Belfast North (Assembly constituency)

Belfast North Northern Ireland Assembly Borough constituency

Belfast North shown within Northern Ireland
First Used:	1973
Assembly Members:	Paula Bradley Carál Ní Chuilín William Humphrey Gerry Kelly Alban Maginness Nelson McCausland
Districts:	Belfast City Council, Newtownabbey

Belfast North is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. It usually shares boundaries with the Belfast North UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1973 to 1974 and 1983 to 1986 as the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes and from 1996 to 1997 when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983–95 constituency boundaries, was still in session.

Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998.

For further details of the history and boundaries of the constituency, see Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency).

1 Members
2 Elections
3 References

Members

Year		Alliance		Democratic Unionist		Progressive Unionist		Sinn Féin		SDLP		Ulster Unionist		Unionist Party NI		Independent Unionist
1973	1		1		N/A		N/A		1		3		N/A		0
1975	0		1		N/A		N/A		1		2		1		1
1982	1		1		N/A		0		1		1		0		1
1996	0		2		0		1		1		1		N/A		0
1998	0		1		1		1		1		1		N/A		1
2003	0		2		0		2		1		1		N/A		0
2007	0		2		0		2		1		1		N/A		0
2011	0		3		0		2		1		0		N/A		N/A

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2011 election are:

Carál Ní Chuilín – Sinn Féin
Paula Bradley – Democratic Unionist Party
William Humphrey – Democratic Unionist Party
Gerry Kelly – Sinn Féin
Alban Maginness – Social Democratic and Labour Party
Nelson McCausland – Democratic Unionist Party

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2007 election were:

Carál Ní Chuilín – Sinn Féin
Fred Cobain – Ulster Unionist Party
Nigel Dodds – Democratic Unionist Party
Gerry Kelly – Sinn Féin
Alban Maginness – Social Democratic and Labour Party
Nelson McCausland – Democratic Unionist Party

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election were:

Fred Cobain – Ulster Unionist Party
Nigel Dodds – Democratic Unionist Party
Gerry Kelly – Sinn Féin
Alban Maginness – Social Democratic and Labour Party
Nelson McCausland – Democratic Unionist Party
Kathy Stanton – Sinn Féin

In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:

Fraser Agnew – independent Unionist
Fred Cobain – Ulster Unionist Party
Nigel Dodds – Democratic Unionist Party
Billy Hutchinson – Progressive Unionist Party
Gerry Kelly – Sinn Féin
Alban Maginness – Social Democratic and Labour Party

Changes 1998–2003

Fraser Agnew joined with other independent Unionists to form the United Unionist Coalition on 14 September 1998.

In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Belfast. They were as follows:

David Browne – Ulster Unionist Party
Nigel Dodds – Democratic Unionist Party
Gerry Kelly – Sinn Féin
Alban Maginness – Social Democratic and Labour Party
William Snoddy – Democratic Unionist 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. North Blefast elected 5 members as follows:

John Carson – Ulster Unionist Party
Paul Maguire – Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Frank Millar – independent Unionist
Paschal O'Hare – Social Democratic and Labour Party
George Seawright – 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 six members elected from North Belfast were:

William Annon – Democratic Unionist Party
Billy Bell – Ulster Unionist Party
Gerry Fitt – Social Democratic and Labour Party
Lloyd Hall-Thompson – Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
Frank Millar – independent Loyalist
William Morgan – Ulster Unionist Party

In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The six members elected from North Belfast were:

John Ferguson – Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Gerry Fitt – Social Democratic and Labour Party
Lloyd Hall-Thompson – Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
John McQuade – Democratic Unionist Party
Frank Millar – Ulster Unionist Party anti Sunningdale
William Morgan – Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale

Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

2011 Assembly election: Belfast North – 6 Seats^[1]
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly	19.9%	6,674
	Democratic Unionist	Nelson McCausland	15.5%	5,200
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	12.0%	4,025	–	–	–	–
	Sinn Féin	Carál Ní Chuilín	9.0%	2,999	–	–	–	–
	Democratic Unionist	William Humphrey	11.1%	3,724	–	–	–	–	–
	Democratic Unionist	Paula Bradley	10.4%	3,488	–	–	–	–	–
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Cobain	8.2%	2,758	–
	Alliance	Billy Webb	6.3%	2,096	–
	Independent	Raymond McCord	3.5%	1,176	–
	Sinn Féin	J. J. Magee	3.0%	998	–
	Workers' Party	John Lavery	1.0%	332	–
Electorate: 68,119 Valid: tba Spoilt: tba (0.00%) Quota: 4,782 Turnout: 34,257 (50.29%)

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	Democratic Unionist	Nigel Dodds	6,973	Elected	1
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly	5,414	Elected	1
	Sinn Féin	Carál Ní Chuilín	3,680	Elected	4
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Cobain	2,498	Elected	11
	Democratic Unionist	Nelson McCausland	2,462	Elected	11
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	2,212	Elected	10
	SDLP	Pat Convery	1,868	Not elected	9
	Democratic Unionist	William Humphrey	1,673	Not elected	11
	Independent	Raymond McCord	1,320	Not elected	8
	Green (NI)	Peter Emerson	590	Not elected	7
	Alliance	Thomas McCullough	486	Not elected	7
	UK Unionist	Robert McCartney	360	Not elected	6
	Workers' Party	John Lavery	139	Not elected	6
	Make Politicians History	Rainbow George	40	Not elected	6

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	Democratic Unionist	Nigel Dodds	9,276	Elected	1
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly	5,524	Elected	1
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	3,186	Elected	12
	Sinn Féin	Kathy Stanton	2,990	Elected	12
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Cobain	2,961	Elected	10
	SDLP	Pat Convery	2,108	Not elected
	Democratic Unionist	Nelson McCausland	1,500	Elected	2
	Progressive Unionist	Billy Hutchinson	1,358	Not elected
	United Unionist Coalition	Fraser Agnew	802	Not elected
	Independent	Frank McCoubrey	469	Not elected
	NI Women's Coalition	Elizabeth McCullough	467	Not elected
	Alliance	Marjorie Hawins	305	Not elected
	Green (NI)	Peter Emerson	261	Not elected
	Independent	Raymond McCord	218	Not elected
	Workers' Party	Marcella Delaney	90	Not elected
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	John Gallagher	17	Not elected

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
Party		Candidate	1st Pref	Result	Count
	Democratic Unionist	Nigel Dodds	7,476	Elected	1
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	6,196	Elected	1
	Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly	5,610	Elected	10
	Progressive Unionist	Billy Hutchinson	3,751	Elected	11
	Sinn Féin	Martina McIlkenny	3,165	Not elected
	Independent Unionist	Fraser Agnew	2,976	Elected	10
	SDLP	Martin Morgan	2,465	Not elected
	Ulster Unionist	Fred Cobain	2,415	Elected	11
	Ulster Unionist	David Browne	2,064	Not elected
	Democratic Unionist	Eric Smyth	1,288	Not elected
	Alliance	Glyn Roberts	1,267	Not elected
	Ulster Democratic	John White	911	Not elected
	UK Unionist	Stephen Cooper	748	Not elected
	Green (NI)	Peter Emerson	257	Not elected
	Labour Party NI	Sam McAughtry	255	Not elected
	Workers' Party	Stephen Doran	155	Not elected
	Natural Law	Kevin Blair	76	Not elected
	Independent	Dolores Quinn	50	Not elected

1996 Forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.^[2]

	Candidate(s)	Votes	Percentage
Democratic Unionist	Nigel Dodds William Snoddy David Smylie William Henry De Courcy	7,778	19.2
Sinn Féin	Gerry Kelly Joe Austin Christine Beattie Bobby Lavery Eoghan McCormain	7,681	19.0
SDLP	Alban Maginness Martin Morgan Geraldine Leonard Shelagh McGlade Peter Coll	7,493	18.5
Ulster Unionist	David Browne Fred Cobain Nelson McCausland Dennis Robinson	6,938	17.2
Progressive Unionist	Billy Hutchinson Michael Acheson Robert Gourley	3,777	9.3
Ulster Democratic	John White^* Thomas English Thomasena Livingstone Patrick Bird John English	1,874	4.6
Alliance	Nicholas Whyte Tommy Frazer Lindsay Whitcroft	1,670	4.1
UK Unionist	Derek Peters Amy Corry	1,329	3.3
Labour Coalition	Mark Langhammer Marion Morrison Kevin Lawrence Martin Stroud John Simpson	571	1.4
NI Women's Coalition	Brenda Callaghan Lynda Walker Eileen Calder Roisin O'Hagan Freda Brown	486	1.2
Workers' Party	Margaret Smith Paul Treanor	274	0.7
Green (NI)	Peter Emerson Rosemary Warren	265	0.7
Democratic Left	Seamus Lynch John McLaughlin	123	0.4
Independent Voice	Andrew Thompson Sarah Thompson	63	0.2
Ulster Independence	Norman McClelland David Kerr	41	0.1
Independent McMullan	Wesley Holmes Helen Craig Stanley Simons	25	0.1
Independent Chambers	Joe Coggle Sally Irvine	21	0.1

^*John White was elected as one of the 20 top-up candidates for Northern Ireland.

1982

Main article: Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1982

Assembly Election – 20 October 1982
Party		Candidate	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9^†	Count 10	Count 11	Count 12	Count 13	Count 14
	Ulster Unionist	John Carson	7798
	Democratic Unionist	George Seawright	4929	5012.26	5026.41	5026.41	5044.10	5076.32	5150.77	5359.74	5673	5675	6119	6119	6119	6119
	Sinn Féin	Joe Austin	4029	4029.46	4029.46	4088.46	4104.69	4104.69	4107.69	4107.69	4114	4188	4188	4556	4564	4573
	SDLP	Paschal O'Hare	3190	3191.38	3191.38	3255.38	3290.61	3290.61	3294.84	3295.84	3296	4197	4201	5031	5040	5078
	Democratic Unionist	William Gault	2618	2730.93	2752.31	2752.31	2763.69	2801.59	2854.50	3023.41	3259	3261	3646	3689
	Alliance	Paul Maguire	2527	2564.95	2568.95	2581.95	2693.02	2698.94	2877.08	2906.00	2935	3205	3420	4325	4476	4756
	Workers' Party	Seamus Lynch	2516	2526.12	2531.35	2556.35	2634.81	2641.73	2706.80	2718.03	2758	2928	2961
	Independent Unionist	Frank Millar	2047	2285.05	2319.57	2319.57	2341.26	2410.98	2539.49	2813.48	3055	3059	4101	4182	6322
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	1333	1334.15	1335.07	1450.07	1474.07	1474.07	1479.07	1480.07	1483
	Ulster Unionist	Peter Smith	984	1954.83	1965.82	1967.28	1987.12	2323.84	2413.28	2635.96	2745	2745
	Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party	Sammy Doyle	890	938.99	1022.91	1023.91	1029.91	1041.52	1135.43	1187.27
	United Ulster Unionist	Nelson McCausland	858	922.86	940.77	940.77	948.15	956.22	1014.44
	Independent	Billy Boyd	745	778.12	782.35	783.35	822.73	823.65
	Ecology	Peter Emerson	412	423.27	424.50	424.50
	Ulster Unionist	Raymond Trimble	369	508.61	517.76	518.76	525.22
	People's Democracy	Fergus O'Hare	298	298.46	298.46
	Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party	Bill Lavery	196	215.32
Electorate=62931, valid=35739, spoiled=1166, quota=5957

^†Although all counts were to two decimal places, the local press round up the results after count 8.

1975 Constitutional Convention

	Candidate	1st Pref	Result
SDLP	Gerry Fitt	6,454	Elected
Ulster Unionist	Billy Bell	6,268	Elected
Independent Unionist	Frank Millar	5,687	Elected
Ulster Unionist	William Morgan	5,558	Elected
Democratic Unionist	William Annon	4,132	Elected
SDLP	Thomas Donnelly	3,596	Not elected
Unionist Party NI	Lloyd Hall-Thompson	3,577	Elected
Alliance	John Ferguson	2,207	Not elected
Vanguard	Bill Lavery	1,884	Not elected
Labour (NI)	Billy Boyd	1,749	Not elected
Labour (NI)	John Stewart	898	Not elected
Republican Clubs	Seamus Lynch	556	Not elected
Independent Unionist	Noel Trimble	525	Not elected
Alliance	James Robinson	518	Not elected

1973

	Candidate	1st Pref	Result
SDLP	Gerry Fitt	8,264	Elected
Ulster Unionist	Lloyd Hall-Thompson	5,694	Elected
Ulster Unionist	William Morgan	5,190	Elected
Democratic Unionist	John McQuade	5,148	Elected
Ulster Unionist	Cecil Walker	4,354	Not elected
Ulster Unionist	Frank Millar	4,187	Elected
Ulster Unionist	Wilson Gamble	4,161	Not elected
Democratic Unionist	Fred Proctor	2,112	Not elected
Alliance	John Ferguson	1,958	Elected
SDLP	Thomas Donnelly	1,861	Not elected
Vanguard	William Baillie	1,859	Not elected
Labour (NI)	Vivian Simpson	1,742	Not elected
Republican Clubs	Seamus Lynch	854	Not elected
Vanguard	Billy Hull	852	Not elected
Alliance	Jack Smith	742	Not elected
Alliance	Keith Jones	675	Not elected
Labour (NI)	John Stewart	571	Not elected
Independent Unionist	Tommy Lyttle	560	Not elected

References

^ North Belfast, UTV
^ 1996 Candidates – North Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

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See also	Good Friday Agreement · St Andrews Agreement