Belfast Victoria (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

54°35′53″N 5°52′19″W / 54.598°N 5.872°W / 54.598; -5.872

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

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

Boundaries

Belfast Victoria 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 Victoria 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 seat contained the eastern parts of the former Victoria ward. It covered an area equivalent to the current wards of Sydenham, Belmont and Ballyhackamore together with parts of the Island and Stormont wards.

Politics

The seat was held in the early years by Ulster Unionist Party candidates. However, there was always strong support for labour movement candidates, with David Bleakley holding the seat for seven years.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1929	Sir Dawson Bates	Ulster Unionist Party
1933
1938
1945	Robert Alexander
1949	Robert Alexander
1953	Bill Henderson
1958	David Bleakley	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1962	David Bleakley	Northern Ireland Labour Party
1965	Roy Bradford	Ulster Unionist Party
1969	Roy Bradford	Ulster Unionist Party
1973	Constituency abolished

Bradford was elected in 1969 as an "O'Neill Unionist" supporting the reform proposals of the then Prime Minister.

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 22 May 1929: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UUP	Dawson Bates	6,046	61.0
	Local Option	James Price	3,858	39.0
Majority			2,180	22.0
Turnout			14,251	69.5
	UUP win (new seat)

General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Dawson Bates	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Dawson Bates	8,309	59.3	*N/A*
	Progressive Unionist	Joseph McMaster	3,434	24.5	New
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	2,268	16.2	New
Majority			4,875	34.8	N/A
Turnout			17,921	78.2	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 22 October 1945: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Alexander (Northern Ireland politician)	7,618	54.1	+0.8
	NI Labour	George Matthews	4,342	30.8	+14.6
	Commonwealth Labour	Norman Black	2,133	15.1	N/A
Majority			3,276	23.3	−11.5
Turnout			18,525	76.1	−2.1
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Alexander (Northern Ireland politician)	11,330	82.4	+28.3
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	2,423	17.6	−13.2
Majority			8,907	64.8	+41.5
Turnout			18,404	74.7	−1.4
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 14 June 1953: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Bill Henderson	7,198	56.5	−25.9
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	5,536	43.5	+25.9
Majority			1,662	13.0	−51.8
Turnout			20,041	63.5	−1.2
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	7,487	50.5	+7.0
	UUP	Bill Henderson	7,340	49.5	−7.0
Majority			147	1.0	N/A
Turnout			19,652	75.4	+11.9
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	7,882	54.2	+3.7
	UUP	Leslie Stewart	6,668	45.8	−3.7
Majority			1,214	8.4	+7.4
Turnout			20,053	72.6	−2.8
	NI Labour hold		Swing

General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Roy Bradford	6,892	51.6	+5.8
	NI Labour	David Bleakley	6,469	48.4	−5.8
Majority			423	3.2	N/A
Turnout			20,370	65.6	−7.0
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Victoria
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Roy Bradford	9,249	62.9	+11.3
	NI Labour	John Coulthard	2,972	20.2	−28.2
	Protestant Unionist	Ronald Bunting	2,489	16.9	New
Majority			6,277	42.7	+39.5
Turnout			19,504	75.4	+9.8
	UUP hold		Swing

References

^ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections
"Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election results: Constituency Boundaries". Archived from the original on 25 December 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
^ 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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