Ards (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Ards
Former County constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1973
Election method	First past the post

Ards was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Ards was a county constituency comprising the town of Newtownards, the Ards peninsula and the town of Donaghadee. 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. Ards was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. The constituency survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

Ards had a unionist majority, and consistently elected Ulster Unionist Party members. It was sometimes contested by members of the Ulster Liberal Party, Northern Ireland Labour Party or Commonwealth Labour Party, who received between 19% and 42% of the votes cast.

May died during his time in office and his seat was vacant at dissolution.

Politics of Northern Ireland
(1921–72)

Government Governor Privy Council Ministries Prime Minister Craigavon ministry Andrews ministry Brookeborough ministry O'Neill ministry Chichester-Clark ministry Faulkner ministry Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments
Parliament Acts Statutory rules and orders Senate Speaker of the Senate Leader of the Senate House of Commons Speaker Leader of the Opposition Members 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 Senate
Elections Elections in Northern Ireland 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 By-elections Constituencies Political parties
See also Fourth Home Rule Bill Constitution Act 1973
Other countries
v t e

General Election 1929: Ards
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UUP	Henry Mulholland	8,556	67.2
	NI Labour	A. Adams	2,818	22.2
	Ulster Liberal	J. Boyd	1,349	10.6
Majority			5,738	45.0
Turnout			12,723	74.7
	UUP win (new seat)

General Election 1945: Ards
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Perceval-Maxwell	7,976	58.7	*N/A*
	Commonwealth Labour	Albert McElroy	5,615	41.3	N/A
Majority			2,361	17.4	N/A
Turnout			13,591	70.8	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1953: Ards
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William May	9,562	70.4	*N/A*
	NI Labour	Jack McDowell	4,022	29.6	N/A
Majority			5,540	40.8	N/A
Turnout			13,584	60.0	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1962: Ards
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Long	7,501	71.4	*N/A*
	Ulster Liberal	Albert McElroy	3,008	28.6	New
Majority			4,493	42.8	N/A
Turnout			10,509	48.6	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1965: Ards
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Long	7,442	81.0	+9.6
	NI Labour	E. Bell	1,740	19.0	New
Majority			5,702	62.0	+19.2
Turnout			9,182	45.1	−3.5
	UUP hold		Swing

v t e Parliament of Northern Ireland constituencies
1921–1929	1929–1973
Antrim	Antrim Borough Bannside Carrick Larkfield (from 1969) Larne Mid Antrim Newtownabbey (from 1969) North Antrim South Antrim
Armagh	Central Armagh Mid Armagh North Armagh South Armagh
Belfast East	Belfast Bloomfield Belfast Dock Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria
Belfast North	Belfast Clifton Belfast Duncairn Belfast Oldpark Belfast Shankill
Belfast South	Belfast Ballynafeigh Belfast Cromac Belfast Willowfield Belfast Windsor
Belfast West	Belfast Central Belfast Falls Belfast St Anne's Belfast Woodvale
Down	Ards Bangor (from 1969) East Down Iveagh Lagan Valley (from 1969) Mid Down Mourne North Down South Down West Down
Fermanagh and Tyrone	East Tyrone Enniskillen Lisnaskea Mid Tyrone North Tyrone South Fermanagh South Tyrone West Tyrone
Londonderry	City of Londonderry Foyle Mid Londonderry North Londonderry South Londonderry
Queen's University	Queen's University (to 1969)

Parliamentary constituencies in County Down

Westminster
1801–present

Historic	Down (1801–85, 1922–50) East Down (1885–1922) Mid Down (1918–22) North Down (1885–1922, 1950–) South Down (1885–1922, 1950–) West Down (1885–1922) Downpatrick (1801–85) Newry (1801–1918)
Current	Belfast South and Mid Down (2024–) Lagan Valley (1983–) Newry & Armagh (1983–) North Down (1983–) South Down (1983–) Strangford (1983–)

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

Seats taken	(none)
Seats not taken	East Down Mid Down North Down South Down West Down

One or more seats taken	Down
No seats taken	(none)

Ards (1929–72)
Bangor (1969–72)
Down (1921–29)
East Down (1929–72)
Iveagh (1929–72)
Lagan Valley (1969–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Mid Down (1929–72)
Mourne (1929–72)
North Down (1929–72)
South Down (1929–72)
West Down (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Down South Down
Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	North Down South Down Lagan Valley Newry & Armagh Strangford Upper Bann

Constituencies in Ireland by county
Republic of Ireland	Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Dublin Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow
Northern Ireland	Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone