Belfast Willowfield (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

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Belfast Willowfield Parliament of Northern Ireland Borough constituency


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

Belfast Willowfield was a constituency of the Northern Ireland Parliament.

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

[edit] Boundaries

Belfast Willowfield was a borough constituency comprising part of southern 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 Willowfield was created by the division of Belfast South 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]

[edit] Politics

In common with other seats in south Belfast, the constituency was strongly unionist. The seat was generally held by Unionist candidates, although labour movement candidates often performed well and sometimes took the seat.^[1]

[edit] Members of Parliament

1929 - 41: Arthur Black, Ulster Unionist Party
1941 - 57: Harry Midgley, Northern Ireland Labour Party (1941 - 42); Commonwealth Labour Party (1942 - 47); Ulster Unionist Party (1947 - 57)
1957 - 58: vacant
1958 - 69: William Hinds, Ulster Unionist Party
1969 - 73: Tom Caldwell, Independent Unionist

[edit] Election results

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

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See also
Government of Ireland Act 1920 Elections in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
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General Election 1929: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Arthur Black	4,691	53.9	N/A
	Town Tenants' Association	Alexander McConnell	4,015	46.1	N/A
Majority			676	7.8	N/A
Turnout				69.4	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1933, Arthur Black was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 1938: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Arthur Black	7,615	65.1	N/A
	Ulster Protestant League	Arthur Cleland	4,086	34.9	N/A
Majority			3,530	30.2	N/A
Turnout				74.1	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Belfast Willowfield by-election, 1941^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour (NI)	Harry Midgley	7,209	74.8	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	F. J. Lavery	2,435	25.2	- 39.9
Majority			4,774	49.6	- 19.4
Turnout				60.0	N/A
	Labour (NI) gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1945: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Commonwealth Labour	Harry Midgley	7,072	55.9	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	G. I. Finlay	4,488	35.5	- 29.4
	Labour (NI)	Robert McBrinn	1,082	8.6	N/A
Majority			2,584	20.4	- 9.8
Turnout				75.1	+ 1.0
	Commonwealth Labour gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1949: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harry Midgley	11,304	87.5	+ 31.6
	Labour (NI)	William Leeburn	1,611	12.5	+ 3.9
Majority			9,693	75.0	+ 54.6
Turnout				77.3	+ 2.2
	Ulster Unionist gain from Commonwealth Labour		Swing	N/A

General Election 1953: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harry Midgley	6,539	68.8	- 18.7
	Labour (NI)	Norman Searight	2,966	31.2	+ 18.7
Majority			3,573	37.6	- 37.4
Turnout				59.5	- 17.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1958: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Hinds	4,017	41.6	- 27.2
	Labour (NI)	Norman Searight	2,847	29.5	- 1.7
	Independent Unionist	A. W. Shaw	2,785	28.9	N/A
Majority			1,170	12.1	- 25.5
Turnout				66.6	+ 7.1
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1962: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Hinds	4,931	58.5	+ 16.9
	Labour (NI)	Norman Searight	3,497	41.5	+ 12.0
Majority			1,434	17.0	+ 4.9
Turnout				62.0	- 4.6
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1965: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Hinds	4,918	64.9	+ 6.4
	Labour (NI)	R. M. McBirney	2,654	35.1	- 6.4
Majority			2,264	29.8	+ 12.8
Turnout				57.1	- 4.9
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1969: Belfast Willowfield^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Unionist	Tom Caldwell	4,613	54.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	William Hinds	2,134	25.1	- 39.8
	Labour (NI)	Billy Boyd	1,747	20.6	- 14.5
Majority			2,479	29.2	- 0.6
Turnout				68.4	+ 11.3
	Independent Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	N/A

[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 ^k 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)