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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Belfast Clifton (Northern Ireland Parliament Constituency)

54°36′40″N 5°56′06″W / 54.611°N 5.935°W / 54.611; -5.935

Belfast Clifton
Former Borough constituency
for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast Clifton 1929-1969
Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created1929
Abolished1973
Election methodFirst past the post

Belfast Clifton was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Belfast Clifton was a borough constituency comprising part of northern 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 Clifton was created by the division of Belfast North 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

In common with other seats in North Belfast, the seat had little nationalist presence. The seat was usually held by the Ulster Unionist Party, but a variety of independent Unionists contested it and occasionally won, and some labour movement candidates achieved strong results.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1929 Samuel Hall-Thompson Ulster Unionist Party
1953 Norman Porter Independent Unionist
1958 Robin Kinahan Ulster Unionist Party
1959(b) William James Morgan Ulster Unionist Party
1969 Lloyd Hall-Thompson Independent Unionist
1973 Constituency abolished

Election results

At the 1929 and 1933 Northern Ireland general elections, Samuel Hall-Thompson was elected unopposed.
General Election 1938: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Samuel Hall-Thompson 6,683 54.4 N/A
Ind. Unionist Party William McConnell Wilton 5,600 45.6 New
Majority 1,083 8.8 N/A
Turnout 12,283 72.1 N/A
UUP hold Swing N/A
General Election 1945: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Samuel Hall-Thompson 7,272 62.0 +7.6
NI Labour Andrew Carlin 4,458 38.0 New
Majority 2,814 24.0 +15.2
Turnout 11,730 67.2 −4.9
UUP hold Swing
General Election 1949: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Samuel Hall-Thompson 10,715 83.6 +21.6
Independent Labour Owen J. Keane 2,107 16.4 New
Majority 8,608 67.2 +43.2
Turnout 12,822 73.0 +5.8
UUP hold Swing
General Election 1953: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Ind. Unionist Norman Porter 4,747 51.9 New
UUP Samuel Hall-Thompson 4,402 48.1 −35.5
Majority 345 3.8 N/A
Turnout 9,149 50.9 −22.1
Ind. Unionist gain from UUP Swing
General Election 1958: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Robin Kinahan 5,755 50.2 +2.1
Ind. Unionist Norman Porter 5,710 49.8 −2.1
Majority 45 0.4 N/A
Turnout 11,465 67.5 +16.6
UUP gain from Ind. Unionist Swing
Belfast Clifton by-election, 1959
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William James Morgan 5,212 50.2 0.0
Ind. Unionist Norman Porter 3,978 38.4 −11.4
NI Labour Victoria Dunlop 1,185 11.4 New
Majority 1,234 11.8 +11.4
Turnout 10,375 61.1 −6.4
UUP hold Swing
General Election 1962: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William James Morgan 6,474 58.6 +8.4
NI Labour Norman Thompson 4,571 41.4 N/A
Majority 1,903 17.2 +16.8
Turnout 11,045 66.9 −0.6
UUP hold Swing
General Election 1965: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP William James Morgan 6,083 65.2 +6.6
NI Labour Norman Thompson 3,247 34.8 −6.6
Majority 2,836 30.4 +13.2
Turnout 9,330 57.5 −9.4
UUP hold Swing
General Election 1969: Belfast Clifton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unofficial Unionist Lloyd Hall-Thompson 6,066 50.4 New
UUP William James Morgan 3,215 26.7 −38.5
NI Labour Norman Thompson 1,681 13.9 −20.9
National Democratic Michael McKeown 1,079 9.0 New
Majority 2,851 23.7 N/A
Turnout 12,041 74.3 +15.8
Unofficial Unionist gain from UUP Swing

References

  1. ^ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast". Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2008.