List of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland explained

Northern Ireland is divided into 18 parliamentary constituencies: 4 borough constituencies in Belfast and 14 county constituencies elsewhere. Section 33 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 provides that the constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly are the same as the constituencies that are used for the United Kingdom Parliament.^[1] Parliamentary constituencies are not used for local government, which is instead carried out by 11 district councils; these often have different boundaries.

Constituencies

Each constituency returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons at Westminster and five Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. Six MLAs were returned per constituency until the Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 reduced the number to five, effective from the 2017 Assembly election.^[2]

• Belfast East
• Belfast North
• Belfast South and Mid Down
• Belfast West
• East Antrim
• East Londonderry
• Fermanagh and South Tyrone
• Foyle
• Lagan Valley
• Mid Ulster
• Newry and Armagh
• North Antrim
• North Down
• South Antrim
• South Down
• Strangford
• Upper Bann
• West Tyrone

2024 general election

Name^[3]	Electorate^[4]	Majority^[5]	Member of Parliament	Unionist %	Nationalist %	Other %	Map
Belfast East BC	72,917	2,676		Gavin Robinson	55.4	1.4	43.2
Belfast North BC	74,240	5,612	bgcolor=		John Finucane	36.9	49.5	13.6
Belfast South & Mid Down BC	74,749	12,506			27.0	49.1	23.9
Belfast West BC	75,346	15,961	bgcolor=		Paul Maskey	17.1	78.8	4.2
East Antrim CC	73,302	1,306		Sammy Wilson	63.2	9.7	27.0
East Londonderry CC	75,707	179		Gregory Campbell	47.3	42.6	10.1
Fermanagh & South Tyrone CC	77,828	4,571	bgcolor=		Pat Cullen	39.7	54.3	5.9
Foyle CC	73,496	4,166		Colum Eastwood	13.9	78.8	7.3
Lagan Valley CC	82,201	2,959		Sorcha Eastwood	59.1	2.1	38.8
Mid Ulster CC	74,000	14,923	bgcolor=		Cathal Mallaghan	31.8	63.5	4.8
Newry & Armagh CC	78,244	15,493	bgcolor=		Dáire Hughes	28.8	65.2	5.9
North Antrim CC	74,697	450		Jim Allister	65.0	23.8	11.2
North Down CC	73,885	7,305		Alex Easton	63.9	1.5	34.6
South Antrim CC	77,058	7,512		Robin Swann	64.8	23.3	12.0
South Down CC	76,248	9,280	bgcolor=		Chris Hazzard	23.6	68.3	8.0
Strangford CC	74,525	5,131		Jim Shannon	58.6	11.8	29.7
Upper Bann CC	81,249	7,406		Carla Lockhart	53.4	33.3	13.3
West Tyrone CC	74,269	15,917	bgcolor=		Órfhlaith Begley	27.6	67.1	5.2

Historical representation by party

Where a cell is marked → (with a different colour of frame to the preceding cell) it indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party affiliation. Changes are dated in the header row: either a general election (four-figure year, bold, link) or by-election or change in affiliation (two-figure year, italic, link or details appear on hover).

1801 to 1832 (22 MPs)

Antrim

Constituency	1801	1802	1806	07	1807	1812	14	16	1818	19	1820	22	1826	1830	1831
Antrim	Staples	O'Neill
	MacNaghten					F. Seymour-Conway			H. H. Seymour			R. Seymour-Conway	MacNaghten	G. Chichester	→
Belfast	J. May						S. May	Michel	A. Chichester		G. Chichester			A. Chichester
Carrickfergus	Dalway	S. Chichester		Craig		A. Chichester			G. Chichester		A. Chichester			Hill
Lisburn	Hatton	F. Seymour-Conway				Moore			Foster	H. B. Seymour			Meynell

Londonderry

Constituency	1801	01	1802	1806	07	1807	09	1812			15	1818	1820	23	1826	1830	1831	31
Coleraine	W. Jones				W. Jones		J. Beresford	G. Beresford	J. Beresford					Brydges				Copeland
Londonderry City	Alexander		Hill													Ferguson
County Londonderry	C. Stewart									A. Stewart		A. R. Stewart				T. Jones
	vacant	Hill	G. Beresford					Ponsonby			Dawson					Bateson

* Sir George Hill, 2nd Baronet, was elected to sit as MP for both Coleraine and Londonderry City in the 1806 general election and chose to continue to sit for Londonderry City, hence the 1807 by-election, in which Walter Jones was restored to his seat.

Tyrone

Constituency	1801	01	02	1802	03	1806	07	1807	09	1812	1818	1820	25	1826	1830	1831
Dungannon	J. Knox	C. Hamilton			C. Hamilton				Scott	Holford	T. Knox jnr				J. J. Knox
Tyrone	Lowry-Corry		John Stewart			T. Knox snr				John Stewart			H. Lowry-Corry
	James Stewart										W. Stewart				H. Stewart

* At both the 1802 and 1806 elections, George Knox was returned for both Dungannon and Dublin University and chose to sit for the university seat.

Armagh

Constituency	1801	1802	1806	1807	1812	15	16	1818	19	1820	1826	1830	1831	31
Armagh	Duigenan						Webber	Foster		Stuart	Goulburn		Chetwynd-Talbot	Brydges
County Armagh	Acheson snr			Richardson						Caulfeild		Acheson jnr
	Cope	Caulfeild		W Brownlow		Caulfeild		C Brownlow
Newry	Moore	Corry	F Needham						FJ Needham		Knox

* Charles Brownlow was initially elected as a Tory but at some point changed his affiliation to sit with the Whigs.

Down

Constituency	1801	01	1802	05	1806	1807	12	1812	15	17	1818	1820	21	1826	1830	1831
Down	R Stewart			Meade						Hill
	Savage					Ward	R Stewart						Forde	F Stewart
Downpatrick	C Rowley	SC Rowley	Hawthorne		Ruthven	Croker		Hawthorne	Annesley			Maxwell			Ruthven

* The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith suggests that after the 1806 election there was a petition, which led to Edward Southwell Ruthven (Whig) being unseated and John Wilson Croker (Tory) being declared duly elected. Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by BM Walker, does not make any reference to such a petition.

Fermanagh

Constituency	1801	1802	02	03	06	06	1806	07	1807	1812	1818	1820	23	1826	28	1830	1831
Enniskillen	Hamilton	Beresford	Burroughs		King	Fremantle	Sneyd	Bennet	Pochin	Magenis					AH Cole
Fermanagh	Archdall snr	Archdall jnr
	JW Cole			GL Cole									Lowry-Corry

1832 to 1885 (29 MPs)

Antrim

Constituency	1832	1835	35	1837	38	41	1841	45	45	1847	52	1852	52	53	1857
Antrim	J. O'Neill					Alexander						E. Pakenham
	G. Chichester			Irving					H. B. Seymour	E. C. Macnaghten		Macartney
Belfast	A. Chichester	McCance	Dunbar	Gibson	J. Tennent					R. Tennent		Davison
	J. Tennent	→		G. Chichester	Dunbar		Johnson	A. Chichester		→		Cairns
Carrickfergus	C. Dobbs	Kirk								Stapleton-Cotton					W. Dobbs
Lisburn	Meynell									H. B. Seymour	J. Tennent		Smyth	Richardson

Constituency	1859	60	63	63	1865	66	1868	69	73	1874	78	1880	85
Antrim	T. Pakenham				G. H. Seymour			H. Seymour		Chaine			Sinclair
	Upton		E. O'Neill									E. MacNaghten
Belfast	Davison	Getty					Johnston				Ewart
	Cairns					Lanyon	McClure			Corry
Carrickfergus	Torrens						Dalway					Greer
Lisburn	Richardson		Barbour	Verner					Wallace

Londonderry

Constituency	1832	33	1835	1837	1841	42	43	44	1847	52	1852	1857	57
Coleraine	Beresford	Copeland		Litton			Boyd			Naas		Boyd
Londonderry City	Ferguson
County Londonderry	Jones												Greer
	R. Bateson					R. Bateson jnr		T. Bateson				Clark

Constituency	1859	60	62	1865	1868	72	1874	78	1880	81	84
Coleraine	Boyd		Bruce				Taylor		Bruce
Londonderry City	Ferguson	McCormick		Hamilton	Dowse	Lewis
County Londonderry	Dawson						Smyth	McClure
	Heygate						Law			Porter	Walker

*unseated on petition

Tyrone

Constituency	1832	1835	1837	38	39	1841	1847	51	1852	1857	1859	1865	1868	73	1874	1880	80	81
Dungannon	J. Knox		T. Knox	T. Knox jnr				W. Knox							T. Dickson		J. Dickson
Tyrone	H. T. Lowry Corry						→		→					H. W. Lowry Corry		Litton		T. Dickson
	Stewart	Hamilton	Alexander		Hamilton		→		→						Ellison-Macartney

Armagh

Constituency	1832	1835	1837	40	1841	1847	51	1852	55	1857	1859	64	1865	67	1868	71	73	1874	75	1880
Armagh	Dobbin		Curry	Rawdon				Moore	Bond	Miller	Bond		Miller	Vance					Beresford
County Armagh	Acheson					Caulfeild				Close		Stronge						Close
	Verner														W. Verner jnr		E. Verner			Richardson
Newry	Hill	Brady	Ellis		F. J. Needham	→	Hallewell	Kirk			Quinn		Innes		Kirk	F. C. Needham		Whitworth		Thomson

Down

Constituency	1832	1835	36	1837	1841	45	1847	51	1852	1857	1859	1865	67	1868	1874	78	1880	84
Down	A. M. Hill		A. W. B. Hill			Hill-Trevor											A. W. Hill
	Stewart								D. S. Ker	Forde					Crawford	Vane-Tempest-Stewart		R. W. Ker
Downpatrick	Maxwell	D. Ker			D. S. Ker		R. Ker	Hardinge		R. Ker	D. S. Ker		Keown		Mulholland

Fermanagh

Constituency	1832	34	1835	1837	40	1841	44	1847	51	1852	54	1857	59	1859	1865	1868	1874	1880
Enniskillen	A. Cole						H. Cole		Whiteside				J. Cole			Crichton		L. Cole
Fermanagh	Archdall	M. Archdale															W. Archdale
	W. Cole				Brooke						H. Cole							Crichton

1885 to 1918 (25 MPs)

Antrim

Constituency	1885	1886	87	1892	1895	99	1900	03	1906	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	13	15
East Antrim	J. McCalmont	→										R. McCalmont
Mid Antrim	R. O'Neill	→								A. O'Neill			H. O'Neill
North Antrim	Macnaghten	→	Lewis	Connor	H. McCalmont	Moore			Glendinning	Kerr-Smiley
South Antrim	Ellison-Macartney	→						Craig

Armagh

Constituency	1885	86	1886	91	1892	1895	00	1900	1906	06	09	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	17	18
Mid Armagh	McKane	Corry	→	Barton			Lonsdale								Lonsdale
North Armagh	Saunderson		→							Moore				Allen
South Armagh	Blane				McHugh			J. Campbell	McKillop		O'Neill				Donnelly

Belfast

Constituency	1885	1886	89		92	1892	1895	96	1900	02	05	1906	07	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	14	Apr 17	Jul 17
Belfast East	de Cobain	→			Wolff										McMordie	Sharman-Crawford
Belfast North	Ewart		Harland		→			Haslett			Dixon		Clark	Thompson
Belfast South	Johnston	→			→					Sloan				Chambers				Lindsay
Belfast West	Haslett	Sexton		→		Arnold-Forster						Devlin

Down

Constituency	1885	1886	90	1892	1895		1900	02	05	1906	07	08	Jan 1910	10	Dec 1910
East Down	Ker	→	Rentoul					Wood		Craig
North Down	Waring	→				Blakiston-Houston	Corbett							Mitchell-Thomson
South Down	Small	McCartan		→			→	McVeagh
West Down	A. W. Hill	→				A. Hill			Liddell		A. W. Hill	MacCaw
Newry	J. H. McCarthy			Carvill			→			Mooney

Fermanagh

Constituency	1885	1886	1892	1895	98	1900	03	1906	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	16
North Fermanagh	Redmond		Dane		Archdale		Mitchell	Fetherstonhaugh			Archdale
South Fermanagh	H. Campbell		McGilligan	Jordan		→				Crumley

Londonderry

Constituency	1885	1886		1892	1895	99	1900	1906	Jan 1910	Dec 1910		13	14	16
Londonderry City	Lewis	J. McCarthy		Ross	Knox	Moore	Hamilton					Hogg	Dougherty
North Londonderry	Mulholland		→		Atkinson			Barrie
South Londonderry	Healy	Lea					Gordon				→			Henry

Tyrone

Constituency	1885	1886			1892	1895	1900	02	1906	06	07	Jan 1910	Dec 1910	11	16	18
East Tyrone	Reynolds		→			Doogan	→			Kettle			Redmond			Harbison
Mid Tyrone	Kenny			→		Murnaghan	→					Brunskill	McGhee
North Tyrone	E. Hamilton				F. Hamilton	Hemphill			Dodd		Barry			Russell
South Tyrone	O'Brien	Russell						→			→	Horner			Coote

1918 to 1922 (30 MPs)

Constituency	1918	19	19			21	22		22	22
East Antrim	R McCalmont		Hanna
Mid Antrim	H O'Neill
North Antrim	Kerr-Smiley
South Antrim	Craig
Mid Armagh	Lonsdale			Armstrong
North Armagh	Allen
South Armagh	Donnelly
Belfast Pottinger	Dixon
Belfast Duncairn	Carson			McConnell
Belfast Cromac	Lindsay
Belfast Falls	Devlin
Belfast Ormeau	Moles
Belfast Shankill	McGuffin
Belfast St Anne's	Burn
Belfast Victoria	Donald
Belfast Woodvale	Lynn
Queen's University	Whitla
Constituency	1918	19	19			21	22		22	22
East Down	Reid
North Down	Brown							H Wilson		Simms
South Down	McVeagh
West Down	D Wilson				Wallace			Hayes
Mid Down	Craig					Sharman-Crawford
North Fermanagh	Archdale
South Fermanagh	O'Μahony
Londonderry City	MacNeill
North Londonderry	Anderson	Barrie							Macnaghten
South Londonderry	Henry					Chichester	Pain
Tyrone North-East	Harbison
Tyrone North-West	Griffith
South Tyrone	Coote
Constituency	1918	19	19			21	22		22	22

1922 to 1950 (13 MPs)

Constituency	1922	1923	1924	29	1929		1931	34	1935		39	40	43		1945		48
Antrim (Two members)	Craig				McConnell								Campbell		Haughton
	O'Neill
Armagh	Allen																Harden
Belfast East	Dixon											Harland			Cole
Belfast North	McConnell				Somerset										Neill
Belfast South	Moles				Stewart					→					Gage
Belfast West	Lynn				Allen	→	Browne						Beattie	→		→		→
Down (Two members)	Reid										Little				→	Mullan
	Simms						Vane-Tempest-Stewart								Smiles
Fermanagh and Tyrone (Two members)	Harbison		Pringle		Harbison	Healy			Cunningham
	Healy		Falls		Devlin			Stewart	Mulvey
Londonderry	Macnaghten			Ross
Queen's University of Belfast	Whitla	Sinclair										Savory

1950 to 1983 (12 MPs)

Periodic boundary reviews commenced in 1947.^{[6] [7]} The elections at which these were implemented are tagged with diamond suit characters, ♦.

The 1st Periodic Review boundary map can be viewed on the ARK elections website. Changes in the 2nd review were relatively minor.^[8]

Constituency	1950 ♦	51	1951	52	53	54	1955		59	1959	63	1964	1966	69	1970					Feb 1974 ♦	Oct 1974				1979		81	81
Antrim N	H. O'Neill				P. O'Neill					Clark					Paisley		→
Antrim S	Savory						Cunningham								Molyneaux
Armagh	Harden					Armstrong				Maginnis										McCusker
Belfast E	McKibbin								McMaster											Craig				→	Robinson
Belfast N	Hyde									Mills								→	→	Carson					McQuade
Belfast S	Gage			Campbell							Pounder									Bradford			→					Smyth
Belfast W	Teevan^3		Beattie				McLaughlin					Kilfedder	Fitt			→										→
Down N	Smiles				Ford		Currie								Kilfedder								→			→
Down S	Orr																				Powell
Ferm. & S Tyr.	Healy						Grosvenor^1					Hamilton			McManus					West	Maguire						Sands	Carron	→
Londonderry	Ross	Wellwood					Chichester-Clark													Ross
Mid Ulster	Mulvey		O'Neill				Forrest^2	→						Devlin		→				Dunlop		→

Notes:

1. The constituency was won by Philip Clarke of Sinn Féin, but he was unseated on petition on the basis that his criminal conviction (for Irish Republican Army activity) made him ineligible. Instead, the seat was awarded to the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate.
2. The seat was originally won by Tom Mitchell of Sinn Féin, but Mitchell was subsequently unseated upon petition, on the grounds that his terrorist convictions made him ineligible to sit in Parliament. The seat was awarded to Charles Beattie of the UUP. However, Beattie in turn was also found ineligible to sit due to holding an office of profit under the crown, triggering a further by-election.
3. Original winner of the 1950 election in that seat, James Godfrey MacManaway (UUP), disqualified due to being a clergyman. Teevan won the subsequent by-election

1983 to present (17, then 18 MPs)

3rd and 4th Review boundary maps can be viewed on the ARK elections website: 1983, 1997.

Constituency	1983 ♦	86	1987	90	1992	95	1997 ♦	00	2001		2005		2010 ♦	11	13	2015	2017	18	2019		2024 ♦
Belfast East	P Robinson												Long			G Robinson
Belfast North	Walker								Dodds										Finucane
Belfast South	Smyth^1										McDonnell						Pengelly		Hanna
Belfast South & Mid Down																					Hanna
Belfast West	Adams				Hendron		Adams							Maskey
East Antrim	Beggs										Wilson
East Londonderry	Ross								Campbell
Fermanagh & South Tyrone	Maginnis								Gildernew							Elliott	Gildernew				Cullen
Foyle	Hume										Durkan						McCallion		C Eastwood
Lagan Valley	Molyneaux						Donaldson			→										→	S Eastwood
Mid Ulster	McCrea						McGuinness								Molloy						Mallaghan
Newry & Armagh	Nicholson	Mallon									Murphy					Brady					Hughes
North Antrim	Paisley												Paisley Jr^1								Allister
North Down	Kilfedder					McCartney			Hermon			→							Farry		Easton
South Antrim	Forsythe							McCrea	Burnside		McCrea					Kinahan	Girvan				Swann
South Down	Powell		McGrady										Ritchie				Hazzard
Strangford	Taylor								I Robinson				Shannon
Upper Bann	McCusker			Trimble							Simpson								Lockhart
West Tyrone							Thompson		Doherty								McElduff	Begley

¹Paisley Jr was suspended from the DUP between July and November 2018.

Boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021. In accordance with the provisions of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, the number of constituencies allocated to Northern Ireland was unchanged, at 18.^[9] Initial proposals were published on 20 October 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 17 November 2022. Final recommendations were published on 28 June 2023.^[10]

Under the recommendations, the following constituencies for Northern Ireland came into effect at the 2024 general election:^[11]

Constituency	Electorate	Previous electorate^[12]
Belfast East BC	70,076	66,273
Belfast North BC	71,372	72,332
Belfast South and Mid Down BC	71,978	70,134 (former Belfast South constituency)
Belfast West BC	71,921	65,761
East Antrim CC	69,936	64,907
East Londonderry CC	72,213	69,359
Fermanagh and South Tyrone CC	74,643	72,945
Foyle CC	69,890	74,431
Lagan Valley CC	76,332	75,884
Mid Ulster CC	70,094	70,501
Newry and Armagh CC	74,585	81,329
North Antrim CC	71,165	77,156
North Down CC	70,412	67,109
South Antrim CC	71,646	71,915
South Down CC	71,772	79,295
Strangford CC	70,070	66,990
Upper Bann CC	76,969	83,028
West Tyrone CC	70,614	66,339

Belfast South and Mid Down is a new constituency, replacing the former Belfast South constituency which had a much smaller area. All of the others have undergone boundary changes, primarily to bring the electorate within the range of 69,724 to 77,062 as required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (as amended in 2020).

See also

• Politics of Northern Ireland

External links

• List of changes to constituency boundaries: section 6 of Parliamentary constituency boundaries: the Fifth Periodical Review House of Commons Library

Notes and References

1. Web site: FAQs. Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. 10 April 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140401011540/http://www.boundarycommission.org.uk/index/current-review/faqs.htm. 1 April 2014.
2. Web site: Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. 4 March 2017.
3. BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
4. Web site: Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis . Second . 29 January 2019 . 7 April 2018 . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191112183438/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf . 12 November 2019.
5. The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
6. Web site: Uberoi . Elise . White . Isobel . Constituency boundary reviews and the number of MPs . 25 February 2016.
7. Web site: White . Isobel . Parliamentary constituency boundaries: the Fifth Periodical Review . 28 July 2010.
8. Web site: Westminster election February 1974. Whyte. Dr Nicholas. www.ark.ac.uk. 8 April 2018.
9. Web site: 27 May 2021 . Guide to the 2023 Review . 9 December 2022 . Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland . en.
10. News: Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Publishes Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies . 30 June 2023 . Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland . 28 June 2023.
11. Web site: 28 June 2023 . Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - PDF . 30 June 2023 . Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland . 97–114.
12. Book: Humphreys . Michael . Havlin . Sarah . Patterson . Vilma . 28 June 2023 . Final Recommendations Report of the 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies . Belfast . Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland . 14 . 978-1-5286-4069-5 . 3 August 2024 .