East Belfast is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Boundaries

The seat was created in 1922 when as part of the establishement 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.

Proposed Boundary changes

At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. It is proposed to expand East Belfast further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in Strangford. A small part of the constituency has been proposed for transfer to South Belfast. The proposals are likely to be subject to public consultation and it remains to be seen what the final shape of the constituency will be.

Westminster elections

The Member of Parliament since a 1979 is Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party. He defeated William Craig who sat for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party from 1974 until 1977 then for the Ulster Unionist Party from 1977 until 1979.

MPs since 1922

• 1922 - 1940 (elevation to the peerage), Herbert Dixon Ulster Unionist Party
• 1940 (by-election - 1945, H.P. Harland Ulster Unionist Party
• 1945 - 1950, T.L. Cole Ulster Unionist Party
• 1950 - unknown, Alan McKibbin Ulster Unionist Party
• unknown - 1974, Stanley McMaster Ulster Unionist Party
• 1974 - 1979, William Craig Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (1974-1977), Ulster Unionist Party (1977-1979)
• 1979 - present, Peter Robinson Democratic Unionist Party

Assemblies and Forum elections

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election are:

• Michael Copeland Ulster Unionist Party
• Reg Empey Ulster Unionist Party
• David Ervine Progressive Unionist Party
• Naomi Long Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Robin Newton Democratic Unionist Party
• Peter Robinson Democratic Unionist Party

In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:

• Ian Adamson Ulster Unionist Party
• John Alderdice Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Reg Empey Ulster Unionist Party
• David Ervine Progressive Unionist Party
• Peter Robinson Democratic Unionist Party
• Sammy Wilson Democratic Unionist Party

In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Belfast. They were as follows:

• John Alderdice Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Reg Empey Ulster Unionist Party
• Peter Robinson Democratic Unionist Party
• Jim Rodgers Ulster Unionist Party
• Sammy Wilson Democratic Unionist Party

In 1982 elections were held for an Assembly for Northern Ireland to hold the Secretary of State to account, in the hope that this would be the first step towards restoring devolution. East Belfast elected 6 members as follows:

• Jeremy Burchill Ulster Unionist Party
• Dorothy Dunlop Ulster Unionist Party
• Addie Morrow Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Oliver Napier Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Peter Robinson Democratic Unionist Party
• Denny Vitty Democratic Unionist Party

In 1975 elections were held to a Constitutional Convention which sought (unsuccessfully) to generate a consensus on the future of the province. The six members elected from East Belfast were:

• David Bleakley Northern Ireland Labour Party
• Joshua Cardwell Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
• William Craig Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
• Reg Empey Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
• Oliver Napier Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Eileen Paisley Democratic Unionist Party

In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The six members elected from North Belfast were:

• Norman Agnew Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• David Bleakley Northern Ireland Labour Party
• Roy Bradford Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• Joshua Cardwell Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• Oliver Napier Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Eileen Paisley Democratic Unionist Party

Politics and History of the constituency

East Belfast 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.

The seat was consistently held by the UUP until 1974 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 1977.

In the 1979 general election the constituency witnessed a very closed three way fight between Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party, William Craig for the Ulster Unionists 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 have continued to poll well, and in 1987 John Alderdice polled 32.1% of the vote - the highest ever for the Alliance in a Westminster election.

In the 2001 Alliance proposed a pro Good Friday Agreement pact with the Ulster Unionist Party in the hopes of getting UUP support in East Belfast. 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 nion 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.