See also
Government of Ireland Act 1920 Elections in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal view • talk • edit

General Election 22 May 1929: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Charles Blakiston-Houston	4,035	46.6	N/A
	Labour (NI)	D. Gordon	3,003	34.7	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Woods Gyle	1,619	18.7	N/A
Majority			1,032	11.9	N/A
Turnout				73.7	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour (NI)	Harry Midgley	4,893	57.0	+22.3
	Ulster Unionist	Charles Blakiston-Houston	3,685	43.0	-3.6
Majority			1,208	14.0	+2.1
Turnout				77.5	+3.8
	Labour (NI) gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Anthony Clark	3,578	42.6	-0.4
	Nationalist (NI)	J. H. Collins	2,891	34.5	N/A
	Labour (NI)	Harry Midgley	1,943	22.9	-34.1
Majority			687	8.1	-5.9
Turnout				82.5	+5.0
	Ulster Unionist gain from Labour (NI)		Swing

General Election 14 June 1945: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour (NI)	Harry Downey	3,985	57.7	+34.8
	Ulster Unionist	George Anthony Clark	2,924	42.3	-0.3
Majority			1,061	15.4	+7.3
Turnout				78.5	-4.0
	Labour (NI) gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,674	52.0	+9.7
	Labour (NI)	Harry Downey	3,390	48.0	-9.7
Majority			284	4.0	-11.4
Turnout				79.8	+1.3
	Ulster Unionist gain from Labour (NI)		Swing

General Election 22 October 1953: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Murtagh Morgan	3,537	51.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,358	48.7	-3.3
Majority			179	2.6	-1.4
Turnout				75.9	-3.9
	Irish Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Oliver	3,156	52.1	+3.4
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	2,900	47.9	-3.4
Majority			256	4.2	-1.6
Turnout				73.9	-2.0
	Ulster Unionist gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,288	54.2	+6.3
	Ulster Unionist	William Oliver	2,781	45.8	-6.3
Majority			507	8.4	+4.2
Turnout				77.9	+4.0
	Irish Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,326	62.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	William Oliver	2,016	37.7	-8.1
Majority			1,310	24.6	+16.2
Turnout				70.3	-7.6
	Republican Labour gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Dock^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,274	62.8	+0.5
	Ulster Unionist	H. E. Smith	1,936	37.2	-0.5
Majority			1,338	25.6	+1.0
Turnout				72.2	-1.9
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast

v • d • e Parliament of Northern Ireland constituencies

1921–1929	1929–1972

Antrim	Antrim Borough · Bannside · Carrick · Larkfield · Larne · Mid Antrim · Newtownabbey · North Antrim · South Antrim

Armagh	Central Armagh · Mid Armagh · North Armagh · South Armagh

Belfast East	Belfast Bloomfield · Belfast Dock · Belfast Pottinger · Belfast Victoria

Belfast North	Belfast Clifton · Belfast Duncairn · Belfast Oldpark · Belfast Shankill

Belfast South	Belfast Ballynafeigh · Belfast Cromac · Belfast Willowfield · Belfast Windsor

Belfast West	Belfast Central · Belfast Falls · Belfast St Anne's · Belfast Woodvale

Down	Ards · Bangor · East Down · Iveagh · Lagan Valley · Mid Down · Mourne · North Down · South Down · West Down

Fermanagh and Tyrone	East Tyrone · Enniskillen · Lisnaskea · Mid Tyrone · North Tyrone · South Fermanagh · South Tyrone · West Tyrone

Londonderry	City of Londonderry · Foyle · Mid Londonderry · North Londonderry · South Londonderry

Queen's University	Queen's University (to 1969)