Lagan Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

Lagan Valley is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP.

Lagan Valley
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland
Major settlementsLisburn
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentSir Jeffrey Donaldson (Democratic Unionist)
Created fromSouth Antrim, Belfast South, North Down and South Down[1]

Boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Lisburn, and the District of Castlereagh ward of Carryduff.

1997–2010: The District of Lisburn wards of Ballinderry, Ballymacash, Ballymacbrennan, Ballymacoss, Blaris, Derryaghy, Dromara, Drumbo, Dunmurry, Glenavy, Harmony Hill, Hilden, Hillhall, Hillsborough, Knockmore, Lagan Valley, Lambeg, Lisnagarvey, Maghaberry, Magheralave, Maze, Moira, Old Warren, Seymour Hill, Tonagh, and Wallace Park, and the District of Banbridge wards of Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha, and Quilly.

2010–present: The City of Lisburn wards of Ballinderry, Ballymacash, Ballymacbrennan, Ballymacoss, Blaris, Dromara, Drumbo, Harmony Hill, Hilden, Hillhall, Hillsborough, Knockmore, Lagan Valley, Lambeg, Lisnagarvey, Maghaberry, Magheralave, Maze, Moira, Old Warren, Seymour Hill, Tonagh, Wallace Park, and part of Derryaghy, and the District of Banbridge wards of Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha, and Quilly.

The seat was created in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of South Antrim and North Down. In their original proposals, in January 1980, the boundary commission proposed calling it 'Lagan'. In further revisions in 1995 it lost some areas to both Belfast West and Strangford. Currently the constituency contains most of Lisburn district and part of Banbridge district.

Following their review of all parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland prior to the 2010 United Kingdom general election the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland made alterations to Lagan Valley. In an unprecedented decision, passed by Parliament through the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order,[2] one electoral ward was split between two constituencies. This followed concerns in Derryaghy about being moved into the neighbouring West Belfast seat.

History

For the history of the equivalent constituencies prior to 1950 please see Antrim (UK Parliament constituency) and Down (UK Parliament constituency) and from 1950 until 1983, please see South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency) and North Down.

The constituency is overwhelmingly unionist and traditionally had one of the highest votes for the Ulster Unionist Party in all of Northern Ireland, due in part to the personal popularity of Jim Molyneaux. Since his retirement in 1997 the seat has been represented by Jeffrey Donaldson, who many initially saw as the rising star of the UUP. However, Donaldson had a fractious relationship with the party, which at times was reflected in the election results. In the 1998 Assembly election he was controversially and publicly blocked from standing. In that election the UUP lost votes to many fringe unionist parties. In the 2001 general election the votes for the UUP, Democratic Unionist Party and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland all remained remarkably stable compared to significant shifts elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Then in the 2003 Assembly election Donaldson was allowed to stand, despite, at this point, having resigned the UUP whip at Westminster. The UUP had their best result in the election, in part due to no candidate from either the UK Unionist Party or Northern Ireland Unionist Party defending one of the seats won in 1998. Donaldson's fractious relations with the UUP continued and the following month, he, together with fellow assembly member Norah Beare, left the party and joined the Democratic Unionist Party. In the 2005 general election he held his seat for his new party.

Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since 1997 is Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who was elected as a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but switched to the Democratic Unionist Party in 2004. He succeeded James Molyneaux who had represented the seat for the UUP since the 1983 general election and previously sat for the old South Antrim constituency which covered much of the same area.

ElectionMember[3] Party
1983 Sir James Molyneaux Ulster Unionist
1997 Sir Jeffrey Donaldson Ulster Unionist
2004 Democratic Unionist

Elections
Lagan Valley election results

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Lagan Valley[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
DUP Jeffrey Donaldson 19,586 43.1 −16.5
Alliance Sorcha Eastwood 13,087 28.8 +17.7
UUP Robbie Butler 8,606 19.0 +2.2
SDLP Ally Haydock 1,758 3.9 -3.6
Sinn Féin Gary McCleave 1,098 2.4 -1.1
NI Conservatives Gary Hynds 955 2.1 +1.1
UKIP Alan Love 315 0.7 New
Majority 6,499 14.3 −28.4
Turnout 45,405 60.0 −2.2
Registered electors 75,675
DUP hold Swing -17.1

This seat saw the largest decrease in vote share for the DUP at the 2019 general election.[5]

General election 2017: Lagan Valley[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
DUP Jeffrey Donaldson 26,762 59.6 +11.7
UUP Robbie Butler 7,533 16.8 +1.6
Alliance Aaron McIntyre 4,996 11.1 −2.8
SDLP Pat Catney 3,384 7.5 +1.2
Sinn Féin Jacqui Russell 1,567 3.5 +0.6
NI Conservatives Ian Nickels 462 1.0 −0.6
Independent Jonny Orr 222 0.5 −1.4
Majority 19,229 42.7 +10.0
Turnout 45,044 62.2 +6.3
Registered electors 72,380
DUP hold Swing +5.1
General election 2015: Lagan Valley[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
DUP Jeffrey Donaldson 19,055 47.9 −1.9
UUP Alexander Redpath 6,055 15.2 −5.9
Alliance Trevor Lunn 5,544 13.9 +2.5
SDLP Pat Catney 2,500 6.3 +1.3
UKIP Alan Love 2,200 5.5 New
TUV Samuel Morrison 1,887 4.7 −3.9
Sinn Féin Jacqui McGeough 1,144 2.9 −1.1
Independent Jonny Orr 756 1.9 New
NI Conservatives Helen Osborne 654 1.6 New
Majority 13,000 32.7 +4.0
Turnout 39,795 55.9 −0.1
Registered electors 71,152
DUP hold Swing +2.0
General election 2010: Lagan Valley[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
DUP Jeffrey Donaldson 18,199 49.8 −8.5
UCU-NF Daphne Trimble 7,713 21.1 −1.8
Alliance Trevor Lunn 4,174 11.4 +0.5
TUV Keith Harbinson 3,154 8.6 +8.6
SDLP Brian Heading 1,835 5.0 −1.1
Sinn Féin Paul Butler 1,465 4.0 −3.5
Majority 10,486 28.7 -4.5
Turnout 36,540 56.0 -4.2
Registered electors 65,257
DUP hold Swing −3.4

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: Lagan Valley[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
DUP Jeffrey Donaldson 23,289 54.7 +41.3
UUP Basil McCrea 9,172 21.5 −35.0
Alliance Seamus Close 4,316 10.1 −6.5
Sinn Féin Paul Butler 3,197 7.5 +1.6
SDLP Patricia Lewsley 2,598 6.1 −1.4
Majority 14,117 33.2 -6.7
Turnout 42,572 60.2 −3.0
Registered electors 70,238
DUP gain from UUP Swing +38.1
General election 2001: Lagan Valley[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP Jeffrey Donaldson 25,966 56.5 +1.1
Alliance Seamus Close 7,624 16.6 −0.6
DUP Edwin Poots 6,164 13.4 −0.2
SDLP Patricia Lewsley 3,462 7.5 −0.3
Sinn Féin Paul Butler 2,725 5.9 +3.4
Majority 18,342 39.9 -1.7
Turnout 45,941 63.2 +1.0
Registered electors 72,671
UUP hold Swing +0.9

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: Lagan Valley[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP Jeffrey Donaldson 24,560 55.4 −5.4
Alliance Seamus Close 7,635 17.2 +4.5
DUP Edwin Poots 6,005 13.6 New
SDLP Dolores Kelly 3,436 7.8 −1.7
NI Conservatives Stuart E. Sexton 1,212 2.7 −6.3
Sinn Féin Sue Ramsey 1,110 2.5 +0.4
Workers' Party Mrs. Frances McCarthy 203 0.5 −0.7
Natural Law Hugh Finlay 149 0.3 New
Majority 16,925 38.2 -9.9
Turnout 44,310 62.1 -5.2
Registered electors 71,341
UUP hold Swing −8.5
General election 1992: Lagan Valley[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP James Molyneaux 29,772 60.8 −9.2
Alliance Seamus Close 6,207 12.7 −1.1
SDLP Hugh Lewsley 4,626 9.5 +2.6
NI Conservatives Timothy R. Coleridge 4,423 9.0 New
Sinn Féin Patrick Joseph Rice 3,346 6.8 +0.4
Workers' Party Mrs. Ann Marie Lowry 582 1.2 −1.7
Majority 23,565 48.1 −8.1
Turnout 48,956 67.3 +2.9
Registered electors 72,645
UUP hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: Lagan Valley[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP James Molyneaux 29,101 70.0 +10.8
Alliance Seamus Close 5,728 13.8 +2.5
SDLP Billy McDonnell 2,888 6.9 +0.5
Sinn Féin Patrick Joseph Rice 2,656 6.4 +2.1
Workers' Party John Lowry 1,215 2.9 +0.9
Majority 23,373 56.2 +13.8
Turnout 41,588 64.4 -3.2
Registered electors 64,873
UUP hold Swing
1986 Lagan Valley by-election[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP James Molyneaux 32,514 90.7 +31.5
Workers' Party John Lowry 3,328 9.3 +7.3
Majority 29,186 81.4 +39.0
Turnout 35,842 57.8 -9.8
Registered electors 63,244
UUP hold Swing
General election 1983: Lagan Valley[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
UUP James Molyneaux 24,017 59.2 N/A
DUP William John Beattie 6,801 16.8 N/A
Alliance Seamus Close 4,593 11.3 N/A
SDLP Cormac Joseph Boomer 2,603 6.4 N/A
Sinn Féin Richard McAuley 1,751 4.3 N/A
Workers' Party Gerard Loughlin 809 2.0 N/A
Majority 17,216 42.4 N/A
Turnout 40,574 67.6 N/A
Registered electors 60,051
UUP win (new seat)
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See also
  • List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

References
  1. "'Lagan Valley', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
  4. "Lagan Valley Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  5. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
  6. "Election of a Member of Parliament for the LAGAN VALLEY Constituency - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Electoral Office of Northern Ireland. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  7. "Lagan Valley parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland - EONI". www.eoni.org.uk.
  9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. "By-election Result". United Kingdom Election Results.
  17. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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