Belfast West (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Belfast West (disambiguation).

54°35′42″N 5°57′50″W / 54.595°N 5.964°W / 54.595; -5.964

Belfast West
Former Borough constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Belfast West shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1921
Abolished	1929
Election method	Single transferable vote

Belfast West was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1929. It returned four MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Boundaries

Belfast West was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and contained the Court, Falls, St Anne's, St George's, Smithfield and Woodvale wards of the County Borough of Belfast. The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 divided the constituency into four constituencies elected under first past the post: Belfast Central, Belfast Falls, Belfast St Anne's and Belfast Woodvale.

Second Dáil

In May 1921, Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic run by Sinn Féin, passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil. All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but as no Sinn Féin MP was elected for Belfast West, it was not represented there.

Politics

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

Belfast West was a predominantly Unionist area with some pockets of Nationalist strength, electing three Unionists and one Nationalist in 1921 and one Unionist, one Independent Unionist, one Nationalist and one Labour Party member in 1925.

Members of Parliament

Election
1921	William J. Twaddell (UUP)	Robert John Lynn (UUP)	Thomas Henry Burn (UUP)	Joseph Devlin (Nationalist)
1923 by	Philip James Woods Independent Unionist		Thomas Henry Burn (UUP)
1925	Philip James Woods Independent Unionist		Billy McMullen (Labour)

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

24 May 1921 General Election: Belfast West (4 seats)
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4
	UUP	Thomas Henry Burn	24.88	13,298
	Nationalist	Joseph Devlin	19.87	10,621	10,628	10,629	10,632
	UUP	William Twaddell	19.30	10,316	10,558	11,509
	UUP	Robert John Lynn	17.43	9,315	11,646
	Sinn Féin	Denis McCullough	11.73	6,270	6,272	6,274	6,274
	Sinn Féin	Seán MacEntee	5.53	2,954	2,954	2,955	2,955
	Belfast Labour	John Hanna	0.69	367	380	380	383
	Nationalist	Richard Byrne	0.58	311	323	323	323
Electorate: 57,914 Valid: 53,452 Quota: 10,691 Turnout: 92.3%

Devlin did not take his seat.

Twaddell was assassinated on 22 May 1922:

1923 Belfast West by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	Philip James Woods	25,761	55.3	*New*
	UUP	Joseph Davison	19,360	41.6	−20.0
Majority			7,859	13.7	N/A
Turnout			46,597	69.3	−23.0
	Ind. Unionist gain from UUP		Swing

1925 General Election: Belfast West (4 seats)
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6
	Nationalist	Joseph Devlin	35.48	17,558
	Ind. Unionist	Philip James Woods	19.40	9,599	11,071
	UUP	Robert John Lynn	16.92	8,371	8,507	8,599	10,437
	UUP	Thomas Henry Burn	9.80	4,808	4,878	4,921	5,989	6,509	6,515
	Republican	J. McConville	6.78	3,146	4,456	4,511	4,545	4,552
	UUP	R. Dickson	6.33	3,133	3,438	3,623
	NI Labour	Billy McMullen	5.80	2,869	7,237	7,795	8,002	8,015	10,345
Electorate: 65,550 Valid: 49,484 Quota: 9,897 Turnout: 75.5%

Devlin did not take his seat.

References

"Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election results: Constituency Boundaries". Archived from the original on 25 December 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
"Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 May 1921 - PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
"APPENDIX 19 DÁIL ÉIREANN". Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 August 1921. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

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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