Larne (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Larne
Former County constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Larne shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1973
Election method	First past the post

Larne was a single-member county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This was a division of County Antrim. Before 1929, it was part of the seven-member Antrim constituency. The constituency sent one MP to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1929 until the Parliament was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

In terms of the then local government areas the constituency in 1929 comprised parts of the rural districts of Antrim, Ballymena and Larne. The division also included the whole of the urban districts of Larne and Whitehead.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1929	George Boyle Hanna	Ulster Unionist
	1937	Harold Claude Robinson	Ulster Unionist
	1945	Walter William Buchanan Topping	Ulster Unionist
	1960	William Craig	Ulster Unionist
1973		constituency abolished

Elections

The parliamentary representatives of the division were elected using the first past the post system.

General Election 22 May 1929: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Boyle Hanna	6,854	64.89
	Local Option	James Pringle	3,709	35.11
Majority			3,145	29.78
Turnout			17,154	61.58
	Ulster Unionist win (new seat)

General Election 30 November 1933: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Boyle Hanna	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Appointment of Hanna as a County Court Judge

By-Election 27 May 1937: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold Claude Robinson	6,545	50.94	N/A
	Ind. Unionist	Andrew Ferris	6,303	49.06	New
Majority			242	1.88	N/A
Turnout			18,320	70.13	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 9 February 1938: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold Claude Robinson	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Death of Robinson

By-Election 19 April 1945: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Topping	6,299	75.46	N/A
	NI Labour	Vivian Simpson	2,049	24.54	New
Majority			4,250	50.92	N/A
Turnout			18,889	44.20	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 14 June 1945: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Topping	8,983	75.30	N/A
	NI Labour	Vivian Simpson	2,947	24.70	N/A
Majority			6,036	50.60	N/A
Turnout			19,424	61.42	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 10 February 1949: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Topping	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 22 October 1953: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Topping	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 20 March 1958: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Topping	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Appointment of Topping as Recorder of Belfast

1960 Larne by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Craig	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 31 May 1962: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Craig	9,388	74.00	N/A
	NI Labour	William Cecil Watton	3,298	26.00	New
Majority			6,090	48.00	N/A
Turnout			20,514	61.84	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 25 November 1965: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Craig	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 24 February 1969: Antrim Larne

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Craig	8,550	51.99	N/A
	Ind. Unionist	Hugh Wilson	7,897	48.01	New
Majority			653	3.98	N/A
Turnout			20,728	79.35	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Parliament prorogued 30 March 1972 and abolished 18 July 1973

References

• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-1972, compiled and edited by Sydney Elliott (Political Reference Publications 1973)

External source

• For the exact definition of Northern Ireland constituency boundaries see http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/boundaries.html