Belfast West (, Ulster Scots: ''Bilfawst Wast'') is a constituency in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

. It was first used for a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

-only election in 1973, which elected the then Northern Ireland Assembly. It usually shares boundaries with the Belfast West UK Parliament constituency. However, the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1973 to 1974, 1983 to 1986 and 2010 to 2011 (because the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes) and from 1996 to 1997, when members of the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, 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 West (UK Parliament constituency) Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency (seat) in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The current MP is Paul Maskey of Sinn Féin. In 2017, it ranked the most secure of Northern Ireland's 18 seats by percentage and/or numerical ta ...

Members

Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.

Elections

Northern Ireland Assembly

2022

2017

2016

2011

2007

Note: All

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF ( ga, Sinn Féin Poblachtach) is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905 and took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RS ...

candidates appeared as

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

on the ballot paper.

2003

Note: David Kerr sought election as an

Ulster Third Way The Ulster Third Way was the Northern Ireland branch of the Third Way and was organised by David Kerr, who had previously campaigned as an 'independent Unionist' (chairing the small North Belfast Independent Unionist Association) as well as for ...

candidate, and appeared as such on the ballot paper.

1998

Note: Mary Cahillane sought election as a Pro-Agreement Socialist candidate, and appeared as such on the ballot paper.

1996 forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.1996 Candidates – West Belfast
, Northern Ireland Elections

1982

1975 Constitutional Convention

Note: John Laird,

Jean Coulter Rose Jean Coulter is a former unionist (Ireland), unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Born in the Shankill Road district of Belfast, Coulter studied at the Girls' Model School before becoming a solicitor's clerk. She also became active in th ...

and Edith Goligher were all UUUC endorsed candidates.

1973

Note: John Laird,

Hugh Smyth Hugh Smyth, OBE (1941 – 12 May 2014) was a Northern Irish politician who was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He was a former Lord Mayor of Belfast as well as the longest serving member of Belfast City Council, having represented t ...

and William Spence used the label "West Belfast Loyalist Coalition" simultaneously whilst standing under different party affiliations.

References

Sources

Northern Ireland ELECTIONS: West Belfast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfast West, Assembly Constituencies of the Northern Ireland Assembly Politics of Belfast 1973 establishments in Northern Ireland Constituencies established in 1973