Belfast Shankill was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

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...

.

Boundaries

Belfast Shankill was a borough constituency comprising part of northern Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

. It was created in 1929 when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929

House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929

The House of Commons Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland; its major provision was to abolish proportional representation for all future elections in Northern Ireland....

 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland.

Belfast Shankill was created by the division of Belfast North

Belfast North (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast North was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned four MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...

 into four new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland

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...

 was temporarily suspended

Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972

The Northern Ireland Act 1972 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced direct rule in Northern Ireland with effect from 30 March 1972....

 in 1972, and then formally abolished

Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973

The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received the Royal Assent on 18 July 1973...

 in 1973.

Politics

In common with other seats in North Belfast, the seat had little nationalist presence. The seat was strongly Unionist, but there was some labour movement

Labour movement

The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...

 strength. For the first twenty-four years of its existence, the seat was held by an independent Unionist

Independent Unionist

See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....

.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1929 Northern Ireland general election, 1929 -References:*...	Tommy Henderson Tommy Henderson Thomas Gibson Henderson was an Ulster independent Unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues other than the partition of Ireland, and is famous for having at one stage spoken for...	Independent Unionist Independent Unionist See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
	1937		Independent Unionist Association Independent Unionist Association The Independent Unionist Association or Independent Unionist Party was a political party in Northern Ireland.The organisation was founded in 1937, shortly before the announcement of the Northern Ireland general election, 1938. It consisted of a disparate group of independent Unionists, and...
	1940s		Independent Unionist Independent Unionist See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
	1953 Northern Ireland general election, 1953 -References:*...	Henry Holmes Henry Holmes (Northern Ireland politician) Henry Holmes , often known as Harry Holmes, was a politician in Northern Ireland.Holmes worked as the managing director of a draper's shop...	Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
	1960	Desmond Boal Desmond Boal Desmond Boal is a former Unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972...	Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
	1961		Independent Unionist Independent Unionist See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
	1961		Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
	1970		Independent Unionist Independent Unionist See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
	1971		Democratic Unionist Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973 -Seats summary:-Source:* http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm...		constituency abolished

Election results

At the 1945 and 1949 general elections

Northern Ireland general election, 1949

-References:*-See also:*MPs elected in the Northern Ireland general election, 1949...

, Tommy Henderson

Tommy Henderson

Thomas Gibson Henderson was an Ulster independent Unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues other than the partition of Ireland, and is famous for having at one stage spoken for...

 was elected unopposed.

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1962

Northern Ireland general election, 1962

-Seats summary:-References:*...

, Desmond Boal

Desmond Boal

Desmond Boal is a former Unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972...

 was elected unopposed.