is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House Of Commons . It has always elected various brands of Unionist MPs.
The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the east section of Belfast and also contains part of the district of Castlereagh .
At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to expand Belfast East further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in Strangford , however almost all of these areas were part of Belfast East until 1983. A small part of the constituency has been proposed for transfer to Belfast South .
At the boundary commission local enquiry which took place in September 2005 the proposal to add the ward of Cregagh to South Belfast proved hugely controversial, being strongly opposed by the DUP but supported by the Ulster Unionists. It was also one of the issues which generated the most negative comments in the written submissions with a petition representing half of Cregagh's residents opposing its move for example.
Alliance put forth two proposals: one for a three seat Belfast which would abolish this seat and a four seat solution in which Hillfoot and Moneyreagh would join S.Belfast instead of Cregagh/Wynchurch. They were supported on the latter issue by the DUP. The SDLP and Sinn Féin were generally supportive of the commissions proposals, although Sinn Féin in their written representation suggested moving Ballymaccarrett ward from East to South Belfast.
The Commission's revised recommendations, published in May 2006, have maintained Cregagh ward in East Belfast. Hillfoot and Wynchurch are to be transferred to South Belfast with the 5 wards around Dundonald joining East Belfast. As revised recommendations are rarely changed it is likely that these boundaries will be the final recommendations.
Belfast East is an overwhelmingly Unionist constituency with Nationalist parties routinely failing to get more than 10% of the vote combined. The main interest has been the contest between unionist parties and the fortunes of the Alliance Party Of Northern Ireland .
Dominated by the giant Samson And Goliath cranes of the Harland And Wolff shipyard, the constituency is socially mixed. There are large expanses of small Victorian terraced housing near Belfast City Centre and around the shipyard in Ballymacarrett. These areas have seen significant refurbishment, and in some places demolition and redevelopment, in recent years sparking a sharp rise in house prices. This is contrasted by a large amount of solidly lower-middle class housing and some exclusive residential districts such as the much mocked Cherryvalley . This social polarisation is to a large degree reflected by the political polarisation, at least within the broader unionist family, in the seat. The small Catholic population is split between the Short Strand Enclave and minorities in the more middle-class parts of the seat.
The seat was consistently held by the Ulster Unionist Party until the 1974 General Election when the sitting MP, Stanley McMaster , defended it as a Pro-Assembly Unionist against a united anti- Sunningdale Agreement coalition which nominated William Craig of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party . Craig won the seat and held it for five years, moving to the UUP in February 1978 .
In the 1979 General Election the constituency witnessed a very close three way fight between Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party , William Craig for the UUP and Oliver Napier for the Alliance Party Of Northern Ireland . Less than 1000 votes separated the three candidates - the closest the Alliance has ever come to winning a Westminster seat. Robinson beat Craig by the narrow margin of 64 votes. Also of note was that over 90% of the votes cast went to parties that had not contested the seat at the previous election - in part due to realignments of the parties.
Robinson has held the seat ever since but the Alliance Party Of Northern Ireland continued to poll well thereafter, and in 1987 John Alderdice polled 32.1% of the vote - the highest ever for the Alliance in a Westminster election. However in recent years their vote has declined and in 2005 they finished a distant third.
In the 2001 Alliance proposed a pro- Good Friday Agreement pact with the Ulster Unionist Party in the hopes of getting UUP support in Belfast East. However the UUP did not agree and so both parties stood. Robinson was re-elected with 42.5% of the vote, with the UUP, Alliance and Progressive Unionist Party carving up the pro-Agreement pro-union vote between them, but it is doubtful that an unopposed Alliance candidate could have consolidated all of that vote to beat Robinson. With the subsequent decline of all three parties, the DUP look likely to retain the seat for the foreseeable future.
Of all eighteen constituencies in Northern Ireland, East Belfast has the highest percentage of Methodists .
The Member Of Parliament since the 1979 General Election is Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party . He defeated William Craig who sat for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party from the February 1974 General Election until 1978 then for the Ulster Unionist Party from 1978 until the 1979 Election .
, grounds of Belfast City Hall ]]
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Ulster Unionist Party
|
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Reg Empey
|
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9,275
|
| |
301
|
| |
+69
|
|
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Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
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Naomi Long
|
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3,746
|
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122
|
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-36
|
|
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Sinn Féin
|
| |
Deborah Devenny
|
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1,029
|
| |
33
|
| |
-01
|
|
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Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Mary Muldoon
|
| |
844
|
| |
27
|
| |
+03
|
|
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Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Alan Greer
|
| |
434
|
| |
14
|
| |
-08
|
|
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Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Joe Bell
|
| |
179
|
| |
06
|
| |
+03
|
|
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Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket
|
| |
Lynda Gilby
|
| |
172
|
| |
06
|
| |
+04
|
|
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Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
| |
Ulster Unionist Party
|
| |
Tim Lemon
|
| |
8,550
|
| |
232
|
| |
-21
|
|
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Sinn Féin
|
| |
Joe O'Donnell
|
| |
1,237
|
| |
34
|
| |
+13
|
|
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Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
Ciara Farren
|
| |
880
|
| |
24
|
| |
+08
|
|
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Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Terry Dick
|
| |
800
|
| |
22
|
| |
-02
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Joe Bell
|
| |
123
|
| |
03
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
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Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
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Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
|
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Jim Hendron
|
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9,288
|
| |
238
|
|
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Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
S Dines
|
| |
928
|
| |
24
|
|
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Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
P Lewsley
|
| |
629
|
| |
16
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Joe Bell
|
| |
237
|
| |
06
|
|
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Natural Law Party
|
| |
D Collins
|
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70
|
| |
02
|
|
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Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
David Greene
|
| |
3,314
|
| |
93
|
|
| |
Independent Ulster Unionist
|
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Dorothy Dunlop
|
| |
2,256
|
| |
63
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Joe O'Donnell
|
| |
679
|
| |
19
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Joe Bell
|
| |
327
|
| |
09
|
|
| |
Natural Law Party
|
| |
G Redden
|
| |
128
|
| |
04
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Frank Cullen
|
| |
1,314
|
| |
40
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
Joe O'Donnell
|
| |
649
|
| |
20
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Frank Cullen
|
| |
578
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Labour and Trade Union
|
| |
Muriel Tang
|
| |
584
|
| |
15
|
|
|
| |
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
P Prendiville
|
| |
519
|
| |
13
|
|
|
| |
Workers Party (Ireland)
|
| |
Frank Cullen
|
| |
421
|
| |
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
N Agnew
|
| |
2,017
|
| |
40
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
G Chambers
|
| |
1,982
|
| |
39
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Democratic Unionist Party
|
| |
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
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Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
|
| |
P J McLachlan
|
| |
14,417
|
| |
270
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
| |
D Gillespie
|
| |
1,502
|
| |
26
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
|
| |
Ulster Unionist Party
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
M McBirney
|
| |
17,650
|
| |
453
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
S J Watt
|
| |
15,555
|
| |
369
|
|
|
| |
Independent Republican (Ireland)
|
| |
D McConnell
|
| |
1,827
|
| |
43
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
J S Gardner
|
| |
16,412
|
| |
372
|
|
|
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Sinn Féin
|
| |
B Boswell
|
| |
1,204
|
| |
27
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
J S Gardner
|
| |
14,264
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
Tom Boyd
|
| |
13,041
|
| |
302
|
|
|
| |
Sinn Féin
|
| |
L Mulcahy
|
| |
3,156
|
| |
73
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
Tom Boyd
|
| |
17,910
|
| |
383
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
Tom Boyd
|
| |
17,338
|
| |
367
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
Tom Boyd
|
| |
17,338
|
| |
436
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Ulster Unionist Party
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
| |
Northern Ireland Labour Party
|
| |
John Campbell
|
| |
9,410
|
| |
249
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Ulster Liberal Party
|
| |
Denis Ireland
|
| |
9,230
|
| |
249
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Ulster Unionist Party
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
|
