54°30′18″N 6°03′58″W / 54.505°N 6.066°W / 54.505; -6.066

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South Antrim
Former County constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
South Antrim shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1972
Election method	First past the post

South Antrim was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections for 48 single-member constituencies (including Antrim South).

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency was one of seven county divisions in County Antrim from 1929, and, after 1969, one of nine. The changes in the vicinity of Belfast affected the boundaries of this division.

It comprised (in terms of then local government units) part of the rural district of Lisburn and the whole of the urban district of Lisburn. In 1969, the part of the rural district closest to Belfast became the new seat of Antrim, Larkfield.

Antrim South returned one member of Parliament from 1929 until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

Politics

County Antrim (except for parts of Belfast) is a strongly unionist area. There was never the slightest chance of a republican or nationalist candidate being elected in a single-member Antrim county constituency. Antrim South was not an exception.

From the Northern Ireland general election of 1929, the Antrim South division was an extremely safe Unionist seat for the rest of the existence of the Northern Ireland Parliament.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1929	John Milne Barbour	Ulster Unionist
	1951	Brian McConnell	Ulster Unionist
	1968	Richard Ferguson	Ulster Unionist
	1970	Rev. William Beattie	Protestant Unionist
	1971	Rev. William Beattie	Democratic Unionist
1973		constituency abolished

Elections

Politics of Northern Ireland
(1921–72)


Government Governor Privy Council Ministries Prime Minister Craigavon ministry Andrews ministry Brookeborough ministry O'Neill ministry Chichester-Clark ministry Faulkner ministry Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments
Parliament Acts Statutory rules and orders Senate Speaker of the Senate Leader of the Senate House of Commons Speaker Leader of the Opposition Members 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 Senate
Elections Elections in Northern Ireland 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 By-elections Constituencies Political parties
See also Fourth Home Rule Bill Constitution Act 1973
Other countries
v t e

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

General Election 22 May 1929: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Milne Barbour	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist win (new seat)

General Election 30 November 1933: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Milne Barbour	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 9 February 1938: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Milne Barbour	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 14 June 1945: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Milne Barbour	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 10 February 1949: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Milne Barbour	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Death of Barbour

South Antrim by-election, 1951
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McConnell	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 22 October 1953: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McConnell	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 20 March 1958: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McConnell	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 31 May 1962: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McConnell	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 25 November 1965: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Brian McConnell	14,491	77.89	N/A
	NI Labour	Sydney Stewart	4,113	22.11	New
Majority			10,378	55.78	N/A
Turnout			34,419	54.05	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Resignation of McConnell

South Antrim by-election, 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Richard Ferguson	16,288	85.12	+7.23
	NI Labour	John Coulthard	2,848	14.88	-7.23
Majority			13,440	70.24	+14.46
Turnout			38,672	49.48	-4.57
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Boundary change

General Election 24 February 1969: Antrim South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Richard Ferguson	10,761	66.74	-18.38
	Protestant Unionist	William Beattie	5,362	33.26	New
Majority			5,399	33.48	-36.75
Turnout			24,693	65.29	+15.81
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Resignation of Ferguson

South Antrim by-election, 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Protestant Unionist	William Beattie	7,137	35.16	+1.90
	Ulster Unionist	W. J. Morgan	6,179	30.44	-36.30
	Independent	David Corkey	5,212	25.67	New
	NI Labour	Adrian Whitby	1,773	8.73	New
Majority			958	4.72	N/A
Turnout			28,633	70.90	+5.61
	Protestant Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing	N/A

Parliament prorogued 30 March 1972 and abolished 18 July 1973

References

Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-1972, compiled and edited by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)

v t e 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 Antrim and the city of Belfast

Parliament of Ireland
to 1800

County Antrim (???–1800)
Antrim (1666–1800)
Belfast (1613–1800)
Carrickfergus (1326–1800)
Lisburn (1661–1800)
Randalstown (???–1800)

Westminster 1801–present

Historic

Antrim (1801–85, 1922–50)
Mid Antrim (1885–1922)
Belfast (1801–85)
Belfast Cromac (1918–22)
Belfast Duncairn (1918–22)
Belfast Falls (1918–22)
Belfast Ormeau (1918–22)
Belfast Pottinger (1918–22)
Belfast Shankill (1918–22)
Belfast St Anne's (1918–22)
Belfast Victoria (1918–22)
Belfast Woodvale (1918–22)
Carrickfergus (1801–85)
Lisburn (1801–85)
Queen's University of Belfast (1918–50)

Current

East Antrim (1885–1922, 1983—)
North Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
South Antrim (1885–1922, 1950—)
Belfast East (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast North (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast South (1885–1918, 1922—)
Belfast West (1885–1918, 1922—)
Lagan Valley 1983—

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

First Dáil
1919–21

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast Cromac Belfast Duncairn Belfast Falls Belfast Ormeau Belfast Pottinger Belfast St Anne's Belfast Shankill Belfast Victoria Belfast Woodvale Queen's University of Belfast

Second Dáil
1921–22

Seats taken	(none)
No seats taken	Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Queen's University of Belfast

Parliament of Northern Ireland
1921–72

1921–29

Antrim (1921–29)
Belfast East (1921–29)
Belfast North (1921–29)
Belfast South (1921–29)
West Belfast (1921–29)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)

1929–72

Bannside (1929–72)
Belfast Ballynafeigh (1929–72)
Belfast Bloomfield (1929–72)
Belfast Central (1929–72)
Belfast Clifton (1929–72)
Belfast Cromac (1929–72)
Belfast Dock (1929–72)
Belfast Duncairn (1929–72)
Belfast Falls (1929–72)
Belfast Oldpark (1929–72)
Belfast Pottinger (1929–72)
Belfast Shankill (1929–72)
Belfast St Anne's (1929–72)
Belfast Victoria (1929–72)
Belfast Willowfield (1929–72)
Belfast Windsor (1929–72)
Belfast Woodvale (1929–72)
Carrick (1929–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Larne (1929–72)
Mid Antrim (1929–72)
Newtownabbey (1969–72)
North Antrim (1929–72)
Queen's University of Belfast (1921–69)
South Antrim (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West
Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	East Antrim North Antrim South Antrim Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West Lagan Valley

European Parliament
1979–2020

Northern Ireland

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