Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)

Belfast East
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Belfast East in Northern Ireland
Districts of Northern Ireland	Belfast, Castlereagh
Population	92,221 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	60,516 (March 2011)
Current constituency
Created	1922
Member of Parliament	Gavin Robinson (DUP)
Number of members	One
Created from	Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria
1885–1918
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Replaced by	Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria
Created from	Belfast

Belfast East is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Gavin Robinson of the DUP.

Boundaries[]

1885–1918: In the Borough of Belfast, that part of Dock ward not in Belfast North and that part of Cromac ward in County Down, the townlands of Ballycloghan, Ballyhackamore, Ballymaghan, Ballymisert and Strandtown in the parish of Holywood, and the townlands of Ballyrushboy, Knock and Multyhogy in the parish of .

1922–1974: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Dock, Pottinger, and Victoria.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Pottinger and Victoria, and the Rural District of Castlereagh electoral divisions of Ballyhackamore, Ballymaconaghy, Ballymiscaw, Castlereagh, Dundonald, and Gilnakirk.

1983–1997: The District of Belfast wards of Ballyhackamore, Ballymacarrett, Belmont, Bloomfield, Island, Orangefield, Shandon, Stormont, Sydenham, and The Mount, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Cregagh, Downshire, Lisnasharragh, and Wynchurch.

1997–2010: The District of Belfast wards of Ballyhackamore, Ballymacarrett, Belmont, Bloomfield, Cherryvalley, Island, Knock, Orangefield, Stormont, Sydenham, and The Mount, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Cregagh, Downshire, Gilnakirk, Hillfoot, Lisnasharragh, Lower Braniel, Tullycarnet, Upper Braniel, and Wynchurch.

2010–present: The District of Belfast wards of Ballyhackamore, Ballymacarrett, Belmont, Bloomfield, Cherryvalley, Island, Knock, Orangefield, Stormont, Sydenham, and The Mount, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Ballyhanwood, Carrowreagh, Cregagh, Downshire, Dundonald, Enler, Gilnakirk, Graham's Bridge, Lisnasharragh, Lower Braniel, Tullycarnet, and Upper Braniel.

The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the east section of Belfast and also contains part of the district of Castlereagh.

Prior to the 2010 general election the Northern Ireland Boundary Commission proposed expanding Belfast East further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in Strangford, however almost all of these areas were part of Belfast East until 1983. A small part of the constituency was proposed for transfer to Belfast South.

Following a public meeting and revised recommendations, the new boundaries of Belfast East were confirmed by the commission and passed through Parliament through the use of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order.^[2]

History[]

Belfast East is an overwhelmingly unionist constituency with nationalist parties routinely failing to get more than 10% of the vote combined. The main interest has been the contest between unionist parties and the fortunes of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

Dominated by the giant Samson and Goliath cranes of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, the constituency is socially mixed. There are large expanses of small Victorian terraced housing near Belfast City Centre and around the shipyard in Ballymacarrett. These areas have seen significant refurbishment, and in some places demolition and redevelopment, in recent years sparking a sharp rise in house prices. This is contrasted by a large amount of solidly lower-middle class housing and some exclusive residential districts such as the much mocked Cherryvalley. This social polarisation is to a large degree reflected by the political polarisation, at least within the broader unionist family, in the seat. The small Catholic population is split between the largely working class Short Strand enclave and minorities in the more middle-class parts of the seat.

The seat was consistently held by the Ulster Unionist Party until the 1974 general election when the sitting MP, Stanley McMaster, defended it as a Pro-Assembly Unionist against a united anti-Sunningdale Agreement coalition which nominated William Craig of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party. Craig won the seat and held it for five years, moving to the UUP in February 1978.

In the 1979 general election the constituency witnessed a very close three-way fight between Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party, William Craig for the UUP and Oliver Napier for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Less than 1000 votes separated the three candidates. Robinson beat Craig by the narrow margin of 64 votes. Also of note was that over 90% of votes went to parties that had not contested the seat at the previous election – in part due to realignments of the parties.

Robinson continued to hold the seat but the Alliance Party continued to poll well, and in 1987 John Alderdice polled 32.1% – the highest ever for Alliance in a Westminster election before 2010. However, their vote declined until 2010 and in 2005 they finished a distant third.

In the 2001 general election, Alliance proposed a pro-Good Friday Agreement pact with the Ulster Unionist Party in the hopes of getting UUP support in Belfast East. The UUP did not agree and so both parties stood. Robinson was re-elected with 42.5%, with the UUP, Alliance and Progressive Unionist Party carving up the pro-Agreement pro-union vote between them, but it is doubtful that an unopposed Alliance candidate could have consolidated all of that vote to beat Robinson.

In 2009 and 2010, Robinson became mired in a number of political scandals. In the 2010 general election, however, the Alliance Party candidate and sitting Lord Mayor of Belfast Naomi Long defeated Robinson, in a shock result, more than tripling the Alliance vote and giving the Alliance their first ever seat in Westminster. Predictably, this was also the seat in which the Alliance gained the highest vote share, at 37.2%, more than double their best efforts elsewhere.

Of the 18 seats in the region, East Belfast has the highest percentage of Methodists. The 2019 winning vote share was the fourth-largest of the region, but just short of an absolute majority.

Members of Parliament[]

The Member of Parliament after the 2010 general election was Naomi Long, who defeated Peter Robinson, MP for Belfast East since the 1979 general election. Naomi Long subsequently lost her seat to Gavin Robinson in the 2015 general election.

Election	Member	Party
1885	Edward de Cobain		Conservative
1892 by-election	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff		Conservative
1910	Robert McMordie		Irish Unionist
1914 by-election	Robert Sharman-Crawford		Irish Unionist
1918	constituency abolished
1922	constituency recreated
	Herbert Dixon		UUP
1940 by-election	Henry Harland		UUP
1945	Thomas Loftus Cole		UUP
1950	Alan McKibbin		UUP
1959 by-election	Stanley McMaster		UUP
Feb 1974	William Craig		Vanguard
1978			UUP
1979	Peter Robinson		DUP
2010	Naomi Long		Alliance
2015	Gavin Robinson		DUP

Elections[]

Elections in the 2010s[]

General election 2019: Belfast East^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Gavin Robinson	20,874	49.2	−6.6
	Alliance	Naomi Long	19,055	44.9	+8.9
	UUP	Carl McClean	2,516	5.9	+2.6
Majority			1,819	4.3	−15.5
Turnout			42,445	64.1	−3.4
Registered electors			66,217
	DUP hold		Swing	−7.4

General election 2017: Belfast East^[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Gavin Robinson	23,917	55.8	+6.5
	Alliance	Naomi Long	15,443	36.0	−6.8
	UUP	Hazel Legge	1,408	3.3	New
	Sinn Féin	Mairéad O'Donnell	894	2.1	0.0
	Green (NI)	Georgina Milne	561	1.3	−1.4
	NI Conservatives	Sheila Bodel	446	1.0	−1.8
	SDLP	Séamas de Faoite	167	0.4	+0.1
	Independent	Bobby Beck	54	0.1	New
Majority			8,474	19.8	+13.3
Turnout			42,890	67.5	+4.7
Registered electors			63,495
	DUP hold		Swing	+6.6

General election 2015: Belfast East^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Gavin Robinson[8]	19,575	49.3	+16.5
	Alliance	Naomi Long	16,978	42.8	+5.6
	NI Conservatives	Neil Wilson[9]	1,121	2.8	−18.4
	Green (NI)	Ross Brown	1,058	2.7	New
	Sinn Féin	Niall Ó Donnghaile	823	2.1	−0.3
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	127	0.3	−0.8
Majority			2,597	6.5	N/A
Turnout			39,682	62.8	+4.4
Registered electors			63,157
	DUP gain from Alliance		Swing	+5.4

General election 2010: Belfast East^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Naomi Long	12,839	37.2	+25.0
	DUP	Peter Robinson	11,306	32.8	−16.3
	UCU-NF	Trevor Ringland	7,305	21.2	−8.9
	TUV	David Vance	1,856	5.4	New
	Sinn Féin	Niall Ó Donnghaile	817	2.4	−0.9
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	365	1.1	−1.6
Majority			1,533	4.4	N/A
Turnout			34,488	58.4	+0.4
Registered electors			59,007
	Alliance gain from DUP		Swing	−22.9

Elections in the 2000s[]

General election 2005: Belfast East^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	15,152	49.1	+6.6
	UUP	Reg Empey	9,275	30.1	+6.9
	Alliance	Naomi Long	3,746	12.2	−3.6
	Sinn Féin	Deborah Devenny	1,029	3.3	−0.1
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	844	2.7	+0.3
	NI Conservatives	Alan Greer	434	1.4	−0.8
	Workers' Party	Joe Bell	179	0.6	+0.3
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Lynda Gilby	172	0.6	+0.4
Majority			5,877	19.1	−0.2
Turnout			30,831	58.0	−5.0
Registered electors			52,899
	DUP hold		Swing	−0.1

General election 2001: Belfast East^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	15,667	42.5	−0.1
	UUP	Tim Lemon	8,550	23.2	−2.1
	Alliance	David Alderdice	5,832	15.8	−8.0
	PUP	David Ervine	3,669	10.0	New
	Sinn Féin	Joe O'Donnell	1,237	3.4	+1.3
	SDLP	Ciara Farren	880	2.4	+0.8
	NI Conservatives	Terry Dick	800	2.2	−0.2
	Workers' Party	Joe Bell	123	0.3	-0.3
	Rainbow Dream Ticket	Rainbow George Weiss	71	0.2	New
Majority			7,117	19.3	+2.0
Turnout			36,829	63.0	-0.2
Registered electors			58,455
	DUP hold		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 1990s[]

General election 1997: Belfast East^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	16,640	42.6	−11.9
	UUP	Reg Empey	9,886	25.3	New
	Alliance	Jim Hendron	9,288	23.8	−3.5
	NI Conservatives	Sarah Dines	928	2.4	−7.6
	Sinn Féin	Dominic Carr	810	2.1	+0.4
	SDLP	Patricia Lewsley	629	1.6	New
	Former Captain NI Football Team	Derek Dougan	541	1.4	New
	Workers' Party	Joe Bell	237	0.6	-0.3
	Natural Law	David Collins	70	0.2	-0.2
Majority			6,754	17.3	−9.9
Turnout			39,029	63.2	−4.5
Registered electors			61,837
	DUP hold		Swing

1997 Changes are compared to the 1992 notional results shown below.^[14]

Notional 1992 UK General Election Result : Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	N/A	22,635	54.5	N/A
	Alliance	N/A	11,337	27.3	N/A
	NI Conservatives	N/A	4,170	10.0	N/A
	Others	N/A	2,723	6.6	N/A
	Sinn Féin	N/A	686	1.7	N/A
Majority			11,298	27.2	N/A

General election 1992: Belfast East^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	18,437	51.5	−10.4
	Alliance	John Alderdice	10,650	29.8	−2.3
	NI Conservatives	David Greene	3,314	9.3	New
	Independent Unionist	Dorothy Dunlop	2,256	6.3	New
	Sinn Féin	Joe O'Donnell	679	1.9	−0.1
	Workers' Party	Joe Bell	327	0.9	−3.1
	Natural Law	Guy Redden	128	0.4	New
Majority			7,787	21.7	−8.1
Turnout			35,791	67.7	+7.5
Registered electors			52,869
	DUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s[]

General election 1987: Belfast East^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	20,372	61.9	+16.6
	Alliance	John Alderdice	10,574	32.1	+8.0
	Workers' Party	Frances Cullen	1,314	4.0	+2.9
	Sinn Féin	Joe O'Donnell	649	2.0	+0.2
Majority			9,798	29.8	+9.3
Turnout			32,909	60.2	−9.8
Registered electors			54,628
	DUP hold		Swing

By-election 1986: Belfast East^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	27,607	81.0	+35.7
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	5,917	17.4	−6.7
	Workers' Party	Frances Cullen	578	1.7	+0.6
Majority			21,690	63.6	+43.1
Turnout			34,102	61.7	−8.3
Registered electors			55,256
	DUP hold		Swing

Note: The by-election was caused by the decision of all Unionist MPs to resign their seats and seek re-election on a platform of opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

General election 1983: Belfast East^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	17,631	45.3	+13.9
	UUP	Jeremy Burchill	9,642	24.8	−6.4
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	9,373	24.1	−5.5
	Sinn Féin	Denis Donaldson	682	1.8	New
	Labour and Trade Union	Muriel Tang	584	1.5	New
	SDLP	Peter Prendiville	519	1.3	New
	Workers' Party	Frances Cullen	421	1.1	New
	New Agenda	Herbert Boyd	59	0.2	New
Majority			7,989	20.5	+20.3
Turnout			38,911	70.0	+2.4
Registered electors			55,539
	DUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s[]

General election 1979: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Peter Robinson	15,994	31.4	New
	UUP	William Craig	15,930	31.2	New
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	15,066	29.6	New
	Unionist Party NI	Norman Agnew	2,017	4.0	-23.0
	NI Labour	George Chambers	1,982	3.9	−10.0
Majority			64	0.2	N/A
Turnout			50,989	67.6	+0.5
Registered electors			75,481
	DUP gain from Vanguard		Swing

General election October 1974: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	William Craig	31,594	59.1	+10.7
	Unionist Party NI	Peter McLachlan	14,417	27.0	New
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	7,415	13.9	−0.2
Majority			17,177	32.1	+18.6
Turnout			53,426	67.1	−4.8
Registered electors			79,591
	Vanguard hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	William Craig	27,817	48.4	New
	Pro-Assembly Unionist	Stanley McMaster	20,077	34.9	New
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	8,122	14.1	-26.4
	SDLP	Desmond Gillespie	1,502	2.6	New
Majority			7,740	13.5	N/A
Turnout			57,518	71.9	-3.7
Registered electors			80,032
	Vanguard gain from UUP		Swing

General election 1970: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	26,778	59.5	+4.8
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	18,259	40.5	−4.8
Majority			8,519	19.0	+9.6
Turnout			45,037	75.6	+7.4
Registered electors			59,524
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s[]

General election 1966: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	21,283	54.7	−4.1
	NI Labour	Robert McBirney	17,650	45.3	+8.4
Majority			3,633	9.4	−12.5
Turnout			38,933	68.2	−4.3
Registered electors			57,077
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1964: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	24,804	58.8	−1.3
	NI Labour	Samuel Watt	15,555	36.9	−0.3
	Independent Republican	David McConnell	1,827	4.3	New
Majority			9,249	21.9	0.0
Turnout			42,186	72.5	−18.2
Registered electors			58,196
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s[]

General election 1959: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	26,510	60.1	-2.4
	NI Labour	James Gardner	16,412	37.2	+7.0
	Sinn Féin	Barney Boswell	1,204	2.7	-4.6
Majority			9,249	21.9	-10.4
Turnout			44,126	90.7	+20.3
Registered electors			48,663
	UUP hold		Swing

1959 Belfast East by-election^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	19,524	57.8	-4.7
	NI Labour	James Gardner	14,264	42.2	+12.0
Majority			5,260	15.6	-16.7
Turnout			33,788	57.9	-12.5
Registered electors			58,388
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1955: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Alan McKibbin	26,938	62.5	+0.8
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	13,041	30.2	-8.1
	Sinn Féin	Liam Mulcahy	3,156	7.3	New
Majority			13,897	32.3	+8.9
Turnout			43,135	70.4	-4.1
Registered electors			61,258
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1951: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Alan McKibbin	28,881	61.7	-1.6
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	17,910	38.3	+1.6
Majority			10,971	23.4	-3.2
Turnout			46,791	74.5	-2.1
Registered electors			62,798
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1950: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Alan McKibbin	29,844	63.3	+6.9
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	17,338	36.7	-6.9
Majority			12,506	26.6	+13.8
Turnout			47,182	76.6	+13.4
Registered electors			61,561
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s[]

General election 1945: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	21,443	56.4	N/A
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	17,338	43.6	New
Majority			4,869	12.8	N/A
Turnout			38,017	63.2	N/A
Registered electors			60,175
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1940 Belfast East by-election^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Henry Harland	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

Elections in the 1930s[]

General election 1935: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	Unopposed
Registered electors			59,101
	UUP hold

General election 1931: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	28,431	75.1	0.0
	NI Labour	John Campbell	9,410	24.9	New
Majority			19,021	50.2	0.0
Turnout			37,841	66.2	+0.5
Registered electors			57,166
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s[]

General election 1929: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	27,855	75.1	N/A
	Ulster Liberal	Denis Ireland	9,230	24.9	New
Majority			18,625	50.2	N/A
Turnout			37,085	65.7	N/A
Registered electors			56,426
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1923: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1922: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Dixon	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP win (new seat)

Elections in the 1910s[]

1914 Belfast East by-election^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Robert Sharman-Crawford	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

General election Dec 1910: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Robert McMordie	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

General election Jan 1910: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s[]

General election 1906: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

General election 1900: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1890s[]

General election 1895: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

General election 1892: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

1892 Belfast East by-election^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Gustav Wilhelm Wolff	4,746	64.6	-15.7
	Independent Unionist	William Thomas Charley	2,607	35.4	New
Majority			2,139	29.2	-31.6
Turnout			7,353	64.8	-7.8
Registered electors			11,339
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1880s[]

General election 1886: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Edward de Cobain	5,055	80.3	+35.9
	Irish Parliamentary	Robert McCalmont	1,239	19.7	New
Majority			3,816	60.6	N/A
Turnout			6,294	72.6	-6.2
Registered electors			8,666
	Irish Unionist gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing

General election 1885: Belfast East^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	Edward de Cobain	3,033	44.4
	Irish Conservative	James Corry	2,929	42.9
	Liberal	Robert Wallace Murray	870	12.7
Majority			104	1.5
Turnout			6,832	78.8
Registered electors			8,666
	Ind. Conservative win (new seat)

See also[]

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

References[]

Further reading[]

• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 – 1970
• The Constitutional Year Book For 1912, Conservative Central Office
• The Constitutional Year Book For 1894, Conservative Central Office

External links[]

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• 2017 Election House of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)
• BBC News, Election 2005
• BBC News, Vote 2001
• Guardian Unlimited Politics
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)
• Politicsresources.net - Official Web Site ✔ (Election results from 1951 to the present)