Strangford (UK Parliament constituency)

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

Strangford
county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Strangford in Northern Ireland
Major settlements	Newtownards, Comber
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Jim Shannon (DUP)
Created from	North Down, Belfast South and Belfast East [1]

Strangford (Irish: Loch Cuan, Ulster Scots: Strangfurd) is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Jim Shannon of the DUP.

Constituency profile

Strangford covers the settlements either side of Strangford Lough. Despite the name, the town of Strangford is in the neighbouring South Down constituency.

The seat is strongly unionist, and one of 7 areas of Northern Ireland which voted to leave the European Union. ^[2]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

The seat was created after 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. At its creation the constituency was formed from the local government district of Ards, and the Castlereagh districts of Beechill, Fourwinds, Hillfoot, Lower Braniel, Minnowburn, Moneyreagh, Newtownbreda, and Upper Braniel. ^[3]

In 1995, the Commission controversially recommended abolishing the constituency and dividing it between North Down and new constituencies of Mid Down, and Castlereagh and Newtownards. This was successfully opposed in local enquiries and from the 1997 general election it was made up of parts of the districts of Ards, Castlereagh and Down.

For the 2010 general election the electoral wards which make up the constituency are: ^[4]

• Ballygowan, Ballyrainey, Ballywalter, Ballyhalbert, 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.

The constituency has been represented by Unionist candidates since it was formed. There have not been significant votes for parties outside the traditional unionist block, although the Alliance has saved its deposit in every election.

The main interest in elections has been the contest between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Until 2001, the UUP were clearly ahead of the DUP in the Westminster elections, but elections to regional assemblies and local government were much closer. 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 (DUP) and the subsequent 2003 assembly election saw the DUP increase their vote further.

Members of Parliament

The first Member of Parliament for the seat was John Taylor of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). After the 2001 general election, he was succeeded by Iris Robinson (the wife of Peter Robinson) of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Robinson resigned in January 2010 after a scandal involving financial dealings. ^[5] However, no by-election was held, as the next general election was held in May.

Election		Member [6]	Party
	1983	John Taylor	Ulster Unionist
	2001	Iris Robinson	Democratic Unionist *
	2010	Jim Shannon

^* Note: Iris Robinson left the DUP shortly before taking Chiltern Hundreds to leave the Commons. The seat was vacant from 13 January 2010 until the general election on 6 May 2010.

Election results

Strangford Westminster Election Results 1983-2019

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Majority
Turnout
Registered electors
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Strangford ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	17,705	47.2	―14.8
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	10,634	28.4	+13.7
	Ulster Unionist	Phillip Smith	4,023	10.7	―0.7
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	1,994	5.3	―0.9
	NI Conservatives	Grant Abraham	1,476	3.9	+2.6
	Green (NI)	Maurice Macartney	790	2.1	+0.5
	Sinn Féin	Ryan Carlin	555	1.5	―1.3
	UKIP	Robert Stephenson	308	0.8	New
Majority			7,071	18.8	―28.5
Turnout			37,485	56.0	―4.4
Registered electors			66,938
	DUP hold		Swing	―14.3

General election 2017: Strangford ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	24,036	62.0	+17.6
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	5,693	14.7	+0.9
	Ulster Unionist	Mike Nesbitt	4,419	11.4	―2.9
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,404	6.2	―0.7
	Sinn Féin	Carole Murphy	1,083	2.8	+0.2
	Green (NI)	Ricky Bamford	607	1.6	New
	NI Conservatives	Claire Hiscott	507	1.3	―5.1
Majority			18,343	47.3	+17.2
Turnout			38,749	60.4	+7.6
Registered electors			64,327
	DUP hold		Swing	+8.4

General election 2015: Strangford ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	15,053	44.4	―1.5
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Burgess	4,868	14.3	―13.5
	Alliance	Kellie Armstrong	4,687	13.8	+5.1
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,335	6.9	+0.2
	UKIP	Joe Jordan [12]	2,237	6.6	New
	NI Conservatives	Johnny Andrews [13]	2,167	6.4	New
	TUV	Stephen Cooper	1,701	5.0	―0.6
	Sinn Féin	Sheila Bailie	876	2.6	―1.0
Majority			10,185	30.1	+12.0
Turnout			33,924	52.8	―0.9
Registered electors			64,289
	DUP hold		Swing	+6.0

General election 2010: Strangford ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Jim Shannon	14,926	45.9	―8.8
	UCU-NF	Mike Nesbitt	9,050	27.8	+2.6
	Alliance	Deborah Girvan	2,828	8.7	+0.5
	SDLP	Claire Hanna	2,164	6.7	±0.0
	TUV	Terry Williams	1,814	5.6	New
	Sinn Féin	Michael Coogan	1,161	3.6	―0.1
	Green (NI)	Barbara Haig	562	1.7	New
Majority			5,876	18.1	―17.4
Turnout			32.505	53.7	―3.4
Registered electors			60,539
	DUP hold		Swing	―7.6

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Strangford ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Iris Robinson	20,921	56.5	+13.7
	Ulster Unionist	Gareth McGimpsey	7,872	21.3	―19.0
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	3,332	9.0	+2.3
	SDLP	Joe Boyle	2,496	6.7	+0.6
	NI Conservatives	Terry Dick	1,462	3.9	New
	Sinn Féin	Dermot Kennedy	949	2.6	+0.4
Majority			13,049	35.2	+32.7
Turnout			37,032	53.6	―6.3
Registered electors			68,570
	DUP hold		Swing	+16.4

General election 2001: Strangford ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	Iris Robinson	18,532	42.8	+12.6
	Ulster Unionist	David McNarry	17,422	40.3	―4.0
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	2,902	6.7	―6.4
	SDLP	Danny McCarthy	2,646	6.1	―0.6
	Sinn Féin	Liam Johnston	930	2.2	+1.0
	NI Unionist	Cedric Wilson	822	1.9	New
Majority			1,110	2.5	N/A
Turnout			43,254	59.9	+0.4
Registered electors			72,192
	DUP gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	―8.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Strangford ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John David Taylor	18,431	44.3	―4.7
	DUP	Iris Robinson	12,579	30.2	+10.3
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	5,467	13.1	―3.0
	SDLP	Peter O'Reilly	2,775	6.7	New
	NI Conservatives	Gilbert Chalk	1,743	4.2	―10.0
	Sinn Féin	Garret O'Fachtna	503	1.2	New
	Natural Law	Sarah Mullins	121	0.3	―0.4
Majority			5,852	14.1	―15.0
Turnout			41,619	59.5	―5.5
Registered electors			70,073
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	―7.6

Notional 1992 Election Result: Strangford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	N/A	20,473	49.0	N/A
	DUP	N/A	8,295	19.9	N/A
	Alliance	N/A	6,736	16.1	N/A
	NI Conservatives	N/A	5,945	14.2	N/A
	Others	N/A	295	0.7	N/A
Majority			12,178	29.1	N/A

General election 1992: Strangford ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John David Taylor	19,517	43.6	―32.3
	DUP	Sammy Wilson	10,606	23.7	New
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy	7,585	16.9	―3.4
	NI Conservatives	Stephen John Arthur Eyre	6,782	15.1	New
	Natural Law	David Shaw	295	0.7	New
Majority			8,911	19.9	―35.7
Turnout			44,785	65.0	+7.4
Registered electors			68,901
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Strangford ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John David Taylor	28,199	75.9	+27.1
	Alliance	Addie Morrow	7,553	20.3	+4.5
	Workers' Party	Imelda Elizabeth Hynds	1,385	3.7	New
Majority			20,646	55.6	+36.8
Turnout			37,137	57.6	―7.3
Registered electors			64,429
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

1986 Strangford by-election ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John David Taylor	32,627	94.2	+45.4
	"For the Anglo-Irish Agreement"	"Peter Barry" (Wesley Robert Williamson) [21]	1,993	5.8	New
Majority			30,634	88.4	+69.6
Turnout			34,620	55.0	―9.9
Registered electors			62,854
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1983: Strangford ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John David Taylor	19,086	48.8
	DUP	Simpson Gibson	11,716	30.0
	Alliance	Addie Morrow	6,171	15.8
	SDLP	James Curry	1,713	4.4
	Independent Labour	Samuel Raymond Heath	430	1.1
Majority			7,370	18.8
Turnout			39,116	64.9
Registered electors			60,179
	Ulster Unionist win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

References

1. "'Strangford', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
2. Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Strangford
3. Crewe, Ivor (1983). British Parliamentary Constituencies – A Statistical Companion . faber and faber. ISBN   0-571-13236-7.
4. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 National Archives
5. Iris Robinson 'to step down as MP and MLA next week' BBC News, 9 January 2010
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
7. "Strangford Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
8. "Election of a Member of Parliament for the STRANGFORD Constituency - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Electoral Office of Northern Ireland. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
9. "Election 2017 Results - Election Polling". www.electionpolling.co.uk.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland - EONI". www.eoni.org.uk.
12. "Joe Jordan and Robert Hill join Ukip in Northern Ireland". BBC News . 18 November 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
13. "Tories pick Andrews as Westminster candidate for Strangford". NI Conservatives.
14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "By-election Result". United Kingdom Election Results.
21. Nicholas Whyte (13 May 2003). "Westminster by-elections, 23 January 1986". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive . Retrieved 31 December 2016.
22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)
• Politics Resources

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