North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)

North Antrim County constituency
North Antrim shown within Northern Ireland
Created:	1885, 1950
MP:	Ian Paisley, Jr.
Party:	Democratic Unionist
Type:	House of Commons
Districts:	Ballymena, Ballymoney, Moyle
EP constituency:	Northern Ireland

North Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. Its current member is Ian Paisley Jr.

Contents 1 Boundaries 1.1 Proposed changes 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 3.1 MPs 1885–1922 3.2 MPs since 1950 4 Elections 4.1 Elections in the 2010s 4.2 Elections in the 2000s 4.3 Elections in the 1990s 4.4 Elections in the 1980s 4.5 Elections in the 1970s 4.6 Elections in the 1960s 4.7 Elections in the 1950s 4.8 Elections in the 1910s 4.9 Elections in the 1900s 4.10 Elections in the 1890s 4.11 Elections in the 1880s 5 Sources 6 References 7 See also

Boundaries

North Antrim has always been a county constituency comprising the northern part of County Antrim in the north-east of Northern Ireland. It has the sea to the north and east and parts of the border with County Londonderry to the west - the County Antrim town of Portrush is included in the East Londonderry constituency.

From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions carved out of the former constituency of Antrim. It comprised the baronies of Cary, Dunluce Lower, Dunluce Upper and Kilconway and returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 until 1922, when it was merged into a new Antrim constituency.

North Antrim was re-created in 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats.

The constituency is largely rural. Amongst the features within its boundaries are Rathlin Island and Giant's Causeway.

The Boundary Commission initially proposed alterations for the boundaries of North Antrim prior to the United Kingdom general election, 2010. It was proposed to transfer Ballycastle and the Glens, including Rathlin Island, in Moyle to East Antrim and rename that seat Antrim Coast & Glens. However that proposal raised many questions, with some arguing that the Glens have no natural ties to Jordanstown.

Following consultation and revision, the constituency alterations were passed through the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order. The local areas making up the altered North Antrim are;

• The whole government areas of Ballymena, and Ballymoney
• From Moyle, Armoy, Ballylough, Bushmills, Bonamargy and Rathlin, Carnmoon, Dalriada, Dunseverick, Glenshesk, Glentaisie, Kinbane, Knocklayd, Moss-Side, and Moyarget.

Proposed changes

As part of the nation-wide Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland propose significant changes to the North Antrim seat. Ballymena and its surrounding areas would be transferred to a new 'Mid Antrim' constituency, which replaces the existing East Antrim seat.

The redrawn North Antrim would incorporate Portstewart, Portrush, Colraine and The Glens^[1]

History

North Antrim is an overwhelmingly unionist seat. It first existed from 1885 to 1922. From 1886 to 1974 the Conservative and Unionist members of the United Kingdom House of Commons formed a single Parliamentary party.

Unusually for Ireland, the Liberal Party retained significant strength in this constituency after the split over Home Rule in 1886. The Irish Parliamentary Party never contested the seat.

In 1906 the constituency was won by a Russellite Unionist, at least somewhat linked to the Liberal Party. Although the Unionists regained the seat when the sitting MP retired, the constituency was one of very few Unionist/Liberal marginals in Ireland at both 1910 elections.

A victory for the Unionist candidate in 1918 by 9,621 votes to Sinn Féin's 2,673 votes demonstrated the strength of the unionist support in the area.

In 1922, the constituency reverted to being part of the two member Antrim seat (as it had been before 1885). North Antrim was re-created in 1950 as a larger seat than it had been in its first incarnation. County Antrim, excluding the parts in the Belfast constituencies, was split into two divisions instead of four as previously. The 1950 North Antrim was comparable to the North and Mid Antrim divisions which had existed from 1885 to 1922.

Since 1950 the Westminster elections have been relatively uncompetitive. In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a UK general election. More recently, one man has repeatedly won by a large majority. The Reverend Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was first elected as a Protestant Unionist Party candidate in the 1970 general election. The following year that party changed to the Democratic Unionist Party and Paisley has held the seat ever since. This is the longest continuous period for which the current holding party has held any Northern Irish seat. 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.

In March 2010 Ian Paisley announced that he will step down at the 2010 UK General Election. His son Ian Paisley, Jr. was selected by the DUP to replace him as candidate.^[2] Former DUP MEP Jim Allister has announced that he will contest the constituency for the Traditional Unionist Voice.^[3]

According to straw polls, the constituency was alone in Northern Ireland in voting against the Belfast Agreement.

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2010 general election is Ian Paisley, Jr. of the Democratic Unionist Party. He succeeded his father, the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley, who was initially elected in the 1970 general election as a member of the Protestant Unionist Party but since 1971 has sat for the Democratic Unionist Party.

North Antrim has had comparatively few MPs in its lifetime compared to other parliamentary constituencies. Sir Hugh O'Neill had sat for one of 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.

MPs 1885–1922

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1885	Edward Macnaghten	Conservative	appointed in 1887 as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a Law life peer as Lord Macnaghten
	1886		Unionist
	1887 by-election	Sir Charles Edward Lewis Bt	Unionist
	1892	Charles Cunningham Connor	Unionist
	1895	Colonel Hugh McCalmont	Unionist	resigned
	1899 by-election	William Moore	Unionist
	1906	Robert Graham Glendinning	Russellite Unionist
	1910 (Jan)	Peter Kerr Kerr-Smiley	Unionist
1922		Constituency abolished. See Antrim

MPs since 1950

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1950	Sir Hugh O'Neill	Ulster Unionist	resigned his seat in 1952. Ennobled in 1953 as 1st Baron Rathcavan
	1953 by-election	Phelim O'Neill	Ulster Unionist	Northern Ireland government minister 1969–1971. Joined the Alliance Party in 1972
	1959	Henry Maitland Clark	Ulster Unionist
	1970	Ian Paisley	Protestant Unionist	Founder of the Democratic Unionist Party, later First Minister (2007–2008)
	1971		Democratic Unionist
	2010	Ian Paisley, Jr.	Democratic Unionist

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: North Antrim[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley Jr	19,672	46.4	-10.4
	Traditional Unionist Voice	Jim Allister	7,114	16.8	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Daithí McKay	5,265	12.4	-1.8
	Conservatives and Unionists	Irwin Armstrong	4,634	10.9	-4.1
	SDLP	Declan O'Loan	3,738	8.8	-2.2
	Alliance	Jayne Dunlop	1,368	3.2	+0.2
	Independent	Lyle Cubitt	606	1.4	N/A
Majority			12,558	29.6
Turnout			42,397	57.8	-7.3
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing	0.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	25,156	54.8	+4.9
	Sinn Féin	Philip McGuigan	7,191	15.7	+5.9
	Ulster Unionist	Rodney McCune	6,637	14.5	-6.5
	SDLP	Sean Farren	5,585	12.2	-4.6
	Alliance	Jayne Dunlop	1,357	3.0	+0.4
Majority			17,965	39.1
Turnout			45,926	61.7	-4.4
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 2001: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	24,539	49.9	+3.3
	Ulster Unionist	Lexie Scott	10,315	21.0	-2.7
	SDLP	Sean Farren	8,283	16.8	+1.0
	Sinn Féin	John Kelly	4,822	9.8	+3.5
	Alliance	Jayne Dunlop	1,258	2.6	-3.6
Majority			14,224	28.9
Turnout			49,217	66.1	+2.3
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	21,495	46.5	-4.4
	Ulster Unionist	James Leslie	10,921	23.6	+5.5
	SDLP	Sean Farren	7,333	15.9	+1.6
	Sinn Féin	James McGarry	2,896	6.3	+2.1
	Alliance	David Alderdice	2,845	6.2	-1.4
	NI Women's Coalition	Bronagh Hinds	580	1.3	N/A
	Natural Law	John Wright	116	0.3	N/A
Majority			10,574
Turnout				63.8	-2.0
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1992: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	23,152	50.9	-17.8
	Ulster Unionist	Joe Gaston	8,216	18.1	N/A
	SDLP	Sean Farren	6,512	14.3	-1.8
	Alliance	Gareth Williams	3,442	7.6	-4.8
	Conservative	Richard Sowler	2,263	5.0	N/A
	Sinn Féin	James McGarry	1,916	4.2	-2.2
Majority			14,936
Turnout				65.8	+9.5
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	28,283	68.7
	SDLP	Sean Farren	5,149	12.5
	Alliance	Gareth Williams	5,140	12.4
	Sinn Féin	Sean Reagan	2,633	6.4
Majority			23,234	56.3
Turnout				62.8
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

North Antrim by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	33,937	97.4	+43.2
	"For the Anglo-Irish Agreement"	"Peter Barry"	515	2.6	N/A
Majority			33,024	94.8
Turnout				53.5
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1983: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	23,922	54.2
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Coulter	10,749	24.3
	SDLP	Sean Farren	6,193	14.0
	Sinn Féin	Pearse McMahon	2,860	6.5
Majority			13,173	29.8
Turnout				69.8
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	33,941	51.7	- 20.9
	Ulster Unionist	Jeremy Burchill	15,398	23.4	N/A
	Alliance	Hugh Wilson	7,797	11.9	N/A
	SDLP	Sean Farren	4,867	7.4	- 5.4
	Irish Independence	John Turnly	3,689	5.6	N/A
Majority			18,543	28.2	- 29.1
Turnout				64.3	+ 7.0
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	43,186	72.6	+ 9.1
	Alliance	Hugh Wilson	8,689	14.6	N/A
	SDLP	Mary McAlister	7,616	12.8	- 2.7
Majority			34,497	58.0	+ 15.5
Turnout			59,491	57.3	- 5.8
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	41,282	63.5	+ 22.2
	Pro-Assembly Unionist	Thomas Edwin Utley	13,651	21.0	N/A
	SDLP	Mary McAlister	10,056	15.5	N/A
Majority			27,631	42.5	+ 37.9
Turnout			64,989	63.1	- 10.2
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1970: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Protestant Unionist	Ian Paisley	24,130	41.2	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Maitland Clark	21,451	36.6	- 41.5
	Labour (NI)	Patrick McHugh	6,476	11.0	N/A
	National Democrats	Alasdair McDonnell	4,312	7.4	N/A
	Liberal	Richard Moore	2,269	3.9	- 18.0
Majority			2,679	4.6	- 51.6
Turnout			58,638	73.4	+ 16.7
	Protestant Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Maitland Clark	31,927	78.1	- 12.0
	Liberal	Richard Moore	8,941	21.9	N/A
Majority			22,986	56.2	- 24.1
Turnout			40,868	56.7	- 6.4
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1964: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Maitland Clark	40,372	90.1	- 4.8
	Independent Republican	Sean Caughey	4,424	9.9	N/A
Majority			35,948	80.3	- 9.6
Turnout			44,796	63.3	- 1.6
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Maitland Clark	42,807	94.9	+ 8.9
	Sinn Féin	John Dougan	2,280	5.1	- 8.9
Majority			40,527	89.9	+ 17.9
Turnout			45,087	64.5	- 7.7
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1955: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Phelim Robert Hugh O'Neill	41,763	86.0	N/A
	Sinn Féin	John Dougan	6,809	14.0	N/A
Majority			34,954	72.0	N/A
Turnout			48,572	72.2	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

North Antrim by-election, 1953: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Phelim Robert Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1951: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Sir Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1950: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Sir Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Peter Kerr-Smiley	9,621	78.3	+23.8
	Sinn Féin	Patrick McCarty	2,673	21.7	N/A
Majority			6,948	56.5	+47.6
Turnout			19,110	64.3	-22.6
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election December 1910: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Peter Kerr-Smiley	3,557	54.5	+1.6
	Liberal	William Macafee	2,974	45.5	-1.6
Majority			583	8.9	+3.2
Turnout			7,516	86.9	-1.6
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election January 1910: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Peter Kerr-Smiley	3,519	52.9	-8.8
	Liberal	William James Baxter	3,135	47.1	N/A
Majority			384	5.77	N/A
Turnout			7,516	88.5	+2.6
	Irish Unionist gain from Russellite Unionist		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Russellite Unionist	Robert Glendinning	3,757	55.9	N/A
	Irish Unionist	William Moore	2,969	44.1	N/A
Majority			788	11.7	N/A
Turnout			7,829	85.9	N/A
	Russellite Unionist gain from Irish Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1900: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Moore	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

North Antrim by-election, 1899: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Moore	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1895: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Hugh McCalmont	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1892: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Cunningham Connor	4,666	69.7	+13.0
	Liberal	William Huston Dodd	2,027	30.3	-6.8
Majority			2,639	39.4	+19.9
Turnout			9,035	74.08	+2.5
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

North Antrim by-election, 1887
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Edward Lewis	3,858	56.7	-13.2
	Liberal	Samuel Craig McElroy	2,526	37.1	+7.00
	Independent Unionist	William Acheson Traill	424	6.2	N/A
Majority			1,332	19.6	-20.2
Turnout			9,505	71.6	+0.8
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1886: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Edward MacNaghten	4,429	69.9	N/A
	Liberal	Samuel Craig McElroy	1,910	30.1	+0.7
Majority			2,519	39.7	N/A
Turnout			8,948	70.8	-10.7
	Irish Unionist gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General Election 1885: North Antrim
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward MacNaghten	3,233	44.3	N/A
	Liberal	William Pirrie Sinclair	2,149	29.5	N/A
	Independent	John Pinkerton	1,915	26.2	N/A
Majority			1,084	14.9	N/A
Turnout			8,948	81.6	N/A
	Conservative gain from new seat		Swing	N/A

Sources

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2 )
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 - 1970

References

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Horsham	Constituency represented by the Father of the House 1951–1952	Succeeded by Gower

Constituencies in Northern Ireland (18) DUP (8) Belfast North East Antrim East Londonderry Lagan Valley North Antrim South Antrim Strangford Upper Bann Sinn Féin (5) Belfast West Fermanagh and South Tyrone Mid Ulster Newry and Armagh West Tyrone SDLP (3) Belfast South Foyle South Down Alliance (1) Belfast East Independent (1) North Down Northern Ireland European constituency Sinn Féin (1 seat) DUP (1 seat) UUP (1 seat)