West Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

West Down
Former County Constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1972
Election method	First past the post

West Down was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

West Down was a county constituency comprising part of western County Down. It was created when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland. West Down was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one Member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

The seat included the town of Banbridge, and also certain district electoral divisions of the rural districts of Banbridge and Newry No.1.^[1]^[2]

The seat had a substantial unionist majority and was always won by Ulster Unionist Party candidates. It was contested on three occasions by independent unionists, each of whom won over 40% of the votes cast, and once by a communist candidate.^[3]

Northern Ireland 1921–72

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Northern Ireland 1921–72
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See also Fourth Home Rule Bill Constitution Act 1973
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General Election 1933: West Down^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	Samuel Fryar	6,168	55.9	N/A
	Independent Unionist	J. U. Finnery	4,863	44.1	N/A
Majority			1,305	11.8	N/A
Turnout				70.8	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1938: West Down^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	John Edgar Bailey	7,178	59.8	+3.9
	Ind. Unionist Association	R. J. Hale	4,833	40.2	N/A
Majority			2,345	19.6	+7.8
Turnout				73.4	+2.6
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1945: West Down^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	John Edgar Bailey	8,197	76.5	+16.7
	Communist (NI)	S. E. Maitland	2,524	23.5	N/A
Majority			5,673	53.0	+33.4
Turnout				66.3	-7.1
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the 1965 by-election and the Northern Ireland general election, 1965, John Dobson was elected unopposed.^[3]

General Election 1969: West Down^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	John Dobson	7,608	59.3	N/A
	Independent Unionist	A. W. Buller	5,219	40.7	N/A
Majority			2,389	18.6	N/A
Turnout				77.5	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Parliament of Northern Ireland constituencies

1921–1929	1929–1973

Antrim	Antrim Borough Bannside Carrick Larkfield (from 1969) Larne Mid Antrim Newtownabbey (from 1969) North Antrim South Antrim

Armagh	Central Armagh Mid Armagh North Armagh South Armagh

Belfast East	Belfast Bloomfield Belfast Dock Belfast Pottinger Belfast Victoria

Belfast North	Belfast Clifton Belfast Duncairn Belfast Oldpark Belfast Shankill

Belfast South	Belfast Ballynafeigh Belfast Cromac Belfast Willowfield Belfast Windsor

Belfast West	Belfast Central Belfast Falls Belfast St Anne's Belfast Woodvale

Down	Ards Bangor (from 1969) East Down Iveagh Lagan Valley (from 1969) Mid Down Mourne North Down South Down West Down

Fermanagh and Tyrone	East Tyrone Enniskillen Lisnaskea Mid Tyrone North Tyrone South Fermanagh South Tyrone West Tyrone

Londonderry	City of Londonderry Foyle Mid Londonderry North Londonderry South Londonderry

Queen's University	Queen's University (to 1969)

Parliamentary constituencies in County Down

Westminster 1801–present

Historic	Down (1801–85, 1922–50) East Down (1885–1922) Mid Down (1918–22) North Down (1885–1922, 1950—) South Down (1885–1922, 1950—) West Down (1885–1922) Downpatrick (1801–85) Newry (1801–1918)

Current	Lagan Valley (1983—) Newry & Armagh (1983—) Strangford (1983—)

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

Seats taken	(none)

Seats not taken	East Down Mid Down North Down South Down West Down

Ards (1929–72)
Bangor (1969–72)
Down (1921–29)
East Down (1929–72)
Iveagh (1929–72)
Lagan Valley (1969–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Mid Down (1929–72)
Mourne (1929–72)
North Down (1929–72)
South Down (1929–72)
West Down (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Down South Down

Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	North Down South Down Lagan Valley Newry & Armagh Strangford Upper Bann

Constituencies in Ireland by county

Republic of Ireland	Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Dublin Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow

Northern Ireland	Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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