Lagan Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Lagan Valley
county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland
Major settlements	Lisburn
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (Ind. Unionist)
Seats	1
Created from	South Antrim, Belfast South, North Down and South Down [1]

Lagan Valley is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) until his resignation in March 2024. The constituency has always returned unionist MPs, but is considered competitive between the DUP and the Alliance Party for the forthcoming 2024 election. ^[2]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Lisburn, and the District of Castlereagh ward of Carryduff.

1997–2010: The District of Lisburn wards of Ballinderry, Ballymacash, Ballymacbrennan, Ballymacoss, Blaris, Derryaghy, Dromara, Drumbo, Dunmurry, Glenavy, Harmony Hill, Hilden, Hillhall, Hillsborough, Knockmore, Lagan Valley, Lambeg, Lisnagarvey, Maghaberry, Magheralave, Maze, Moira, Old Warren, Seymour Hill, Tonagh, and Wallace Park, and the District of Banbridge wards of Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha, and Quilly.

2010–present: The City of Lisburn wards of Ballinderry, Ballymacash, Ballymacbrennan, Ballymacoss, Blaris, Dromara, Drumbo, Harmony Hill, Hilden, Hillhall, Hillsborough, Knockmore, Lagan Valley, Lambeg, Lisnagarvey, Maghaberry, Magheralave, Maze, Moira, Old Warren, Seymour Hill, Tonagh, Wallace Park, and part of Derryaghy; the District of Banbridge wards of Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha, and Quilly and the Ballynahatty and Edenderry parts of the Belvoir ward of the City of Belfast.

The seat was created in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of South Antrim and North Down. In their original proposals, in January 1980, the boundary commission proposed calling it 'Lagan'. In further revisions in 1995 it lost some areas to both Belfast West and Strangford. Currently the constituency contains most of Lisburn district and part of Banbridge district.

Following their review of all parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland prior to the 2010 United Kingdom general election the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland made alterations to Lagan Valley. In an unprecedented decision, passed by Parliament through the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order, ^[3] one electoral ward was split between two constituencies. This followed concerns in Derriaghy about being moved into the neighbouring but Republican West Belfast seat.

Future boundaries

In time for the next United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland has recommended minor alterations to Lagan Valley, including splitting the wards of Donaghcloney, and Gransha ^[4]

History

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

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since 1997 is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who was elected as a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but switched to the Democratic Unionist Party in 2004. He succeeded James Molyneaux who had represented the seat for the UUP since the 1983 general election and previously sat for the old South Antrim constituency which covered much of the same area. Donaldson was elected Leader of the DUP in June 2021, but resigned the leadership in March 2024.

Election		Member [5]	Party
	1983	Sir James Molyneaux	Ulster Unionist
	1997	Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
	2004		Democratic Unionist
	2024	Independent Unionist

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Lagan Valley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Robbie Butler [6]
	Alliance	Sorcha Eastwood [7]
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Lagan Valley ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jeffrey Donaldson	19,586	43.1	―16.5
	Alliance	Sorcha Eastwood	13,087	28.8	+17.7
	Ulster Unionist	Robbie Butler	8,606	19.0	+2.2
	SDLP	Ally Haydock	1,758	3.9	―3.6
	Sinn Féin	Gary McCleave	1,098	2.4	―1.1
	NI Conservatives	Gary Hynds	955	2.1	+1.1
	UKIP	Alan Love	315	0.7	New
Majority			6,499	14.3	―28.5
Turnout			45,405	60.0	―2.2
Registered electors			75,675
	DUP hold		Swing	―17.1

This seat saw a swing towards the Alliance Party of over 17%, and the largest decrease in vote share for the DUP at the 2019 general election. ^[9]

General election 2017: Lagan Valley ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jeffrey Donaldson	26,762	59.6	+11.7
	Ulster Unionist	Robbie Butler	7,533	16.8	+1.6
	Alliance	Aaron McIntyre	4,996	11.1	―2.8
	SDLP	Pat Catney	3,384	7.5	+1.2
	Sinn Féin	Jacqui Russell	1,567	3.5	+0.6
	NI Conservatives	Ian Nickels	462	1.0	―0.6
	Independent	Jonny Orr	222	0.5	―1.4
Majority			19,229	42.8	+10.1
Turnout			45,044	62.2	+6.3
Registered electors			72,380
	DUP hold		Swing	+5.1

General election 2015: Lagan Valley ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jeffrey Donaldson	19,055	47.9	―1.9
	Ulster Unionist	Alexander Redpath	6,055	15.2	―5.9
	Alliance	Trevor Lunn	5,544	13.9	+2.5
	SDLP	Pat Catney	2,500	6.3	+1.3
	UKIP	Alan Love	2,200	5.5	New
	TUV	Samuel Morrison	1,887	4.7	―3.9
	Sinn Féin	Jacqui McGeough	1,144	2.9	―1.1
	Independent	Jonny Orr	756	1.9	New
	NI Conservatives	Helen Osborne	654	1.6	New
Majority			13,000	32.7	+4.0
Turnout			39,795	55.9	―0.1
Registered electors			71,152
	DUP hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 2010: Lagan Valley ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jeffrey Donaldson	18,199	49.8	―8.5
	UCU-NF	Daphne Trimble	7,713	21.1	―1.8
	Alliance	Trevor Lunn	4,174	11.4	+0.5
	TUV	Keith Harbinson	3,154	8.6	+8.6
	SDLP	Brian Heading	1,835	5.0	―1.1
	Sinn Féin	Paul Butler	1,465	4.0	―3.5
Majority			10,486	28.7	―4.5
Turnout			36,540	56.0	―4.2
Registered electors			65,257
	DUP hold		Swing	―3.4

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Lagan Valley ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jeffrey Donaldson	23,289	54.7	+41.3
	Ulster Unionist	Basil McCrea	9,172	21.5	―35.0
	Alliance	Seamus Close	4,316	10.1	―6.5
	Sinn Féin	Paul Butler	3,197	7.5	+1.6
	SDLP	Patricia Lewsley	2,598	6.1	―1.4
Majority			14,117	33.2	N/A
Turnout			42,572	60.2	―3.0
Registered electors			70,238
	DUP gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	+38.1

General election 2001: Lagan Valley ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Jeffrey Donaldson	25,966	56.5	+1.1
	Alliance	Seamus Close	7,624	16.6	―0.6
	DUP	Edwin Poots	6,164	13.4	―0.2
	SDLP	Patricia Lewsley	3,462	7.5	―0.3
	Sinn Féin	Paul Butler	2,725	5.9	+3.4
Majority			18,342	39.9	―1.7
Turnout			45,941	63.2	+1.1
Registered electors			72,671
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Lagan Valley ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Jeffrey Donaldson	24,560	55.4	−5.4
	Alliance	Seamus Close	7,635	17.2	+4.5
	DUP	Edwin Poots	6,005	13.6	New
	SDLP	Dolores Kelly	3,436	7.8	−1.7
	NI Conservatives	Stuart E. Sexton	1,212	2.7	−6.3
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey	1,110	2.5	+0.4
	Workers' Party	Frances McCarthy	203	0.5	−0.7
	Natural Law	Hugh Finlay	149	0.3	New
Majority			16,925	38.2	-9.9
Turnout			44,310	62.1	-5.2
Registered electors			71,341
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	−8.5

General election 1992: Lagan Valley ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Molyneaux	29,772	60.8	−9.2
	Alliance	Seamus Close	6,207	12.7	−1.1
	SDLP	Hugh Lewsley	4,626	9.5	+2.6
	NI Conservatives	Timothy R. Coleridge	4,423	9.0	New
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Joseph Rice	3,346	6.8	+0.4
	Workers' Party	Ann Marie Lowry	582	1.2	−1.7
Majority			23,565	48.1	−8.1
Turnout			48,956	67.3	+2.9
Registered electors			72,645
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Lagan Valley ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Molyneaux	29,101	70.0	+10.8
	Alliance	Seamus Close	5,728	13.8	+2.5
	SDLP	Billy McDonnell	2,888	6.9	+0.5
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Joseph Rice	2,656	6.4	+2.1
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	1,215	2.9	+0.9
Majority			23,373	56.2	+13.8
Turnout			41,588	64.4	―3.2
Registered electors			64,873
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

1986 Lagan Valley by-election ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Molyneaux	32,514	90.7	+31.5
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	3,328	9.3	+7.3
Majority			29,186	81.4	+39.0
Turnout			35,842	57.8	―9.8
Registered electors			63,244
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1983: Lagan Valley ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	James Molyneaux	24,017	59.2
	DUP	William John Beattie	6,801	16.8
	Alliance	Seamus Close	4,593	11.3
	SDLP	Cormac Joseph Boomer	2,603	6.4
	Sinn Féin	Richard McAuley	1,751	4.3
	Workers' Party	Gerard Loughlin	809	2.0
Majority			17,216	42.4
Turnout			40,574	67.6
Registered electors			60,051
	Ulster Unionist win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

References

1. "'Lagan Valley', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
2. Carroll, Rory. "'Donaldson's downfall raises questions over Stormont power sharing". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
4. Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
6. "Robbie Butler Candidate Announcement Lagan Valley GE24". X. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
7. "Sorcha Eastwood announced as Alliance candidate in Lagan Valley". Alliance Party. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
8. "Lagan Valley Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
9. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
10. "Election of a Member of Parliament for the LAGAN VALLEY Constituency - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Electoral Office of Northern Ireland. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
11. "Lagan Valley parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019– via www.bbc.co.uk.
12. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
13. "The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland - EONI". www.eoni.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "By-election Result". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)

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