Belfast Pottinger (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

54°35′38″N 5°53′53″W / 54.594°N 5.898°W / 54.594; -5.898

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

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

Boundaries

Belfast Pottinger was a borough constituency comprising part of eastern 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 Pottinger 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.

Politics

The seat was a stronghold for the labour movement, although Unionist candidates always polled well and were occasionally able to win the seat.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1929	Jack Beattie	Northern Ireland Labour
	1934		Independent Labour
	1942		Northern Ireland Labour
	1943		Independent Labour
	1945		Federation of Labour
	1949		Independent Labour
	1949	Samuel Rodgers	Ulster Unionist
	1958	Tom Boyd	Northern Ireland Labour
	1969	Joshua Cardwell	Ulster Unionist
1973		constituency abolished

Election 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 1929: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	NI Labour	Jack Beattie	6,071	54.6
	UUP	James Augustine Duff	5,057	45.4
Majority			1,014	9.2
Turnout			11,128	76.0
	NI Labour win (new seat)

General Election 1933: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Jack Beattie	5,753	53.6	−1.0
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	4,978	46.4	+1.0
Majority			775	7.2	−2.0
Turnout			10,731	79.6	+3.6
	NI Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1938: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Jack Beattie	5,480	52.2	−1.4
	UUP	Thomas Loftus Cole	5,011	47.8	+1.4
Majority			469	4.4	N/A
Turnout			10,491	80.9	+1.3
	Independent Labour gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 1945: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Jack Beattie	5,952	52.5	+0.3
	UUP	Samuel Rodgers	4,474	47.5	−0.3
Majority			478	5.0	+0.6
Turnout			10,426	78.7	−2.2
	Independent Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1949: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Samuel Rodgers	6,262	62.9	+15.4
	Independent Labour	Jack Beattie	3,693	37.1	−15.4
Majority			2,569	25.8	N/A
Turnout			9,955	82.7	+4.0
	UUP gain from Independent Labour		Swing

General Election 1953: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Samuel Rodgers	3,680	45.1	−17.8
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	3,324	40.8	New
	Irish Labour	Jack Beattie	1,151	14.1	−23.0
Majority			356	4.3	−21.5
Turnout			8,155	68.2	−14.5
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 1958: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	4,573	58.5	+17.7
	UUP	Samuel Rodgers	3,240	41.5	−3.6
Majority			1,333	17.0	N/A
Turnout			7,813	71.8	+3.6
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 1962: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	4,674	62.4	+3.9
	UUP	Herbert Walker	2,822	37.6	−3.9
Majority			1,852	24.8	+7.8
Turnout			7,496	72.0	+0.2
	NI Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1965: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	3,208	57.9	−4.5
	UUP	John Bannister	2,334	42.1	+4.5
Majority			874	15.8	−9.0
Turnout			5,542	58.9	−13.1
	NI Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1969: Belfast Pottinger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Joshua Cardwell	2,902	51.4	+9.3
	NI Labour	Martin McBirney	2,744	48.6	−9.3
Majority			158	2.8	N/A
Turnout			5,646	67.8	+8.9
	UUP gain from NI Labour		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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