South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)

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

South Antrim
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Antrim in Northern Ireland
Districts of Northern Ireland	Antrim and Newtownabbey
Major settlements	Antrim, Ballyclare and Randalstown
Current constituency
Created	1885, 1950
Member of Parliament	Robin Swann (UUP)
Created from	Antrim
1885–1922
Created from	Antrim, Lisburn
Replaced by	Antrim

South Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Robin Swann of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), first elected in the 2024 general election.

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency. It comprised the baronies of Massereene Upper, Massereene Lower, that part of the barony Antrim Upper in the parish of Antrim, that part of the barony of Toome Upper not in the constituency of Mid Antrim, that part of the barony of Belfast Upper not in the constituency of East Antrim, and so much of the Parliamentary Borough of Belfast as was in the County of Antrim.

It returned one Member of Parliament. In 1922, it was merged into a new Antrim constituency.

The seat was re-created in 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. The seat was reduced in size for the 1974 general election, with the town of Carrickfergus and the areas between it and Larne town transferred to North Antrim. Additionally some territory was transferred to Belfast West. ^[1] Despite these changes, the seat had become the largest in the entire United Kingdom by the time of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1982, by which time its electorate had passed the 131,000 mark. ^[2] For the 1983 general election Northern Ireland received new seats. Consequently, South Antrim was significantly reduced, losing a lot of territory to the new seats of East Antrim and Lagan Valley as well as minor sections to Belfast West, Belfast North and Upper Bann. The new South Antrim which was fought for the 1983 election contained only 43% of the previous seat. ^[3] In 1995 there were minor changes around the borders with North Belfast and West Belfast. The seat fought at the 2005 election encompassed the entirety of the district of Antrim and part of the district of Newtownabbey.

Following consultation of boundary changes across Northern Ireland, the altered South Antrim constituency fought at the 2010 general election is made up as follows: ^[4]

• Glenavy from Lisburn City government area
• Ballyclare North, Ballyclare South, Ballyduff, Ballynure, Ballyrobert, Burnthill, Carnmoney, Doagh, Hawthorne, Mallusk, and Mossley, from Newtownabbey
• The district of Antrim

History

South Antrim is an overwhelmingly unionist constituency which once had the strongest vote for the Ulster Unionist Party anywhere in the province. From 1886 to 1974 the Conservative and Unionist members of the United Kingdom House of Commons formed a single Parliamentary party, and they continuously represented South Antrim.

In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a British General Election. In the 1979 general election James Molyneaux had the largest majority of any MP in the entire of the United Kingdom, helped also by having one of the largest electorates.

The boundary changes in 1983 reduced the Ulster Unionist vote somewhat, with a significant portion now contained in the new Lagan Valley (which Molyneaux then contested) but the constituency still gave strong results for the party.

However, in April 2000 the Ulster Unionist incumbent, Clifford Forsythe, died suddenly. The ensuing by-election took place amidst a fierce political struggle between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party over the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement that the UUP were themselves split over. The DUP had not contested the seat at the previous general election but on this occasion stood William McCrea, the former MP for Mid Ulster, who campaigned strongly on the DUP's refusal to co-operate with Sinn Féin in the absence of arms decommissioning by the IRA. The local UUP branch selected David Burnside to contest the seat who declared that he had supported the Good Friday Agreement at the time that it was signed but had since become disillusioned with its implementation. As a result, many commentators predicted that whatever the outcome of the election it was a severe blow for the UUP's leader David Trimble. On a low turnout amidst a fierce contest McCrea narrowly won the seat.

Burnside was nominated again to contest the seat in the 2001 general election in which he overturned McCrea's majority, aided by tactical voting by SDLP and Alliance voters. However the DUP were eager to regain the seat and in the 2003 Assembly election they outpolled the UUP by 298 votes. In the 2005 general election McCrea defeated Burnside in their third contest, but with a noticeably lower swing than those garnered by other DUP candidates who ousted UUP MPs. McCrea held the seat in the 2010 general election with a reduced majority. The seat was won by the UUP at the 2015 general election following the defeat of McCrea by Danny Kinahan. The DUP regained the seat following the 2017 general election with the defeat of Kinahan by Paul Girvan. Girvan would hold the seat until 2024, when Robin Swann, a former Health Minister who led Northern Ireland's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, retook the seat for the UUP on a 12.3% swing, giving them a seat in the Commons for the first time in 7 years.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	William Ellison-Macartney	Conservative
	1891		Irish Unionist
	1903 by-election	Charles Craig
	1921		Ulster Unionist
1922		constituency abolished
1950		constituency recreated
	1950	Douglas Lloyd Savory	Ulster Unionist
	1955	Knox Cunningham
	1970	James Molyneaux
	1983	Clifford Forsythe
	2000 by-election	William McCrea	Democratic Unionist
	2001	David Burnside	Ulster Unionist
	2003		Independent Unionist
	2004		Ulster Unionist Party
	2005	William McCrea	Democratic Unionist
	2015	Danny Kinahan	Ulster Unionist
	2017	Paul Girvan	Democratic Unionist
	2024	Robin Swann	Ulster Unionist

Elections

South Antrim election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: South Antrim ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Swann	16,311	38.0	+8.9
	DUP	Paul Girvan	8,799	20.5	−15.7
	Sinn Féin	Declan Kearney	8,034	18.7	+7.3
	Alliance	John Blair	4,574	10.7	−7.7
	TUV	Mel Lucas	2,693	6.3	New
	SDLP	Roisin Lynch	1,589	3.7	−1.3
	Green (NI)	Lesley Veronica	541	1.3	New
	Aontú	Siobhán McErlean	367	0.9	New
Majority			7,512	17.5	N/A
Turnout			42,908	55.7	−4.2
Registered electors			77,058
	UUP gain from DUP		Swing	+12.3

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Paul Girvan	15,149	35.3	―2.9
	UUP	Danny Kinahan	12,460	29.0	―1.8
	Alliance	John Blair	8,190	19.1	+11.7
	Sinn Féin	Declan Kearney	4,887	11.4	―6.7
	SDLP	Roisin Lynch	2,288	5.3	―0.2
Majority			2,689	6.3	―1.1
Turnout			42,974	59.9	―3.4
Registered electors			71,743
	DUP hold		Swing	―0.6

General election 2017: South Antrim ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Paul Girvan	16,508	38.2	+8.1
	UUP	Danny Kinahan	13,300	30.8	―1.9
	Sinn Féin	Declan Kearney	7,797	18.1	+5.2
	Alliance	Neil Kelly	3,203	7.4	―2.4
	SDLP	Roisin Lynch	2,362	5.5	―2.7
Majority			3,208	7.4	N/A
Turnout			43,292	63.3	+9.1
Registered electors			68,244
	DUP gain from UUP		Swing	+5.0

General election 2015: South Antrim ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Danny Kinahan	11,942	32.7	+2.3
	DUP	William McCrea	10,993	30.1	―3.8
	Sinn Féin	Declan Kearney	4,699	12.9	―1.0
	Alliance	Neil Kelly	3,576	9.8	+2.1
	SDLP	Roisin Lynch	2,990	8.2	―0.5
	TUV	Rick Cairns	1,908	5.2	―0.2
	NI Conservatives	Alan Dunlop	415	1.1	New
Majority			949	2.6	N/A
Turnout			36,523	54.2	+0.3
Registered electors			67,425
	UUP gain from DUP		Swing	+3.1

General election 2010: South Antrim ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	11,536	33.9	―4.3
	UCU-NF	Reg Empey	10,353	30.4	+1.3
	Sinn Féin	Mitchel McLaughlin [10]	4,729	13.9	+2.3
	SDLP	Michelle Byrne [11]	2,955	8.7	―3.7
	Alliance	Alan Lawther	2,607	7.7	―0.9
	TUV	Mel Lucas	1,829	5.4	New
Majority			1,183	3.5	―5.6
Turnout			34,009	53.9	―2.8
Registered electors			63,054
	DUP hold		Swing	―2.8

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South Antrim ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	14,507	38.2	+3.4
	UUP	David Burnside	11,059	29.1	−8.0
	SDLP	Noreen McClelland	4,706	12.4	+0.3
	Sinn Féin	Henry Cushinan	4,407	11.6	+2.2
	Alliance	David Ford	3,278	8.6	+4.1
Majority			3,448	9.1	N/A
Turnout			37,957	56.7	−5.8
Registered electors			66,580
	DUP gain from UUP		Swing	+5.7

General election 2001: South Antrim ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Burnside	16,366	37.1	−20.4
	DUP	William McCrea	15,355	34.8	New
	SDLP	Sean A. McKee	5,336	12.1	−4.1
	Sinn Féin	Martin Meehan	4,160	9.4	+3.9
	Alliance	David Ford	1,969	4.5	−7.1
	NI Unionist	Norman Boyd	972	2.2	New
Majority			1,011	2.3	−39.0
Turnout			44,158	62.5	+4.7
Registered electors			70,651
	UUP hold		Swing	−10.2

By-election 2000: South Antrim ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	11,601	38.0	New
	UUP	David Burnside	10,779	35.3	−22.2
	SDLP	Donovan McClelland	3,496	11.4	−4.8
	Sinn Féin	Martin Meehan	2,611	8.5	+3.0
	Alliance	David Ford	2,031	6.6	−5.0
	Natural Law	David H. Collins	49	0.2	−0.3
Majority			822	2.7	N/A
Turnout			30,567	43.0	−14.8
Registered electors			71,047
	DUP gain from UUP		Swing	−5.7

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South Antrim ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Clifford Forsythe	23,108	57.5	−13.9
	SDLP	Donovan McClelland	6,497	16.2	+3.4
	Alliance	David Ford	4,668	11.6	+0.7
	PUP	Hugh Smyth	3,490	9.0	New
	Sinn Féin	Henry Cushinan	2,229	5.5	+2.5
	Natural Law	Barbara A. Briggs	203	0.5	New
Majority			16,611	41.3	−16.8
Turnout			40,195	57.8	−5.1
Registered electors			69,512
	UUP hold		Swing	−8.2

General election 1992: South Antrim ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Clifford Forsythe	29,956	70.9	+1.1
	SDLP	Donovan McClelland	5,397	12.8	+2.9
	Alliance	John Blair	5,244	12.4	−3.6
	Sinn Féin	Henry Cushinan	1,220	2.9	−1.5
	Independent	Denis Martin	442	1.1	New
Majority			24,559	58.1	+4.3
Turnout			42,259	62.9	+0.0
Registered electors			67,192
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: South Antrim ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Clifford Forsythe	25,395	69.8	+24.1
	Alliance	Gordon Mawhinney	5,808	16.0	+4.1
	SDLP	Donovan McClelland	3,611	9.9	+1.2
	Sinn Féin	Henry Cushinan	1,592	4.4	+0.2
Majority			19,587	53.8	+36.3
Turnout			36,406	62.9	−2.6
Registered electors			61,649
	UUP hold		Swing

By-election 1986: South Antrim ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Clifford Forsythe	30,087	94.1	+48.4
	"For the Anglo-Irish Agreement"	"Peter Barry" (Wesley Robert Williamson) [19]	1,870	5.9	New
Majority			28,217	88.2	+70.7
Turnout			31,957	53.5	−12.0
Registered electors			60,780
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1983: South Antrim ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Clifford Forsythe	17,727	45.7	−23.3
	DUP	Roy Thompson	10,935	28.2	New
	Alliance	Gordon Mawhinney	4,612	11.9	−4.3
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	3,377	8.7	−1.4
	Sinn Féin	Sean H. Laverty	1,629	4.2	New
	Workers' Party	Kevin Smyth	549	1.4	New
Majority			6,792	17.5	−35.3
Turnout			38,829	65.5	+7.3
Registered electors			59,233
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Molyneaux	50,782	69.0	−2.5
	Alliance	Charles Kinahan	11,914	16.2	+0.9
	SDLP	Patrick Rowan	7,432	10.1	−3.1
	United Labour	Bob Kidd	1,895	2.6	New
	Republican Clubs	Kevin Smyth	1,615	2.2	New
Majority			38,868	52.8	−3.4
Turnout			73,638	58.2	+0.1
Registered electors			126,444
	UUP hold		Swing

General election October 1974: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Molyneaux	48,892	71.5	+3.9
	Alliance	Charles Kinahan	10,460	15.3	−2.3
	SDLP	Patrick Rowan	9,061	13.2	+0.9
Majority			38,432	56.2	+6.2
Turnout			68,413	58.1	−3.0
Registered electors			117,834
	UUP hold		Swing

General election February 1974: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Molyneaux	48,203	67.6	+6.4
	Alliance	Charles Kinahan	12,559	17.6	New
	SDLP	Patrick John Rowan	8,769	12.3	New
	Independent	Bob Kidd	1,801	2.5	New
Majority			35,644	50.0	+9.3
Turnout			71,332	61.1	−6.9
Registered electors			118,483
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1970: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	James Molyneaux	59,589	61.2	−3.1
	NI Labour	Robert Johnston	19,971	20.5	−15.2
	Ind. Unionist	Tom Caldwell	10,938	11.2	New
	National Democratic	Daniel MacAllister	6,037	6.2	New
	Ulster Liberal	Rodney Smith	913	0.9	New
Majority			39,618	40.7	+12.1
Turnout			97,448	68.0	+12.1
Registered electors			143,274
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Knox Cunningham	40,840	64.3	−5.6
	NI Labour	Sydney Stewart	22,672	35.7	+11.3
Majority			18,168	28.6	−16.9
Turnout			63,512	55.9	−8.4
Registered electors			113,645
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1964: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Knox Cunningham	47,325	69.9	−25.2
	NI Labour	Sydney Stewart	16,531	24.4	New
	Ind. Republican	Leo Wilson	3,830	5.7	New
Majority			30,794	45.5	−13.7
Turnout			67,686	64.3	+5.0
Registered electors			105,304
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Knox Cunningham	52,786	95.1	+4.4
	Sinn Féin	Michael Traynor	2,745	4.9	−4.4
Majority			50,041	90.2	+8.8
Turnout			55,531	59.3	−6.0
Registered electors			93,634
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1955: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Knox Cunningham	50,347	90.7	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Michael Traynor	5,155	9.3	New
Majority			45,192	81.4	N/A
Turnout			55,502	65.3	N/A
Registered electors			84,939
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1951: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Douglas Savory	Unopposed
Registered electors			79,533
	UUP hold

General election 1950: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Douglas Savory	41,023	83.6
	NI Labour	Edward Brown	8,068	16.4
Majority			32,955	67.2
Turnout			49,091	63.3
Registered electors			77,499
	UUP win (new seat)

Elections in the 1910s

1918 general election: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Craig	13,270	85.1	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Kevin O'Shiel	2,318	14.9	New
Majority			10,952	70.2	N/A
Turnout			15,558	67.1	N/A
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

December 1910 general election: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Craig	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,900
	Irish Unionist hold

January 1910 general election: South Antrim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Craig	5,310	69.41	N/A
	Liberal	William Moffat Clow	2,340	30.59	New
Majority			2,970	38.82	N/A
Turnout			7,650	77.27	N/A
Registered electors			9,900
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

1906 general election: South Antrim ^{[21] : 326–327, 383}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Craig	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

1903 South Antrim by-election ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Charles Craig	4,464	55.25	+0.86
	Russellite Unionist	Samuel Robert Keightley	3,615	44.75	New
Majority			849	10.50	+1.72
Turnout			8,079	78.93	+13.86
Registered electors			10,236
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1900 general election: South Antrim ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Ellison-Macartney	3,674	54.39	N/A
	Ind. Unionist	Samuel Lawther	3,081	45.61	New
Majority			593	8.78	N/A
Turnout			6,755	65.07	N/A
Registered electors			10,381
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

1895 general election: South Antrim ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Ellison-Macartney	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

1892 general election: South Antrim ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	William Ellison-Macartney	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1880s

1886 general election: South Antrim ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	William Ellison-Macartney	Unopposed
Registered electors			10,824
	Irish Conservative hold

1885 general election: South Antrim ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	William Ellison-Macartney	5,047	57.8
	Liberal	John Dougherty Barbour	3,680	42.2
Majority			1,367	15.6
Turnout			8,727	80.6
Registered electors			10,824
	Irish Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

Notes

1. Whyte, Dr Nicholas. "Westminster elections in NI since 1920". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. Whyte, Nicholas. "South Antrim 1973-82". www.ark.ac.uk.
3. Almanac of British Politics, 3rd ed, Robert Waller
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008". Legislation.gov.uk.
5. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
6. "Election of a Member of Parliament for the SOUTH ANTRIM Constituency - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Electoral Office of Northern Ireland. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
7. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. "The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland - EONI". www.eoni.org.uk.
9. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. Candidates Archived 18 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Sinn Féin
11. Byrne: It's time for real change in South Antrim, SDLP
12. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1997-2002 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament in the United Kingdom Election Results website maintained by David Boothroyd
19. Nicholas Whyte (13 May 2003). "Westminster by-elections, 23 January 1986". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive . Retrieved 31 December 2016.
20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN   0901714127.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)

External links

• 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)
• South Antrim UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• South Antrim UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

54°43′16″N6°14′28″W / 54.721°N 6.241°W / 54.721; -6.241