1955 Belfast Woodvale By-election
Belfast Woodvale | |
---|---|
Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland | |
Former constituency | |
Created | 1929 |
Abolished | 1973 |
Election method | First past the post |
Belfast Woodvale was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
Boundaries
Belfast Woodvale was a borough constituency comprising part of western Belfast. It was created in 1929, 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.
Belfast Woodvale was created by the division of Belfast West into four 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.
Politics
The seat was strongly Unionist, but there was a strong local labour movement, and for much of its history, the seat was held by the Northern Ireland Labour Party or independent Unionists.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1929 | John William Nixon | Independent Unionist | |
1950(b) | Robert Harcourt | Ulster Unionist | |
1955(b) | Neville Martin | Ulster Unionist | |
1958 | Billy Boyd | Northern Ireland Labour Party | |
1965 | John McQuade | Ulster Unionist Party | |
1970 | Independent Unionist | ||
1971 | Democratic Unionist Party | ||
1973 | constituency abolished |
Election results
(1921–72) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Unionist | John William Nixon | 9,904 | 58.4 | ||
UUP | William Beattie | 6,465 | 41.6 | ||
Majority | 3,439 | 16.8 | |||
Turnout | 16,369 | 75.2 | |||
Ind. Unionist win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Unionist | John William Nixon | 8,709 | 56.6 | −1.8 | |
UUP | Alexander Dalzell | 6,676 | 43.4 | +1.8 | |
Majority | 2,033 | 13.2 | −13.6 | ||
Turnout | 15,385 | 76.4 | +0.8 | ||
Ind. Unionist hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Unionist | John William Nixon | 9,335 | 59.0 | +2.4 | |
UUP | John William Dickson | 6,479 | 41.0 | −2.4 | |
Majority | 2,856 | 18.0 | +4.8 | ||
Turnout | 15,814 | 79.5 | +3.1 | ||
Ind. Unionist hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ind. Unionist | John William Nixon | 9,274 | 66.4 | +7.4 | |
UUP | Samuel Lyness Megraw | 4,686 | 33.6 | −7.4 | |
Majority | 4,588 | 32.8 | +14.8 | ||
Turnout | 13,960 | 69.3 | −10.2 | ||
Ind. Unionist hold | Swing |
- At the 1949 Northern Ireland general election, John William Nixon was elected unopposed.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Robert Harcourt | 3,939 | 33.1 | N/A | |
Ind. Unionist | Robert Hill | 3,529 | 29.7 | N/A | |
NI Labour | Charles Hull | 2,893 | 29.7 | New | |
Ind. Unionist | David H. Walker | 1,533 | 12.9 | N/A | |
Majority | 410 | 3.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 11,894 | 57.9 | N/A | ||
UUP gain from Ind. Unionist | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Robert Harcourt | 6,085 | 40.1 | N/A | |
Ind. Unionist | James Brennan Docherty | 5,786 | 38.2 | N/A | |
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 3,286 | 21.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 299 | 1.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 15,157 | 69.3 | N/A | ||
UUP gain from Ind. Unionist | Swing | N/A |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Neville Martin | 5,609 | 52.0 | +11.9 | |
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 5,173 | 48.0 | +26.3 | |
Majority | 436 | 4.0 | +2.1 | ||
Turnout | 10,782 | 50.0 | −19.3 | ||
UUP hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 7,529 | 50.3 | +28.6 | |
UUP | Neville Martin | 7,449 | 49.7 | +9.6 | |
Majority | 80 | 0.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 14,978 | 71.8 | +2.5 | ||
NI Labour gain from UUP | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 8,389 | 57.4 | +7.1 | |
UUP | James Frazer Kerr | 6,232 | 42.6 | −7.1 | |
Majority | 2,157 | 14.8 | +14.2 | ||
Turnout | 14,621 | 71.9 | +0.1 | ||
NI Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | John McQuade | 6,791 | 57.3 | +14.7 | |
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 5,067 | 42.7 | −14.7 | |
Majority | 1,724 | 14.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 11,858 | 57.3 | −14.6 | ||
UUP gain from NI Labour | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | John McQuade | 7,209 | 50.7 | −6.6 | |
NI Labour | Billy Boyd | 3,878 | 26.9 | −15.8 | |
Ind. Unionist | Leslie Bell | 3,231 | 22.4 | New | |
Majority | 3,331 | 23.8 | +9.2 | ||
Turnout | 14,318 | 71.6 | +14.3 | ||
UUP hold | Swing |
References
- ^ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast