West Belfast

Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

This constituency was slightly cut down from the old West Belfast. The old West Belfast constituency was incorporated into the expanded West Belfast after 1995, with some tidying of the boundaries with North BelfastSouth Antrim. The Member of Parliament elected in 1983 was Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin), defeating the incumbent independent Socialist; he was re-elected in 1987 but lost to Joe Hendron (SDLP) in 1992.

See spreadsheets for 1983, 1987 and 1992.

Election results, 1983-1992

9 April 1992

Joe Hendron (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 17,415 (43.6%)
Gerry Adams MP (Sinn Féin) 16,826 (42.1%)
Fred Cobain (Ulster Unionist Party) 4,766 (11.9%)
John Lowry (Workers' Party) 750 (1.9%)
Michael Kennedy (Natural Law Party) 213 (0.5%)

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) majority: 589; Electorate: 55,644; Turnout: (73.1%)

11 June 1987

Gerry Adams MP (Sinn Féin) 16,862 (41.2%)
Joe Hendron (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 14,641 (35.7%)
Frank Millar (Ulster Unionist Party) 7,646 (18.7%)
Mary McMahon (Workers' Party) 1,819 (4.4%)

Sinn Féin (SF) majority: 2,221; Electorate: 55,644; Turnout: 69.6%

9 June 1983

@Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin) 16,379 (36.9%)
@Joe Hendron (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 10,934 (24.6%)
Gerry Fitt MP (Independent Socialist) 10,326 (23.3%)
@Tommy Passmore (Ulster Unionist Party) 2,435 (5.5%)
George Haffrey (Democratic Unionist Party) 2,399 (5.4%)
Mary McMahon (Workers' Party) 1,893 (4.3%)

Sinn Féin (SF) majority: 5,445; Electorate: 59,750; Turnout: 74.3%

See also:

Results from 1983 to 1995 for each seat: East Belfast | North Belfast | South Belfast | West Belfast | East Antrim | North Antrim | South Antrim | North Down | South Down | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Foyle | Lagan Valley | East Londonderry | Mid Ulster | Newry and Armagh | Strangford | Upper Bann

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.

Nicholas Whyte, 21 October 2000; modified 16 February 2002.