North Down (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
North Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sylvia Hermon
, elected as an Independent in the 2010 General Election. (Hermon had previously represented the constituency on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party
.)
. From the dissolution of Parliament in 1922, it was merged back into that constituency.
The seat was re-created in 1950 when the old Down two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. Originally the seat consisted of most of the northern parts of County Down
, with the south included in South Down
. In January 1980, the Boundary Commission's original proposals suggested significantly reducing the size of the constituency and renaming it 'Loughside' on the grounds that this would avoid confusion in the event of borough council elections being held on the same day. As a result, in 1983 the seat was radically cut down as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, although the name remained unaltered. Significant parts of the constituency were transferred to the new Strangford constituency
. In boundary changes proposed by a review in 1995, the seat exchanged territory with Strangford, losing the Dundonald
area from Castlereagh and gaining a part of Ards.
The seat now contains the entirety of North Down
district as well as Donaghadee
and Millisle
in Ards.
In 2005, the Boundary Commission published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. No changes were proposed for North Down. This proved acceptable at the public enquiries and the Assistant Commissioner also recommended no change to the constituency meaning that the constituency is to remain unchanged.
. Neither the Nationalist Party
or Sinn Féin
contested the seat in 1918.
contested the general election of 1918
on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.
The revolutionary First Dáil
assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil
. This took place on 16 August 1921.
In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic
's Second Dáil
. The constituency was incorporated into the eight-member constituency of Down
, and saw President of Dáil Éireann
, Éamon de Valera
, elected there. The constituency also elected the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
, James Craig
, to the Parliament of Northern Ireland
.
parties routinely getting no more than 6% of the vote, if that. In the 1955 election George Currie, the Ulster Unionist, candidate gained 96.8% of the popular vote, which he "bettered" in 1959 with some 98%. These shares of the popular votes are the highest ever achieved in a United Kingdom general election (post 1832 Reform). However it has arguably the most volatile and unpredictable politics of the entire province. Whereas elsewhere there are effectively three fundamental battles fought in elections - between the Ulster Unionist Party
and the Democratic Unionist Party
to be the leading unionist party, between the Social Democratic and Labour Party
and Sinn Féin
to be the leading nationalist party, and between unionism and nationalism as a whole, North Down is different. The lack of any substantial nationalist vote renders the last two battles immaterial. Of Northern Ireland's five main parties, only the Ulster Unionist Party
and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
have historically had a significant organisation and support in the constituency, though the Democratic Unionist Party
has recently started to gain a foothold where it hitherto was near non-existent.
In addition the constituency has seen many substantial votes for smaller party groupings and individuals. The Ulster Popular Unionist Party
, the Conservative Party
, the UK Unionist Party
and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
have all polled substantially in the last fifteen years, whilst in local council elections many independent candidates gain sufficient votes to be elected. The area is the heartland of numerous "one-man parties", of which the Ulster Popular Unionist Party
and the UK Unionist Party
are the best known but far from the only ones. There have been many examples of elected individuals changing party allegiance and often successfully defending their seats for the new party.
The constituency is the most prosperous in Northern Ireland and is widely considered to be the most similar to an English
constituency. In part because of this the seat was the heartland of the Equal Citizenship
campaign in the late 1980s which argued that political parties in Britain
should organise and contest elections in Northern Ireland, in the hope that this would "normalise" the politics of the province. The Conservative Party
established itself (having in earlier years been in alliance with the Ulster Unionist Party
until a breakdown in relations in the 1970s) and to date has been relatively strongest in North Down though in recent years its vote has declined heavily from the brief surge in the elections held between 1989 and 1992.
Traditionally levels of turnout in elections are very low by Northern Ireland standards, possibly because the lack of a serious threat of a nationalist victory removes the impetus to vote common among unionists elsewhere in the province. The one significant exception to the levels of turnout was the 1998 referendum on the Good Friday Agreement
where turnout reached 80%, a total not come close to since 1921.
The parliamentary constituency was original held by the Ulster Unionist Party
with no serious opposition. In 1970
James Kilfedder
was first elected and he proceeded to accumulate a high level of personal popularity in the constituency. In 1977 he left the Ulster Unionists in protest over their increasing support for Enoch Powell
's proposed policy of integration for Northern Ireland, rather than the restoration of devolved government. Standing as an independent Unionist, Kilfedder successfully defended his seat against a UUP challenge in the 1979 general election
. The following year he formed the Ulster Popular Unionist Party
, with a few local councillors being elected on the label.
Kilfedder continued to hold his seat. Then in the 1987 general election
he agreed an electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists and the Democratic Unionist Party
to form a united opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement
. However the local UUP candidate, Robert McCartney
, was opposed to this pact and refused to withdraw. He was expelled from the UUP and so stood as a "Real Unionist" on a platform of complete integration for the province. Kilfedder retained the seat but with a reduced majority. As part of his platform for integration, McCartney had called for the major UK parties to organise and stand in the province and his result gave impetus to this campaign.
The Conservative Party
did very well in the 1989 local elections for North Down Borough Council
when they became the largest party. They stood candidates in several Northern Ireland constituencies in the 1992 general election
, but their strongest prospect was expected to be North Down. Kilfedder by this stage was taking the Conservative whip at Westminster and so was aggrieved by this (and subsequently given a knighthood). In the event the result was similar to 1987, with the Conservatives getting a similar vote to McCartney.
Kilfedder died in 1995 and his loose Ulster Popular Unionist Party
faded away even before the resulting by-election. By this time the Northern Ireland Conservatives had collapsed heavily and so there was much speculation about how the by-election would go. The Ulster Unionist Party
were hopeful that they could retake the seat, but McCartney also stood, this time as a "UK Unionist
" with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party
. No candidate stood for the Popular Unionists or any nationalist party. There was a poor turnout in which McCartney won, with the Conservative vote collapsing from 32% to a humiliating 2.1%.
McCartney further established his UK Unionist Party
and sought to challenge the existing unionist parties by offering a less sectarian
alternative. He held his seat in the 1997 election
and was also elected to both the Northern Ireland Peace Forum in 1996 and the Northern Ireland Assembly
in 1998, though on each occasion he was the only UK Unionist elected from North Down. In the 1998 election
the Ulster Unionists had their strongest result in the province and there was much speculation that they could unseat McCartney at the next general election.
A rather public row erupted over the selection of the UUP's candidate. Initially the local assembly member Peter Weir
was selected, but his opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and David Trimble
's leadership became very prominent and a running source of embarrassment to the party. Then Weir was deselected and the new candidate selected, Sylvia Hermon
, was supportive of both Trimble and the Agreement. In the 2001 general election campaign
the local branch of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
decided to withdraw their candidate when they felt that it would achieve their objectives better to support Hermon, who defeated McCartney overwhelmingly.
Weir remained as an Assembly member but subsequently defected to the Democratic Unionist Party
. In the 2003 Assembly election
Weir successfully defended his seat for the DUP, who also gained another MLA from the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
. In the 2005 general election
the party battle was altered somewhat by the DUP running Weir, the Alliance putting up a candidate and McCartney, after some speculation, deciding not to stand but to instead endorse Weir. In a strong contest Hermon retained the seat, to become the only Ulster Unionist MP at the time, though she later left that party.
since the 2001 general election
is Sylvia Hermon
, initially of the Ulster Unionist Party
; she defeated Robert McCartney
of the UK Unionist Party
who had represented the seat since a by-election in 1995
. She was the only UUP MP elected in 2005
. She became an independent
in March 2010, objecting to the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance.
and contested all subsequent elections under this label.
's proposals for integration instead of devolution for Northern Ireland, and defended his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. The new Ulster Unionist candidate was Clifford Smyth
, who had previously been a Democratic Unionist Party
assembly member in North Antrim
.
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen Hermon, Lady Hermon is a Northern Irish politician. Since 2001, she has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Down, first elected for the Ulster Unionist Party , but now an independent...
, elected as an Independent in the 2010 General Election. (Hermon had previously represented the constituency on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
.)
Boundaries
The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the northern part of DownDown (UK Parliament constituency)
Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland. It was a two member constituency and existed in two periods, 1801-1885 and 1922-1950.-Boundaries:1801-1885: The whole of County Down, excluding the Boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry....
. From the dissolution of Parliament in 1922, it was merged back into that constituency.
The seat was re-created in 1950 when the old Down two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. Originally the seat consisted of most of the northern parts of County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, with the south included in South Down
South Down (UK Parliament constituency)
South Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the southern part of Down...
. In January 1980, the Boundary Commission's original proposals suggested significantly reducing the size of the constituency and renaming it 'Loughside' on the grounds that this would avoid confusion in the event of borough council elections being held on the same day. As a result, in 1983 the seat was radically cut down as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, although the name remained unaltered. Significant parts of the constituency were transferred to the new Strangford constituency
Strangford (UK Parliament constituency)
Strangford is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of North Down...
. In boundary changes proposed by a review in 1995, the seat exchanged territory with Strangford, losing the Dundonald
Dundonald
Dundonald is a large settlement in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often deemed to be a suburb of the city. It includes the large housing estate of Ballybeen, and many new housing estates have emerged in the past ten years....
area from Castlereagh and gaining a part of Ards.
The seat now contains the entirety of North Down
North Down Borough Council
North Down Borough Council is a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland with an overall population of around 80,000. Its main town is Bangor, 20 km east of Belfast with a population of approximately 55,000. The Council is headquartered in Bangor. Its secondary centre is the former Urban...
district as well as Donaghadee
Donaghadee
Donaghadee is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles south east of Bangor. It had a population of 6,470 people in the 2001 Census...
and Millisle
Millisle
Millisle or Mill Isle is a village on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is mostly within the townland of Ballymacruise, about south of Donaghadee. It had a population of 1,800 in the 2001 Census...
in Ards.
In 2005, the Boundary Commission published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. No changes were proposed for North Down. This proved acceptable at the public enquiries and the Assistant Commissioner also recommended no change to the constituency meaning that the constituency is to remain unchanged.
1885 to 1922
The constituency was a strongly unionist area being held by the Irish Unionist PartyIrish Unionist Party
The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton...
. Neither the Nationalist Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
or Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
contested the seat in 1918.
The First Dáil
Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
contested the general election of 1918
Irish (UK) general election, 1918
The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...
on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.
The revolutionary First Dáil
First Dáil
The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...
assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
. This took place on 16 August 1921.
In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
's Second Dáil
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
. The constituency was incorporated into the eight-member constituency of Down
Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Down was a county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned eight MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
, and saw President of Dáil Éireann
President of Dáil Éireann
The President of Dáil Éireann was the leader of the revolutionary Irish Republic of 1919–1921. The office, also known as Príomh Aire , was created in the Dáil Constitution adopted by Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Republic, at its first meeting in January 1919. This provided that the...
, Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
, elected there. The constituency also elected the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
, James Craig
James Craig
-Public officials:*James Henry Craig , British soldier and colonial administrator*James Craig , British politician*James Craig , Canadian politician...
, to 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...
.
1950 to present
North Down is one of the most overwhelmingly unionist parts of Northern Ireland, with nationalistIrish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
parties routinely getting no more than 6% of the vote, if that. In the 1955 election George Currie, the Ulster Unionist, candidate gained 96.8% of the popular vote, which he "bettered" in 1959 with some 98%. These shares of the popular votes are the highest ever achieved in a United Kingdom general election (post 1832 Reform). However it has arguably the most volatile and unpredictable politics of the entire province. Whereas elsewhere there are effectively three fundamental battles fought in elections - between the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
and the Democratic Unionist Party
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...
to be the leading unionist party, between the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
to be the leading nationalist party, and between unionism and nationalism as a whole, North Down is different. The lack of any substantial nationalist vote renders the last two battles immaterial. Of Northern Ireland's five main parties, only the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
have historically had a significant organisation and support in the constituency, though the Democratic Unionist Party
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...
has recently started to gain a foothold where it hitherto was near non-existent.
In addition the constituency has seen many substantial votes for smaller party groupings and individuals. The Ulster Popular Unionist Party
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
, the Conservative Party
Conservatives in Northern Ireland
The Conservatives Northern Ireland is the section of the Conservative and Unionist Party of the United Kingdom that operates in Northern Ireland...
, the UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum, the body for all-party talks which led to the...
have all polled substantially in the last fifteen years, whilst in local council elections many independent candidates gain sufficient votes to be elected. The area is the heartland of numerous "one-man parties", of which the Ulster Popular Unionist Party
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
and the UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
are the best known but far from the only ones. There have been many examples of elected individuals changing party allegiance and often successfully defending their seats for the new party.
The constituency is the most prosperous in Northern Ireland and is widely considered to be the most similar to an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
constituency. In part because of this the seat was the heartland of the Equal Citizenship
Campaign for Equal Citizenship
The Campaign for Equal Citizenship was a political advocacy group that supported the integration of Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom and called for the full participation of mainland political parties in Northern Irish politics....
campaign in the late 1980s which argued that political parties in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
should organise and contest elections in Northern Ireland, in the hope that this would "normalise" the politics of the province. The Conservative Party
Conservatives in Northern Ireland
The Conservatives Northern Ireland is the section of the Conservative and Unionist Party of the United Kingdom that operates in Northern Ireland...
established itself (having in earlier years been in alliance with the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
until a breakdown in relations in the 1970s) and to date has been relatively strongest in North Down though in recent years its vote has declined heavily from the brief surge in the elections held between 1989 and 1992.
Traditionally levels of turnout in elections are very low by Northern Ireland standards, possibly because the lack of a serious threat of a nationalist victory removes the impetus to vote common among unionists elsewhere in the province. The one significant exception to the levels of turnout was the 1998 referendum on the Good Friday Agreement
Northern Ireland referendum, 1998
The Belfast Agreement referendum, 1998 was a referendum held in Northern Ireland over whether there was support for the Belfast Agreement. The result was a majority in favour...
where turnout reached 80%, a total not come close to since 1921.
The parliamentary constituency was original held by the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
with no serious opposition. In 1970
United Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
James Kilfedder
James Kilfedder
Sir James Alexander Kilfedder was a Northern Ireland unionist politician.-Early life:...
was first elected and he proceeded to accumulate a high level of personal popularity in the constituency. In 1977 he left the Ulster Unionists in protest over their increasing support for Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
's proposed policy of integration for Northern Ireland, rather than the restoration of devolved government. Standing as an independent Unionist, Kilfedder successfully defended his seat against a UUP challenge in the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
. The following year he formed the Ulster Popular Unionist Party
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
, with a few local councillors being elected on the label.
Kilfedder continued to hold his seat. Then in the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
he agreed an electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists and the Democratic Unionist Party
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...
to form a united opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
. However the local UUP candidate, Robert McCartney
Robert McCartney (politician)
Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year...
, was opposed to this pact and refused to withdraw. He was expelled from the UUP and so stood as a "Real Unionist" on a platform of complete integration for the province. Kilfedder retained the seat but with a reduced majority. As part of his platform for integration, McCartney had called for the major UK parties to organise and stand in the province and his result gave impetus to this campaign.
The Conservative Party
Conservatives in Northern Ireland
The Conservatives Northern Ireland is the section of the Conservative and Unionist Party of the United Kingdom that operates in Northern Ireland...
did very well in the 1989 local elections for North Down Borough Council
North Down
North Down can refer to:*North Down Borough Council in Northern Ireland.*North Down in Northern Ireland.*North Down in Northern Ireland....
when they became the largest party. They stood candidates in several Northern Ireland constituencies in the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, but their strongest prospect was expected to be North Down. Kilfedder by this stage was taking the Conservative whip at Westminster and so was aggrieved by this (and subsequently given a knighthood). In the event the result was similar to 1987, with the Conservatives getting a similar vote to McCartney.
Kilfedder died in 1995 and his loose Ulster Popular Unionist Party
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
faded away even before the resulting by-election. By this time the Northern Ireland Conservatives had collapsed heavily and so there was much speculation about how the by-election would go. The Ulster Unionist Party
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...
were hopeful that they could retake the seat, but McCartney also stood, this time as a "UK Unionist
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
" with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party
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...
. No candidate stood for the Popular Unionists or any nationalist party. There was a poor turnout in which McCartney won, with the Conservative vote collapsing from 32% to a humiliating 2.1%.
McCartney further established his UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
and sought to challenge the existing unionist parties by offering a less sectarian
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
alternative. He held his seat in the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
and was also elected to both the Northern Ireland Peace Forum in 1996 and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
in 1998, though on each occasion he was the only UK Unionist elected from North Down. In the 1998 election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...
the Ulster Unionists had their strongest result in the province and there was much speculation that they could unseat McCartney at the next general election.
A rather public row erupted over the selection of the UUP's candidate. Initially the local assembly member Peter Weir
Peter Weir (politician)
Peter Weir MLA is a Northern Ireland unionist politician.A past chairman of the Young Unionists , Weir is a barrister by profession. He attended Bangor Grammar School and graduated from the Queen's University of Belfast in Law and Accountancy. He was called to the Northern Ireland Bar in 1992 and...
was selected, but his opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
's leadership became very prominent and a running source of embarrassment to the party. Then Weir was deselected and the new candidate selected, Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen Hermon, Lady Hermon is a Northern Irish politician. Since 2001, she has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Down, first elected for the Ulster Unionist Party , but now an independent...
, was supportive of both Trimble and the Agreement. In the 2001 general election campaign
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
the local branch of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
decided to withdraw their candidate when they felt that it would achieve their objectives better to support Hermon, who defeated McCartney overwhelmingly.
Weir remained as an Assembly member but subsequently defected to the Democratic Unionist Party
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...
. In the 2003 Assembly election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...
Weir successfully defended his seat for the DUP, who also gained another MLA from the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was a minor political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest the elections to the Northern Ireland Forum, the body for all-party talks which led to the...
. In the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
the party battle was altered somewhat by the DUP running Weir, the Alliance putting up a candidate and McCartney, after some speculation, deciding not to stand but to instead endorse Weir. In a strong contest Hermon retained the seat, to become the only Ulster Unionist MP at the time, though she later left that party.
Members of Parliament
The Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
since the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
is Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen Hermon, Lady Hermon is a Northern Irish politician. Since 2001, she has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Down, first elected for the Ulster Unionist Party , but now an independent...
, initially of the Ulster Unionist Party
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...
; she defeated Robert McCartney
Robert McCartney (politician)
Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year...
of the UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
who had represented the seat since a by-election in 1995
North Down by-election, 1995
The North Down by-election, in the North Down constituency, was held on 15 June 1995, following the death of James Kilfedder, who had represented the constituency since the 1970 general election...
. She was the only UUP MP elected in 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. She became an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
in March 2010, objecting to the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:... |
Thomas Waring Thomas Waring Col. Thomas Waring JP was an Irish barrister and Conservative Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at Westminster.... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1886 United Kingdom general election, 1886 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**... |
Irish Unionist Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... |
||
| 1898 | John Blakiston-Houston John Blakiston-Houston John Blakiston-Houston DL JP was an Irish Member of parliament.Blakiston-Houston was the son of Richard Bayly Blakiston-Houston , of Orangefield, Co. Down, and his wife Mary Isabella Houston. He was a grandson of Sir Matthew Blakiston, 2nd Baronet. He married Marian Gertrude Streatfield, of... |
Irish Unionist Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... |
|
| 1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**... |
Thomas Lorimer Corbett Thomas Lorimer Corbett Thomas Lorimer Corbett was a British Conservative politician.Corbett was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was the eldest son of Thomas Corbett of Cove, Dunbartonshire and his wife, Sarah Cameron.... |
Irish Unionist Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... |
|
| 1910 United Kingdom general election, 1910 There were two general elections held in the United Kingdom in 1910:*United Kingdom general election, January 1910 was held from 15 January – 10 February 1910.... |
William Mitchell-Thomson | Irish Unionist Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... |
|
| 1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did... |
Thomas Watters Brown Thomas Watters Brown Thomas Watters Brown PC was an Irish lawyer and politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for North Down in 1918 and was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland in June 1921. On 5 August of the same year he was promoted to Attorney-General for Ireland. He was the last holder of both offices... |
Irish Unionist Irish Unionist Party The Irish Unionist Alliance was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in 1891 to oppose plans for Gladstonian and Parnellite Home Rule for Ireland. The party was led for much of its life by Colonel Edward James Saunderson and later by the William St John Brodrick, Earl of Midleton... |
|
| Feb 1922 | Henry Hughes Wilson | Irish 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... |
|
| Jul 1922 | John Morrow Simms John Morrow Simms John Morrow Simms was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Newtownards, Simms studied at the Old Academy, Belfast, the Coleraine Academical Institution, Queen's University, Belfast, the University of Edinburgh and Leipzig University. In 1882, he was ordained as a Church of Ireland... |
Irish 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... |
|
| 1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John... |
constituency abolished | ||
| 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five... |
constituency recreated | ||
| 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five... |
Walter Smiles | 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... |
|
| 1953 | Patricia Ford Patricia Ford (politician) Patricia Ford, Lady Fisher was an Ulster Unionist Party politician in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom... |
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... |
|
| 1955 United Kingdom general election, 1955 The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year... |
George Currie George Currie George Boyle Hanna Currie MBE was a Northern Irish barrister and politician.Currie went to Campbell College, Belfast, followed by Trinity College, Dublin where he earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Bachelor of Laws... |
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 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their... |
James Kilfedder James Kilfedder Sir James Alexander Kilfedder was a Northern Ireland unionist politician.-Early life:... |
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... |
|
| 1977 | 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.... |
||
| 1980 | Ulster Popular Unionist Ulster Popular Unionist Party The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995.... |
||
| 1995 North Down by-election, 1995 The North Down by-election, in the North Down constituency, was held on 15 June 1995, following the death of James Kilfedder, who had represented the constituency since the 1970 general election... |
Robert McCartney Robert McCartney (politician) Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year... |
UK Unionist UK Unionist Party The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996... |
|
| 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats... |
Sylvia Hermon Sylvia Hermon Sylvia Eileen Hermon, Lady Hermon is a Northern Irish politician. Since 2001, she has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Down, first elected for the Ulster Unionist Party , but now an independent... |
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... |
|
| 2010 | Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
||
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
As is standard the figures and result are compared to the 1992 general election, not the 1995 by-election.Elections in the 1980s
In 1980 Kilfedder formed the small Ulster Popular Unionist PartyUlster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995....
and contested all subsequent elections under this label.
Elections in the 1970s
Kilfedder left the Ulster Unionists in 1977, in opposition to Enoch PowellEnoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
's proposals for integration instead of devolution for Northern Ireland, and defended his seat as an Independent Ulster Unionist. The new Ulster Unionist candidate was Clifford Smyth
Clifford Smyth
For the rapper, see Method Man.Clifford Smyth is a historian and former politician in Northern Ireland.Smyth stood for the Democratic Unionist Party in North Antrim in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973, narrowly missing out on a seat. Following the death of David McCarthy, an Ulster...
, who had previously been a Democratic Unionist Party
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...
assembly member in North Antrim
North Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
North Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. Its current member is Ian Paisley Jr.-Boundaries:North Antrim has always been a county constituency comprising the northern part of County Antrim in the north-east of Northern Ireland...
.
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
External links
- UK Constituency Maps
- BBC Vote 2001
- BBC Election 2005
- http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0
- http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/en.toc.dail.html