Belfast St Anne's (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
# Belfast St Anne's (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°35′13″N 5°57′22″W﻿ / ﻿54.587°N 5.956°W﻿ / 54.587; -5.956

Belfast St Anne's was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

## Boundaries

Belfast St Anne's was a borough constituency comprising part of south-western Belfast. It was created in 1929 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.

Belfast St Anne's was created by the division of Belfast West into four 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 constituency contained areas between the current Lisburn Road and Falls Road and consisted of the former St George's ward and most of the former St Anne's ward - although unusually it did not include the eponymous cathedral which was in Belfast Central.

The constituency is now part of Belfast South and Belfast West.

## Politics

The constituency was solidly unionist and always elected Ulster Unionist Party Members of Parliament, but was usually contested by labour movement candidates who sometimes polled well.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| - | - | - |
| 1929 | James Hanna McCormick | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1938 | Edmond Warnock | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1969 | Norman Laird | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1970(b) | John Laird | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1973 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |

## Election results

General Election 1929: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | James Hanna McCormick | 6,686 | 47.2 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Philip James Woods | 5,273 | 37.2 |
| | Local Option | Emily Moffat Clow | 2,209 | 15.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,413 | 10.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,168 | 71.5 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | |

General Election 1933: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | James Hanna McCormick | 9,533 | 71.6 | +23.4 |
| | NI Labour | William John Donaldson | 3,790 | 28.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,743 | 43.2 | +33.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,323 | 59.3 | -12.2 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General Election 1938: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Edmond Warnock | 11,183 | 68.4 | -3.2 |
| | Progressive Unionist | J. D. Wallace | 5,172 | 31.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,011 | 36.8 | -7.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,355 | 66.7 | +7.4 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General Election 1945: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Edmond Warnock | 10,119 | 56.9 | -11.5 |
| | NI Labour | Joseph Lowden | 7,674 | 43.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,445 | 13.8 | -23.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,793 | 66.7 | 0.0 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General Election 1949: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Edmond Warnock | 15,312 | 76.1 | +19.2 |
| | NI Labour | Robert S. Thompson | 4,811 | 23.9 | -19.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,501 | 52.2 | +38.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,123 | 75.4 | +8.7 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

    At the 1953 and 1958 general elections, Edmond Warnock was elected unopposed.

General Election 1962: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Edmond Warnock | 8,940 | 60.6 | N/A |
| | NI Labour | A. Holmes | 5,807 | 39.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,133 | 21.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,747 | 64.8 | N/A |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |

General Election 1965: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Edmond Warnock | 7,316 | 62.9 | +2.3 |
| | NI Labour | William Victor Blease | 4,312 | 37.1 | -2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,004 | 25.8 | +4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,628 | 53.3 | -11.5 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | | |

General Election 1969: Belfast St Anne's :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | Norman Laird | 7,126 | 53.0 | -9.9 |
| | Ind. Unionist | William McKee | 4,183 | 31.1 | New |
| | National Democratic | John D. Murphy | 2,136 | 15.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,943 | 21.9 | -3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,445 | 70.6 | +17.3 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | | |

Belfast St Anne's by-election, 1970 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Ulster Unionist | John Laird | 8,204 | 68.8 | +15.8 |
| | SDLP | Gerald Malachy Lavery | 2,881 | 24.2 | New |
| | NI Labour | William Ritchie | 836 | 7.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,323 | 44.6 | +22.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,921 | 59.0 | -11.6 |
| | Ulster Unionist hold | Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | | |
