Strangford (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Strangford


Type = County
Entity = Northern Ireland
DivisionType = Districts
Division = Ards, Catlereagh, Down
Year = 1983
MP = Iris Robinson
Party = Democratic Unionist
EP = Northern Ireland

Strangford 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 North Down. In 1995, the Commission controversially recommended abolishing the constituency and dividing it between North Down and new constituencies of Mid Down and Castlereagh & Newtownards. This was successfully opposed in local enquiries and since 1995 it is now made up of parts of the districts of Ards, Castlereagh and Down.

Despite the name the seat does not currently contain the town of Strangford which is instead a part of South Down.

Boundary changes

Initially the Northern Ireland Boundary Commission published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of Strangford. This included changes to the boundary between two of Belfast's constituencies and Strangford, and the renaming of the seat as Mid Down.

Following consultation, the electoral districts to make up the constituency to be fought at the next UK general election are as follows; [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/ukdsi_9780110813172_en_1 Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order]

*Ballygowan, Ballyrainey, Ballywalter, Bradshaw’s Brae, Carrowdore, Central, Comber East, Comber North, Comber West, Glen, Gregstown, Killinchy, Kircubbin, Lisbane, Loughries, Movilla, Portaferry, Portavogie, Scrabo, and Whitespots, from the Ards district.
*From the Down district; Ballymaglave, Ballynahinch East, Derryboy, Killyleagh, Kilmore, and Saintfield
*The Moneyreagh ward from Castlereagh district

History

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

The constituency is overwhelmingly unionist, with the combined votes for nationalist parties rarely exceeding 10%. However there have been significant votes for parties outside the traditional unionist block, such as the Alliance and the Conservatives, whilst the UK Unionist Party has also polled well here, challenging the two main unionist parties. At the local level independent council candidates have polled well.

The main interest in elections has been the contest between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. Until 2001 the UUP were clearly ahead of the DUP in the Westminster elections, but elections to regional assemblies and local government were much closed. In 2001 the sitting MP John Taylor stood down and the contest to succeed him was fierce. The seat was won by Iris Robinson for the Democratic Unionist Party and the subsequent 2003 assembly election saw the DUP increase their vote further. There is scepticism as to whether the UUP can retake the seat, though the proposed boundary changes may alter matters.

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2001 general election is Iris Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party. She succeeded John Taylor of the Ulster Unionist Party.
* "Constituency created" (1983)
* 1983 — John Taylor, Ulster Unionist
* 2001 — "present": Iris Robinson, Democratic Unionist

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Iris Robinson
votes = 20,921
percentage = 56.5
change = +13.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Gareth McGimpsey
votes = 7,872
percentage = 21.3
change = -19.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Kieran McCarthy
votes = 3,332
percentage = 9.0
change = +2.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Joe Boyle
votes = 2,496
percentage = 6.7
change = +0.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Terry Dick
votes = 1,462
percentage = 3.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Dermot Kennedy
votes = 949
percentage = 2.6
change = +0.4Election box majority
votes = 13,049
percentage = 35.2
change =Election box turnout
votes = 37,032
percentage = 53.6
change = -6.3Election box hold with party link
winner = Democratic Unionist Party
swing = +16.4

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Iris Robinson
votes = 18,532
percentage = 42.8
change = +12.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = David McNarry
votes = 17,422
percentage = 40.3
change = -4.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Kieran McCarthy
votes = 2,902
percentage = 6.7
change = -6.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Danny McCarthy
votes = 2,646
percentage = 6.1
change = -0.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Liam Johnston
votes = 930
percentage = 2.2
change = +0.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Northern Ireland Unionist Party
candidate = Cedric Wilson
votes = 822
percentage = 1.9
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 1,110
percentage = 2.5
change = Election box turnout
votes = 43,254
percentage = 59.9
change = +0.4Election box gain with party link
winner = Democratic Unionist Party
loser = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = John Taylor
votes = 18,431
percentage = 44.3
change = + 0.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Iris Robinson
votes = 12,579
percentage = 30.2
change = + 6.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Kieran McCarthy
votes = 5,467
percentage = 13.1
change = - 3.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Peter O'Reilly
votes = 2,775
percentage = 6.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Gilbert Chalk
votes = 1,743
percentage = 4.2
change = - 10.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Garret O'Fachtna
votes = 503
percentage = 1.2
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Sarah Mullins
votes = 121
percentage = 0.3
change = - 0.4Election box majority
votes = 5,852
percentage = 14.1
change = - 5.8Election box turnout
votes = 41,619
percentage = 59.5
change = - 5.5Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
votes = 20,473
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 49.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
votes = 8,295
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 19.9
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
votes = 6,736
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 16.1
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
votes = 5,945
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 14.2
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Others
votes = 295
candidate = "N/A"
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 12,178
percentage = 29.2
change = "N/A"

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = John Taylor
votes = 19,517
percentage = 43.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Sammy Wilson
votes = 10,606
percentage = 23.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Kieran McCarthy
votes = 7,585
percentage = 16.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Stephen Eyre
votes = 6,782
percentage = 15.1
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = David Shaw
votes = 295
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 8,911
percentage = 19.9
change = Election box turnout
votes = 44,785
percentage = 65.0
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = John Taylor
votes = 28,199
percentage = 75.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Addie Morrow
votes = 7,553
percentage = 20.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Imelda Hynds
votes = 1,385
percentage = 3.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 20,646
percentage = 55.6
change = Election box turnout
votes = 37,137
percentage = 57.6
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = John Taylor
votes = 32,627
percentage = 94.2
change = Election box candidate
party = "For the Anglo-Irish Agreement"
candidate = "Peter Barry"
votes = 1,993
percentage = 5.8
change = Election box majority
votes = 30,634
percentage = 88.5
change = Election box turnout
votes = 34,620
percentage = 55.0
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = John Taylor
votes = 19,086
percentage = 48.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Simpson Gibson
votes = 11,716
percentage = 30.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Addie Morrow
votes = 6,171
percentage = 15.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = James Curry
votes = 1,713
percentage = 4.4
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent Labour
candidate = Samuel Heath
votes = 430
percentage = 1.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 7,370
percentage = 18.8
change = "N/A"Election box turnout
votes = 39,116
percentage = 64.9
change = "N/A"Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing = "N/A"