West Down was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

West Down was a county constituency comprising part of western

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. It was created when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland. West Down was created by the division of

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

into eight new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one Member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973. The seat included the town of Banbridge, and also certain district electoral divisions of the

rural districts Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the ad ...

of Banbridge and Newry No.1.A list of the townlands comprising each of those divisions is i
the Belfast Gazette Publication date:22 June 1923 Issue:104 Page:241 (Banbridge RD)
an
the Belfast Gazette Publication date:22 June 1923 Issue:104 Page:260 (Newry RD)
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Politics

The seat had a substantial unionist majority and was always won by Ulster Unionist Party candidates. It was contested on three occasions by independent unionists, each of whom won over 40% of the votes cast, and once by a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

candidate.Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Down
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Members of Parliament

Election results

At the

1929 Northern Ireland general election The 1929 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 May 1929. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. It was the first held after the abolition of prop ...

, Robert McBride was elected unopposed. At the

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1958 Northern Ireland general election The 1958 Northern Ireland general election was called on 27 February by 1st Viscount Brookeborough to be held on 20 March 1958. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Uni ...

s, John Edgar Bailey was elected unopposed. At the 1959 by-election and the

1962 Northern Ireland general election The 1962 Northern Ireland general election was held on 31 May 1962. While the Ulster Unionist Party lost three seats, they retained a large majority as in all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Results ''A ...

David John Little David John Little KC (d. 16 April 1984) was an Ulster Unionist Party politician in the Parliament of Northern Ireland, a barrister and county court judge. Little was the son of Rev. Dr. James Little, erstwhile MP for County Down, and educated at ...

was elected unopposed. At the 1965 by-election and the

1965 Northern Ireland general election The 1965 Northern Ireland general election was held on 25 November 1965. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a u ...

, John Dobson was elected unopposed.

References

{{County Down constituencies 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