East Down was a constituency of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland 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 ord ...

Boundaries

East Down was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

comprising the towns of

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardg ...

Ballynahinch Ballynahinch may refer to: Northern Ireland * Ballynahinch, County Armagh, a townland *Ballynahinch, County Down, a town Republic of Ireland *Ballynahinch (barony), in County Galway *Ballynahinch, County Galway, a townland in County Galway * Bally ...

Crossgar Crossgar () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Belfast – between Saintfield and Downpatrick. Crossgar had a population 1,892 people in the 2011 UK Census. History Crossgar has had an inter ...

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

Dunmore Dunmore from the ga, Dún Mór, link=no or gd, Dùn Mòr, link=no, meaning "great fort", may refer to: People * Dunmore (surname) * Earl of Dunmore, a title in the Peerage of Scotland, includes a list of earls * Countess of Dunmore (disambiguat ...

Killinchy Killinchy () is a townland and small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is two miles inland from the western shores of Strangford Lough in the Borough of Ards and North Down. It is situated in the townland of the same name, the civil p ...

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is b ...

, Kilmore,

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south ...

and Strangford, all in the current

Down District Council Down District Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Newry and Mourne District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne and Down District C ...

. It was created in 1929 as one of the eight seats replacing the former Down constituency when the

House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont which changed the usual voting system used for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland f ...

introduced

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

elections throughout Northern Ireland. The constituency survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament until the

was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972
, Northern Ireland Elections

Politics

East Down had a unionist majority, and consistently elected

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 ...

members. On occasions, however, it was contested by members of the

Ulster Liberal Party The Ulster Liberal Party was a liberal and non-sectarian political party in Northern Ireland linked to the British Liberal Party. The party was officially neutral on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. Members expressed different vi ...

, and various nationalist candidates who usually received over 40% of the votes cast.

Members of Parliament

Elections

At the 1933 Northern Ireland general election, Alexander Gordon was elected unopposed. At the 1945 Northern Ireland general election, Alexander Gordon was elected unopposed. At the elections of 1953, 1958 and 1962 Northern Ireland general elections, Brian Faulkner was elected unopposed. * ''Parliament

prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...

30 March 1972 and abolished 18 July 1973''

References

{{County Down constituencies Constituencies of the Northern Ireland Parliament Downpatrick Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies established in 1929 Historic constituencies in County Down Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies disestablished in 1973