Belfast Woodvale (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland

54°36′36″N 5°57′47″W / 54.610°N 5.963°W / 54.610; -5.963

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

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

Boundaries

Belfast Woodvale was a borough constituency comprising part of western 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 Woodvale was created by the division of Belfast West 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 strongly Unionist, but there was a strong local labour movement, and for much of its history, the seat was held by the Northern Ireland Labour Party or independent Unionists.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1929	John William Nixon	Independent Unionist
	1950(b)	Robert Harcourt	Ulster Unionist
	1955(b)	Neville Martin	Ulster Unionist
	1958	Billy Boyd	Northern Ireland Labour Party
	1965	John McQuade	Ulster Unionist Party
	1970		Independent Unionist
	1971		Democratic Unionist Party
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 Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ind. Unionist	John William Nixon	9,904	58.4
	UUP	William Beattie	6,465	41.6
Majority			3,439	16.8
Turnout			16,369	75.2
	Ind. Unionist win (new seat)

General Election 1933: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	John William Nixon	8,709	56.6	−1.8
	UUP	Alexander Dalzell	6,676	43.4	+1.8
Majority			2,033	13.2	−13.6
Turnout			15,385	76.4	+0.8
	Ind. Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1938: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	John William Nixon	9,335	59.0	+2.4
	UUP	John William Dickson	6,479	41.0	−2.4
Majority			2,856	18.0	+4.8
Turnout			15,814	79.5	+3.1
	Ind. Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1945: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Unionist	John William Nixon	9,274	66.4	+7.4
	UUP	Samuel Lyness Megraw	4,686	33.6	−7.4
Majority			4,588	32.8	+14.8
Turnout			13,960	69.3	−10.2
	Ind. Unionist hold		Swing

At the 1949 Northern Ireland general election, John William Nixon was elected unopposed.

1950 Belfast Woodvale by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Harcourt	3,939	33.1	*N/A*
	Ind. Unionist	Robert Hill	3,529	29.7	N/A
	NI Labour	Charles Hull	2,893	29.7	New
	Ind. Unionist	David H. Walker	1,533	12.9	N/A
Majority			410	3.4	N/A
Turnout			11,894	57.9	N/A
	UUP gain from Ind. Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1953: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Harcourt	6,085	40.1	*N/A*
	Ind. Unionist	James Brennan Docherty	5,786	38.2	N/A
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	3,286	21.7	N/A
Majority			299	1.9	N/A
Turnout			15,157	69.3	N/A
	UUP gain from Ind. Unionist		Swing	N/A

1955 Belfast Woodvale by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Neville Martin	5,609	52.0	+11.9
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	5,173	48.0	+26.3
Majority			436	4.0	+2.1
Turnout			10,782	50.0	−19.3
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 1958: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	7,529	50.3	+28.6
	UUP	Neville Martin	7,449	49.7	+9.6
Majority			80	0.6	N/A
Turnout			14,978	71.8	+2.5
	NI Labour gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 1962: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	8,389	57.4	+7.1
	UUP	James Frazer Kerr	6,232	42.6	−7.1
Majority			2,157	14.8	+14.2
Turnout			14,621	71.9	+0.1
	NI Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1965: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John McQuade	6,791	57.3	+14.7
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	5,067	42.7	−14.7
Majority			1,724	14.6	N/A
Turnout			11,858	57.3	−14.6
	UUP gain from NI Labour		Swing

General Election 1969: Belfast Woodvale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John McQuade	7,209	50.7	−6.6
	NI Labour	Billy Boyd	3,878	26.9	−15.8
	Ind. Unionist	Leslie Bell	3,231	22.4	New
Majority			3,331	23.8	+9.2
Turnout			14,318	71.6	+14.3
	UUP 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

Categories: