West Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = West Tyrone


Type = County
Entity = Northern Ireland
DivisionType = Districts
Division = Omagh, Strabane
Year = 1997
MP = Pat Doherty
Party = Sinn Féin
EP = Northern Ireland

West Tyrone is a county constituency in Northern Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system..

Boundaries

The seat was created in a boundary review conducted in 1995 and was predominantly made out of the western half of the old Mid Ulster constituency - indeed it contains more of the old Mid Ulster than the current seat of that name. It also contains parts of the old Foyle constituency and now shares exactly the same boundaries as the districts of Omagh and Strabane.

At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations to the Northern Ireland constituencies, however no changes are proposed for West Tyrone.

History

For the history of the equivalent seat prior to 1997, see Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency).

The seat is overwhelmingly nationalist, as evidenced by the election results in which nationalist parties have always won over 50% of the vote since the seat was created. However, the nationalist vote has traditionally been split between the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Sinn Féin, whilst the unionist parties have been more willing to make pacts to increase their chances of victory.

When the seat was created it was nominally held by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), based on mapping the 1992 general election results onto the new boundaries, but this was because the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) had not contested the equivalent area. In the 1996 Forum elections the UUP outpolled the DUP and it was agreed that the DUP would not contest the seat. As a result William Thompson of the UUP won in 1997 with a narrow majority over the SDLP, with Sinn Féin coming third on a large vote.

In the 2001 general election the SDLP and Sinn Féin both targeted the constituency heavily, in the hope that a shift in the vote from one nationalist party to the other would enable them to outpoll the Ulster Unionists. In the event Sinn Féin's Pat Doherty won.

In 1998 both Sinn Féin and the SDLP won two seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, with the UUP and DUP winning one each. However, there was much speculation that an increase in Sinn Féin's vote at the SDLP's expense would result in Sinn Féin taking a seat from its nationalist rival at the next assembly election. However, the election was complicated by the intervention of the independent candidate Dr. Kieran Deeny, campaigning on the sole issue of the retention of the hospital in Omagh. In a result that shocked commentators he took one of the SDLP's assembly seats.

Deeny stood again in the 2005 general election and asked most parties to withdraw to support him. Many local activists and voters appeared to agree with this, with some making their support public, but in the end the UUP, DUP and SDLP all fielded candidates. Doherty held the seat for Sinn Féin, but with Deeny polling strongly in second place.

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2001 general election is Pat Doherty of Sinn Féin. Between 1997 and 2001 the MP was William Thompson of the Ulster Unionist Party.
* "Constituency created" (1997)
* 1997 — 2001: William Thompson, Ulster Unionist
* 2001 — "present": Pat Doherty, Sinn Féin

Elections

Election box begin
title=General Election 2005: Tyrone WestElection box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Pat Doherty
votes = 16,910
percentage = 38.9
change = -1.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Kieran Deeny
votes = 11,905
percentage = 27.4
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Thomas Buchanan
votes = 7,742
percentage = 17.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Eugene McMenamin
votes = 3,949
percentage = 9.1
change = -19.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Derek Hussey
votes = 2,981
percentage = 6.9
change = -23.5Election box majority
votes = 5,005
percentage = 11.5
change =Election box turnout
votes = 43,487
percentage = 72.1
change = -7.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Sinn Féin
swing = Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: Tyrone WestElection box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Pat Doherty
votes = 19,814
percentage = 40.8
change = +10.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = William Thompson
votes = 14,774
percentage = 30.4
change = -4.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Brid Rodgers
votes = 13,942
percentage = 28.7
change = -3.3Election box majority
votes = 5,040
percentage = 10.4
change = Election box turnout
votes = 48,530
percentage = 79.9
change = +0.3Election box gain with party link
winner = Sinn Féin
loser = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1997: Tyrone WestElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = William Thompson
votes = 16,003
percentage = 34.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Joe Byrne
votes = 14,842
percentage = 32.1
change = +1.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Pat Doherty
votes = 14,280
percentage = 30.9
change = +9.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Ann Gormley
votes = 829
percentage = 1.8
change = -2.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tommy Owens
votes = 230
percentage = 0.5
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Robert Johnstone
votes = 91
percentage = 0.2
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 1,161
percentage =
change = "N/A"Election box gain with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
loser = Democratic Unionist Party
swing = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 79.6
change = "N/A"

Notional 1992 Result

The projected result of what the result would have been if West Tyrone had existed for the 1992 election is shown below.

Election box begin
title=Notional 1992 UK General Election Result : West Tyrone Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
votes = 15,738
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 38.8
change = N/aElection box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
votes = 12,590
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 31.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
votes = 8,102
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 20.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Others
votes = 2282
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 5.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
votes = 1900
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 4.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 3,158
percentage = 7.8
change = "N/A"

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/election97/constituencies/593.htm]

See also

* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

References

*