is a
Parliamentary Constituency in the
House Of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the
Northern Ireland Assembly .
The seat was created in 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
Armagh and
South Down . It was barely changed in further revisions in
1995 and covers the entirity of the district of
Craigavon as well as part of
Banbridge .
At the time of writing the
Boundary Commission has published provisional recommendations for modifying the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to transfer two small parts of Upper Bann to
South Down and
Lagan Valley . The changes will be subject to a series of consultations and it remains to be seen whether these proposals will be upheld.
For the history of the equivalent constituencies prior to
1950 please see
Armagh (UK Parliament Constituency) and
Down (UK Parliament Constituency) and from
1950 until
1983 , please see also
South Down (UK Parliament Constituency) .
The constituency is overwhelming
Unionist , though the combined votes for
Nationalist parties have reached around 35% in elections. The
Ulster Unionist Party has traditionally been dominant though it was come under serious pressure from the
Democratic Unionist Party in recent years. The constituency contains
Portadown and
Drumcree , key locations for the
Orange Order and elections to both local councils and the
Northern Ireland Assembly have seen independent candidates standing on issues related to Orange Order parades performing well.
In
1990 the sitting MP,
Harold McCusker , died and
The Subsequent By-election was noticeable as for the first time since the early
1970s two major UK political parties stood in a Northern Ireland parliamentary election, the
Conservatives and the rump of the
Social Democratic Party . However the result was disappointing the Conservatives, whilst the SDP polled a mere 154 votes and soon folded. In that by-election
David Trimble was elected and five years later he became leader of the
Ulster Unionist Party . Trimble's leadership has come in for much criticism from the rival
Democratic Unionist Party and they have strongly targeted the area.
In the
2001 there was a strong rumour that the DUP leader
Ian Paisley would contest the seat himself, in the hope of unseating Trimble, but in the event he stayed in his
North Antrim Constituency and the DUP instead nominated
David Simpson . The campaign was amongst the most bitter in the entire province, with Trimble coming in for fierce personal attacks. He benefitted, however, from the decision of the
Alliance Party Of Northern Ireland to not contest the seat themselves but instead support them. When the results were counted Simpson was initially ahead and many believed he had won, but Trimble pulled ahead to hold the seat on a narrow majority of 2058.
In the subsequent
2003 Assembly Election the DUP were only 386 votes behind the UUP. Then in the
2005 General Election Trimble was defeated by Simpson.
The
Member Of Parliament , since the
2005 General Election , is
David Simpson of the
Democratic Unionist Party . In that election he defeated
David Trimble of the
Ulster Unionist Party who had held the seat since a
1990 By-election .
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
David Simpson
|
| |
16,679
|
| |
376
|
| |
+81
|
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
John O'Dowd
|
| |
9,305
|
| |
210
|
| |
-01
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Dolores Kelly
|
| |
5,747
|
| |
130
|
| |
-19
|
|
|
| |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
Alan Castle
|
| |
955
|
| |
22
|
| |
+22
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
355
|
| |
08
|
| |
-02
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
Ulster Unionist Party
|
| |
+81
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
David Simpson
|
| |
15,037
|
| |
295
|
| |
+180
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Dara O’Hagan
|
| |
10,771
|
| |
211
|
| |
+90
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Dolores Kelly
|
| |
7,607
|
| |
149
|
| |
-93
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
527
|
| |
10
|
| |
-01
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Bernadette O'Hagan
|
| |
5,773
|
| |
121
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
Mervyn Carrick
|
| |
5,482
|
| |
115
|
|
|
| |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
William Ramsay
|
| |
3,017
|
| |
63
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
554
|
| |
12
|
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
B Price
|
| |
433
|
| |
09
|
|
|
| |
Natural Law Party
|
| |
J Lyons
|
| |
108
|
| |
02
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Brendan Curran
|
| |
2,777
|
| |
61
|
|
|
| |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
William Ramsay
|
| |
3,017
|
| |
63
|
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Collette Jones
|
| |
1,556
|
| |
34
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
1,120
|
| |
25
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Brid Rogers
|
| |
6,698
|
| |
189
|
| |
-16
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Sheena Campbell
|
| |
2,033
|
| |
57
|
| |
-17
|
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
1,083
|
| |
31
|
| |
-16
|
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Colette Jones
|
| |
1,038
|
| |
30
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
William Ramsay
|
| |
948
|
| |
27
|
| |
-32
|
|
|
|
| |
Green Party (UK)
|
| |
Peter Doran
|
| |
576
|
| |
16
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Independent Labour
|
| |
Erskine Holmes
|
| |
235
|
| |
06
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)
|
| |
Alistair Dunn
|
| |
154
|
| |
04
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Brid Rogers
|
| |
8,676
|
| |
205
|
| |
37
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Brendan Curran
|
| |
3,126
|
| |
74
|
| |
-20
|
|
|
| |
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
Fionnuala Cook
|
| |
2,487
|
| |
59
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
2,004
|
| |
47
|
| |
-08
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
6,978
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
J McDonald
|
| |
7,807
|
| |
179
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
J Wells
|
| |
4,547
|
| |
104
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Brendan Curran
|
| |
4,110
|
| |
94
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Tom French
|
| |
2,392
|
| |
55
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
|
|
