Lagan Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Lagan Valley


Type = County
Entity = Northern Ireland
DivisionType = Districts
Division = Lisburn, Banbridge
Year = 1983
MP = Jeffrey Donaldson
Party = Democratic Unionist
EP = Northern Ireland

Lagan Valley is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Boundaries

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 light of representations that the Lagan was a dirty polluted river but that the Lagan Valley was a stretch of attractive countryside, the current name was adopted. 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.

Boundary changes

Following their review of all parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland, the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland have made some alterations to Lagan Valley which will be effective from the next UK general election. In an unprecedented decision, passed by Parliament through the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/ukdsi_9780110813172_en_1 OPSI SI] ] , one electoral ward will be split between two constituencies. This follows concerns in Derryaghy about being moved into the neighbouring West Belfast seat.

The areas making up the modified Lagan Valley seat are;
* From Lisburn City government area; 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, and Wallace Park. The area of Derryaghy to the south and east of its boundary with Lagmore is also within this seat.
* Dromore North, Dromore South, Gransha, and Quilly, from the Banbridge district

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 (UK Parliament constituency).

The constituency is overwhelmingly unionist and has 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 James 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 has been 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 steady compared to significant shifts elsewhere in the province. 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 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.

* "Constituency created" (1983)
* 1983 — 1997: James Molyneaux, Ulster Unionist
* 1997 — "present": Jeffrey Donaldson, Ulster Unionist until 2004, then Democratic Unionist

Elections

Election box begin
title=General Election 2005: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Jeffrey Donaldson
votes = 23,289
percentage = 54.7
change = +41.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Basil McCrea
votes = 9,172
percentage = 21.5
change = -35.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 4,316
percentage = 10.1
change = -6.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Paul Butler
votes = 3,197
percentage = 7.5
change = +1.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Patricia Lewsley
votes = 2,598
percentage = 6.1
change = -1.4Election box majority
votes = 14,117
percentage = 33.2
change =Election box turnout
votes = 42,572
percentage = 60.2
change = -3.0Election box gain with party link
winner = Democratic Unionist Party
loser = Ulster Unionist Party
swing = +38.1

Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jeffrey Donaldson
votes = 25,966
percentage = 56.5
change = +1.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 7,624
percentage = 16.6
change = -0.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Edwin Poots
votes = 6,164
percentage = 13.4
change = -0.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Patricia Lewsley
votes = 3,462
percentage = 7.5
change = -0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Paul Butler
votes = 2,725
percentage = 5.9
change = +3.4Election box majority
votes = 18,342
percentage = 39.9
change = Election box turnout
votes = 45,941
percentage = 63.2
change = +1.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1997: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jeffrey Donaldson
votes = 24,560
percentage = 55.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 7,635
percentage = 17.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = Edwin Poots
votes = 6,005
percentage = 13.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Dolores Kelly
votes = 3,436
percentage = 7.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Stuart Sexton
votes = 1,212
percentage = 2.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Sue Ramsey
votes = 1,110
percentage = 2.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Frances McCarthy
votes = 203
percentage = 0.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Natural Law Party
candidate = Hugh Finlay
votes = 149
percentage = 0.3
change = Election box majority
votes = 16,925
percentage = 38.2
change = Election box turnout
votes = 44,310
percentage = 62.2
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1992: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jim Molyneaux
votes = 29,772
percentage = 60.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 6,207
percentage = 12.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Hugh Lewsley
votes = 4,626
percentage = 9.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservatives in Northern Ireland
candidate = Timothy Coleridge
votes = 4,423
percentage = 9.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Patrick Rice
votes = 3,346
percentage = 6.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Ann Marie Lowry
votes = 582
percentage = 1.2
change = Election box majority
votes = 23,565
percentage = 48.1
change = Election box turnout
votes = 48,956
percentage = 67.3
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1987: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jim Molyneaux
votes = 29,101
percentage = 70.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 5,728
percentage = 13.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Billy McDonnell
votes = 2,888
percentage = 6.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Patrick Rice
votes = 2,656
percentage = 6.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = John Lowry
votes = 1,215
percentage = 2.9
change = Election box majority
votes = 23,373
percentage = 56.2
change = Election box turnout
votes = 41,588
percentage = 64.4
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jim Molyneaux
votes = 32,514
percentage = 90.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = John Lowry
votes = 3,328
percentage = 9.3
change = Election box majority
votes = 29,186
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 57.8
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

Election box begin
title=General Election 1983: Lagan ValleyElection box candidate with party link
party = Ulster Unionist Party
candidate = Jim Molyneaux
votes = 24,017
percentage = 59.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Unionist Party
candidate = William Beattie
votes = 6,801
percentage = 16.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
candidate = Seamus Close
votes = 4,593
percentage = 11.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Social Democratic and Labour Party
candidate = Cormac Boomer
votes = 2,603
percentage = 6.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Sinn Féin
candidate = Richard McAuley
votes = 1,751
percentage = 4.3
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Workers Party (Ireland)
candidate = Gerard Loughlin
votes = 809
percentage = 2.0
change = Election box majority
votes = 17,216
percentage = 42.4
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 67.6
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Ulster Unionist Party
swing =

References

See also

* [http://www.laganvalleydup.co.uk Jonathan Craig MLA - Lagan Valley DUP]
* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland