North 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

North 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 part of northern County Down, immediately south east of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. It was created 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 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 ...

. North Down was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. The constituency survived unchanged until 1969, when it gained part of Mid Down, but the eastern half of the seat was split away to form Bangor. It returned one Member of Parliament until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973. The original seat was centred on the town of Bangor and

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...

, and it also included parts of the rural districts of Castlereagh and Newtownards.Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election results: Constituency Boundaries
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Politics

The seat had a substantial unionist majority and was always won by unionist candidates, all but one representing 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 ...

. It was sometimes contested by

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

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

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in elect ...

candidates, with only the independent Unionist receiving more than one third of the votes cast.Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Down
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Members of Parliament

Election results

At the 1929, 1933 and 1938 Northern Ireland general elections,

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1 ...

was elected unopposed. At the 1945 Northern Ireland general election,

Thomas Bailie Thomas Bailie (15 July 1885 – 22 November 1957) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (1941–1953) in the Parliament of Northern Ireland, based at Stormont, during which time he was Deputy Speaker.

was elected unopposed. At the 1958 Northern Ireland general election, Robert Samuel Nixon was elected unopposed.

References

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