Belfast Dock (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

54°36′47″N 5°55′44″W / 54.613°N 5.929°W / 54.613; -5.929

Belfast Dock
Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast Dock shown within Belfast and Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1973
Election method	First past the post

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

Boundaries

Belfast Dock 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 Dock was created by the division of Belfast East 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.

The boundaries were the same as the former Dock ward. This meant that the boundary ran from Carlisle Circus, along Clifton Street, up North Queen Street, along Great George's Street, along the Belfast Lough, along Brougham Street and Duncairn Gardens and from the top of Duncairn Gardens, along the Antrim Road to Carlisle Circus. Consequently, the constituency was almost identical to the current New Lodge ward.

The constituency is now part of Belfast North.

Politics

The constituency was one of the most marginal in the Northern Ireland Parliament changing hands at every election until 1965. In every election from 1933 to 1965 the incumbent member lost his seat.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1929	Charles Blakiston-Houston	Ulster Unionist Party
1933	Harry Midgley	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1938	George Anthony Clark	Ulster Unionist Party
1945	Hugh Downey	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1949	Thomas Loftus Cole	Ulster Unionist Party
1953	Murtagh Morgan	Irish Labour Party
1958	William Oliver	Ulster Unionist Party
1962	Gerry Fitt	Irish Labour Party
1965		Republican Labour Party
1970		Social Democratic and Labour Party
1973	Constituency abolished

Elections results

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 22 May 1929: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UUP	Charles Blakiston-Houston	4,035	46.6
	NI Labour	Dawson Gordon	3,003	34.7
	Ind. Unionist	James Woods Gyle	1,619	18.7
Majority			1,032	11.9
Turnout			8,657	73.7
	UUP win (new seat)

General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Harry Midgley	4,893	57.0	+22.3
	UUP	Charles Blakiston-Houston	3,685	43.0	−3.6
Majority			1,208	14.0	N/A
Turnout			8,578	77.5	+3.8
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Anthony Clark	3,578	42.6	−0.4
	Nationalist	James Collins	2,891	34.5	New
	NI Labour	Harry Midgley	1,943	22.9	−34.1
Majority			687	8.1	N/A
Turnout			8,412	82.5	+5.0
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 14 June 1945: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Hugh Downey	3,985	57.7	+34.8
	UUP	George Anthony Clark	2,924	42.3	−0.3
Majority			1,061	15.4	N/A
Turnout			6,909	78.5	−4.0
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,674	52.0	+9.7
	NI Labour	Hugh Downey	3,390	48.0	−9.7
Majority			284	4.0	N/A
Turnout			7,064	79.8	+1.3
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 22 October 1953: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Murtagh Morgan	3,537	51.3	*New*
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	3,358	48.7	−3.3
Majority			179	2.6	N/A
Turnout			6,895	75.9	−3.9
	Irish Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Oliver	3,156	52.1	+3.4
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	2,900	47.9	−3.4
Majority			256	4.2	N/A
Turnout			6,056	73.9	−2.0
	UUP gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,288	54.2	+6.3
	UUP	William Oliver	2,781	45.8	−6.3
Majority			507	8.4	N/A
Turnout			6,069	77.9	+4.0
	Irish Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,326	62.3	+8.1
	UUP	William Oliver	2,016	37.7	−8.1
Majority			1,310	24.6	N/A
Turnout			5,342	70.3	−7.6
	Republican Labour gain from Irish Labour		Swing

General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Dock
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican Labour	Gerry Fitt	3,274	62.8	+0.5
	UUP	Harold E. Smith	1,936	37.2	−0.5
Majority			1,338	25.6	+1.0
Turnout			5,210	72.2	+1.9
	Republican Labour hold		Swing

References

^ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
^ Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Boroughs: Belfast

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 Antrim and the city of Belfast

Parliament of Ireland
to 1800

County Antrim (???–1800)
Antrim (1666–1800)
Belfast (1613–1800)
Carrickfergus (1326–1800)
Lisburn (1661–1800)
Randalstown (???–1800)

Westminster 1801–present

Historic

Antrim (1801–85, 1922–50)
Mid Antrim (1885–1922)
Belfast (1801–85)
Belfast Cromac (1918–22)
Belfast Duncairn (1918–22)
Belfast Falls (1918–22)
Belfast Ormeau (1918–22)
Belfast Pottinger (1918–22)
Belfast Shankill (1918–22)
Belfast South (1885–1918, 1922–2024)
Belfast St Anne's (1918–22)
Belfast Victoria (1918–22)
Belfast Woodvale (1918–22)
Carrickfergus (1801–85)
Lisburn (1801–85)
Queen's University of Belfast (1918–50)

Current

East Antrim (1885–1922, 1983—)
North Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
South Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
Belfast East (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast North (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast South and Mid Down (2024—)
Belfast West (1885–1918, 1922—)
Lagan Valley 1983—

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

First Dáil
1919–21

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast Cromac Belfast Duncairn Belfast Falls Belfast Ormeau Belfast Pottinger Belfast St Anne's Belfast Shankill Belfast Victoria Belfast Woodvale Queen's University of Belfast

Second Dáil
1921–22

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Queen's University of Belfast

Parliament of Northern Ireland
1921–72

1921–29

Antrim (1921–29)
Belfast East (1921–29)
Belfast North (1921–29)
Belfast South (1921–29)
West Belfast (1921–29)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)

1929–72

Bannside (1929–72)
Belfast Ballynafeigh (1929–72)
Belfast Bloomfield (1929–72)
Belfast Central (1929–72)
Belfast Clifton (1929–72)
Belfast Cromac (1929–72)
Belfast Dock (1929–72)
Belfast Duncairn (1929–72)
Belfast Falls (1929–72)
Belfast Oldpark (1929–72)
Belfast Pottinger (1929–72)
Belfast Shankill (1929–72)
Belfast St Anne's (1929–72)
Belfast Victoria (1929–72)
Belfast Willowfield (1929–72)
Belfast Windsor (1929–72)
Belfast Woodvale (1929–72)
Carrick (1929–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Larne (1929–72)
Mid Antrim (1929–72)
Newtownabbey (1969–72)
North Antrim (1929–72)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)
South Antrim (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West
Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	East Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Lagan Valley

European Parliament
1979–2020

Northern Ireland

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

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