Upper Bann (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Upper Bann


Type = County
Entity = Northern Ireland
DivisionType = Districts
Division = Craigavon, Banbridge
Year = 1983
MP = David Simpson
Party = Democratic Unionist
EP = Northern Ireland

Upper Bann is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Boundaries

The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of Armagh and South Down. It was barely changed in further revisions in 1995 and covers the entirety of the district of Craigavon as well as part of Banbridge.

Boundary changes

In 2005, the Boundary Commission published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It proposed transferring two small parts of Upper Bann to South Down and Lagan Valley.

Following public consultation, the Commission revised its proposals which were finally passed through Parliament by means of the [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/ukdsi_9780110813172_en_1 Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order] . The modified Upper Bann constituency to be fought at the next United Kingdom general election will be made from the districts and wards listed here.

*The district of Craigavon
*From the district of Banbridge; Ballydown, Banbridge West, Edenderry, Fort, Gilford, Lawrencetown, Loughbrickland, Seapatrick, and The Cut

History

For the history of the equivalent constituencies prior to 1950 please see Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) and Down (UK Parliament constituency) and from 1950 until 1983, please see also South Down (UK Parliament constituency).

The constituency has a unionist majority, though the combined votes for nationalist parties have reached around 35% in elections. The Ulster Unionist Party has traditionally been dominant though it was come under serious pressure from the Democratic Unionist Party in recent years. The constituency contains Portadown and Drumcree, key locations for the Orange Order and elections to both local councils and the Northern Ireland Assembly have seen independent candidates standing on issues related to Orange Order parades performing well.

In 1990 the sitting MP, Harold McCusker, died and the subsequent by-election was noticeable as for the first time since the early 1970s two major UK political parties stood in a Northern Ireland parliamentary election, the Conservatives and the rump of the Social Democratic Party. However the result was disappointing for the Conservatives, whilst the SDP polled a mere 154 votes. In that by-election David Trimble was elected and five years later he became leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Trimble's leadership came in for much criticism from the rival Democratic Unionist Party and they strongly targeted the area.

In the 2001 there was a strong rumour that the DUP leader Ian Paisley would contest the seat himself, in the hope of unseating Trimble, but in the event he stayed in his North Antrim constituency and the DUP instead nominated David Simpson. The campaign was amongst the most bitter in the entire province, with Trimble coming in for fierce personal attacks. He benefitted, however, from the decision of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland to not contest the seat themselves but instead support them. When the results were counted Simpson was initially ahead and many believed he had won, but Trimble pulled ahead to hold the seat on a narrow majority of 2058.

In the subsequent 2003 assembly election the DUP were only 386 votes behind the UUP. Then in the 2005 general election Trimble was defeated by Simpson.

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament, since the 2005 general election, is David Simpson of the Democratic Unionist Party. In that election he defeated David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party who had held the seat since a 1990 by-election.
* "Constituency created" (1983)
* 1983 — 1990: Harold McCusker, Ulster Unionist (died in office)
* 1990 — 2005: David Trimble, Ulster Unionist
* 2005 — "present": David Simpson Democratic Unionist

Elections

Election box begin
title=General Election 2005: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = David Simpson
votes = 16,679
percentage = 37.6
change = +8.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David Trimble
votes = 11,281
percentage = 25.5
change = -8.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = John O'Dowd
votes = 9,305
percentage = 21.0
change = -0.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Dolores Kelly
votes = 5,747
percentage = 13.0
change = -1.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Alan Castle
votes = 955
percentage = 2.2
change = +2.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 355
percentage = 0.8
change = -0.2Election box majority
votes = 5,398
percentage = 12.2
change =Election box turnout
votes = 44,322
percentage = 61.2
change = -9.1Election box gain with party link
winner = Democratic Unionist Party
loser = Ulster Unionist Party
swing = +8.1

Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David Trimble
votes = 17,095
percentage = 33.5
change = -10.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = David Simpson
votes = 15,037
percentage = 29.5
change = +18.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Dara O'Hagan
votes = 10,771
percentage = 21.1
change = +9.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Dolores Kelly
votes = 7,607
percentage = 14.9
change = -9.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 527
percentage = 1.0
change = -0.1Election box majority
votes = 2,058
percentage = 4.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 51,037
percentage = 70.3
change = +2.4Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1997: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David Trimble
votes = 20,836
percentage = 43.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Brid Rodgers
votes = 11,584
percentage = 24.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Bernadette O'Hagan
votes = 5,773
percentage = 12.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Mervyn Carrick
votes = 5,482
percentage = 11.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = William Ramsay
votes = 3,017
percentage = 6.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 554
percentage = 1.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = B. Price
votes = 433
percentage = 0.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = J. Lyons
votes = 108
percentage = 0.2
change = Election box majority
votes = 9,252
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 67.9
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1992: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David Trimble
votes = 26,824
percentage = 59.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Brid Rodgers
votes = 10,661
percentage = 23.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Brendan Curran
votes = 2,777
percentage = 6.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = William Ramsay
votes = 2,541
percentage = 5.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Collette Jones
votes = 1,556
percentage = 3.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 1,120
percentage = 2.5
change = Election box majority
votes = 16,163
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 67.4
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=Upper Bann by-election, 1990Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David Trimble
votes = 20,547
percentage = 58.0
change = -3.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Brid Rodgers
votes = 6,698
percentage = 18.9
change = -1.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Sheena Campbell
votes = 2,033
percentage = 5.7
change = -1.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Independence Movement
candidate = Hugh Ross
votes = 1,534
percentage = 4.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 1,083
percentage = 3.1
change = -1.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Colette Jones
votes = 1,038
percentage = 3.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = William Ramsay
votes = 948
percentage = 2.7
change = -3.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Democratic Party
candidate = Gary McMichael
votes = 600
percentage = 1.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party (UK)
candidate = Peter Doran
votes = 576
percentage = 1.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent Labour
candidate = Erskine Holmes
votes = 235
percentage = 0.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)
candidate = Alistair Dunn
votes = 154
percentage = 0.4
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 13,849
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 53.4
change =Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1987: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Harold McCusker
votes = 25,137
percentage = 61.5
change = 4.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Brid Rodgers
votes = 8,676
percentage = 20.5
change = 3.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Brendan Curran
votes = 3,126
percentage = 7.4
change = -2.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Fionnuala Cook
votes = 2,487
percentage = 5.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 2,004
percentage = 4.7
change = -0.8Election box majority
votes = 16,461
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 66.0
change = -6.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=Upper Bann by-election, 1986Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Harold McCusker
votes = 29,311
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 6,978
percentage =
change = Election box majority
votes = 22,333
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1983: Upper BannElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Harold McCusker
votes = 24,888
percentage = 56.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = J. McDonald
votes = 7,807
percentage = 17.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Jim Wells
votes = 4,547
percentage = 10.4
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Brendan Curran
votes = 4,110
percentage = 9.4
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Tom French
votes = 2,392
percentage = 5.5
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 17,081
percentage =
change = "N/A"Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 72.0
change = "N/A"Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

ources

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/489.stm BBC News, Election 2005]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/489.stm BBC News, Vote 2001]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/history/0,9338,-1259,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics]
*Rayment-hc
*http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)

See also

* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland