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Belfast South is a
parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
in the
United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
. The current MP is
Claire Hanna Claire Aisling Hanna (born 19 June 1980) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previous ...
of the SDLP.


Boundaries

1885–1918: In the Borough of Belfast, that part of Cromac ward not in the constituency of Belfast East, that part of St. George's ward not in the constituency of Belfast West, and the townlands of Malone Lower and that part of Malone Upper within the parliamentary borough in the parish of Shankill. 1922–1974: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor, the District of Lisburn electoral divisions of Ardmore, Dunmurry, Finaghy, and Upper Malone, and the Rural District of Hillsborough electoral divisions of Breda and Edenderry. 1983–1997: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Cromac, Donegall, Finaghy, Malone, Ormeau, Rosetta, St George's, Stranmillis, University, Upper Malone, Willowfield, and Windsor. 1997–2010: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Blackstaff, Botanic, Finaghy, Malone, Musgrave, Ravenhill, Rosetta, Shaftesbury, Stranmillis, Upper Malone, Windsor, and Woodstock, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Beechill, Cairnshill, Galwally, Knockbracken, Minnowburn, and Newtownbreda. 2010–present: The District of Belfast wards above and the District of Castlereagh wards as above plus Carryduff East, Carryduff West, Hillfoot, and Wynchurch. The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved
Stormont Parliament The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore o ...
for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the
Westminster Parliament 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 supremacy ...
was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the
Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...
districts of Balmoral, Laganbank and Pottinger and also contains part of the district of Castlereagh. Prior to the 2010 general election the Boundary Commission proposed expanding Belfast South further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in both
Strangford Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census. On the ...
and Belfast East. This was strongly opposed by the DUP but supported by the Ulster Unionists. It was also one of the issues which generated the most negative comments in the written submissions with a petition representing half of Cregagh's residents opposing its move. Following the local enquiries, the Boundary Commission proposed retaining the Cregagh ward in East Belfast while transferring instead the Hillfoot ward. These proposals were submitted as final recommendations and were put into force through the passing of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order in 2008.


History

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Belfast South tended to elect 'rebel unionists' such as William Johnston, who famously defied a ban on Orange marches, and
Thomas Sloan Thomas Henry Sloan (1870–1941) was an Irish and British politician and founder of the Independent Orange Order. He represented the Belfast South constituency as an Independent Unionist at the Westminster parliament from 1902 to 1910. Caree ...
, founder of the Independent Orange Order. Belfast South contains some of Belfast's most expensive residential districts as well as Queen's University Belfast. The overall tenor of the constituency is middle-class – young, trendy and cosmopolitan towards the city centre, with Northern Ireland's biggest concentrations of both students and ethnic minorities, and further out from the city centre it is settled and prosperous. Despite this, significant pockets of inner-city working class areas such as the Markets and a number of isolated suburban estates exist in the constituency. There has been particularly rapid demographic change in Belfast South since around the year 2000. The 2011 census revealed that Belfast South consists of a slightly larger Catholic population than Protestant and while the constituency traditionally has had a unionist majority, the nationalist vote has now surpassed this in more recent elections. There have also been strong votes for other parties such as the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Green Party, the Conservatives and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. The constituency has witnessed a steady series of candidates backed by groups who aspire to support the British Labour Party despite its prior ban on membership and organisation in Northern Ireland, though their results have been minimal. Until the 1990s the main focus of attention has been on contests between unionist candidates. In the February 1974 general election the seat was won by Robert Bradford of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party on a united anti- Sunningdale Agreement slate with the
Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...
and the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
. He defeated Rafton Pounder, the sitting Unionist MP who defended his seat as a Pro-Assembly Unionist. Bradford held the seat for the next seven years, though in February 1978 he and the rump of Vanguard reunited with the Ulster Unionists. At the end of 1981 Bradford was assassinated by the IRA in a Belfast community centre while hosting a political surgery. The subsequent by-election garnered much interest as it was expected that the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
would take the seat, building on their steady rise which had seen them gain both Belfast North and Belfast East at the previous general election. However, the DUP came third, behind the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembl ...
, and the UUP's candidate Martin Smyth won the seat, holding it until 2005. The by-election was extremely significant at the time in that it was the first at which the DUP tide ebbed. In January 2005 Smyth announced that he would be retiring at the 2005 general election, raising speculation both as to whom the Ulster Unionists would field in succession to him and what effect a different candidate would have upon their share of the vote. The UUP selected Assembly member
Michael McGimpsey Michael McGimpsey (born 1 July 1948) is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 1998 to 2016. McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee, County Down and was educat ...
, albeit with a highly controversial and bitter selection. McGimpsey was repudiated by many prominent Unionists, including both Smyth and former UUP leader James Molyneaux. The DUP selected Jimmy Spratt and offered an electoral pact to the UUP that would give each party a free run at one out of South Belfast and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. This offer was rejected by the UUP. In the event, the DUP and UUP both fielded candidates which split the vote. The nationalist vote mainly went for the SDLP over
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...
, with the result that the SDLP took the seat despite a majority of votes cast for unionist candidates. In
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, Sinn Féin opted not to stand against the SDLP to avoid splitting the nationalist vote. The SDLP won the seat with a majority of 6,000. This was the seat in which the Alliance Party had their second-best showing, polling 15% of the votes.
Alasdair McDonnell Dr Alasdair McDonnell (born 1 September 1949) is an Irish politician who is a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and was its leader from 2011 to 2015. He was the Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 2005 to 2017 and ...
retained the seat in May 2015, with only 24.5% of the vote, as Sinn Féin opted to stand. This is the smallest proportion of the vote a winning candidate has ever achieved in a UK general election. In
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
the seat was won by Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP with Alasdair McDonnell losing his seat along with all other SDLP MPs in Northern Ireland. This was won back for the SDLP by
Claire Hanna Claire Aisling Hanna (born 19 June 1980) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previous ...
in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, with Sinn Féin again opting not to stand. This was the first time since 1987 that the winning candidate in the constituency had a majority of the vote.


Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2019 general election is
Claire Hanna Claire Aisling Hanna (born 19 June 1980) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previous ...
of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, succeeding Emma Little-Pengelly of the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
.


Election results


Elections in the 2010s

This seat saw the largest SDLP vote share and the largest increase in vote share for the party at the 2019 general election. This came as Sinn Féin did not contest the seat. It also saw the only fall in vote share for Alliance.


Elections in the 2000s


Elections in the 1990s

1997 Changes are compared to the 1992 notional results shown below.


Elections in the 1980s

''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.


Elections in the 1970s


Elections in the 1960s


Elections in the 1950s


Elections in the 1940s


Elections in the 1930s


Elections in the 1920s


Elections in the 1910s


Elections in the 1900s


Elections in the 1890s


Elections in the 1880s


See also

*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies: 4 borough constituencies in Belfast and 14 county constituencies elsewhere. Section 33 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 provides that the constituencies for the Northern Ireland As ...


References

;Specific ;General 4. Correction: Clare Bailey, Green Party in Northern Ireland (not Green Party of England and Wales)


Further reading

* F. W. S. Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949'' * F. W. S. Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 – 1970'' *''The Liberal Year Book For 1917'', Liberal Publication Department *''The Constitutional Year Book For 1912'',
Conservative Central Office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...
*''The Constitutional Year Book For 1894'',
Conservative Central Office The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...


External links


Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(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 2005BBC News, Vote 2001
*
Politicsresources.net - Official Web Site ✔
(Election results from 1951 to the present) {{DEFAULTSORT:Belfast South (Uk Parliament Constituency) Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Belfast Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1922