# Belfast Clifton (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°36′40″N 5°56′06″W﻿ / ﻿54.611°N 5.935°W﻿ / 54.611; -5.935
Belfast Clifton was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

## Boundaries

Belfast Clifton was a borough constituency comprising part of northern Belfast. It was created in 1929 when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland.
Belfast Clifton was created by the division of Belfast North into four new constituencies. It survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.

## Politics

In common with other seats in North Belfast, the seat had little nationalist presence. The seat was usually held by the Ulster Unionist Party, but a variety of independent Unionists contested it and occasionally won, and some labour movement candidates achieved strong results.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1929 | Samuel Hall-Thompson | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1953 | Norman Porter | Independent Unionist |
| 1958 | Robin Kinahan | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1959(b) | William James Morgan | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1969 | Lloyd Hall-Thompson | Independent Unionist |
| 1973 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |

## Election results

    At the 1929 and 1933 Northern Ireland general elections, Samuel Hall-Thompson was elected unopposed.
General Election 1938: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Hall-Thompson | 6,683 | 54.4 | N/A |
| | Ind. Unionist Party | William McConnell Wilton | 5,600 | 45.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,083 | 8.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,283 | 72.1 | N/A |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 1945: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Hall-Thompson | 7,272 | 62.0 | +7.6 |
| | NI Labour | Andrew Carlin | 4,458 | 38.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,814 | 24.0 | +15.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,730 | 67.2 | −4.9 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1949: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Hall-Thompson | 10,715 | 83.6 | +21.6 |
| | Independent Labour | Owen J. Keane | 2,107 | 16.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,608 | 67.2 | +43.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,822 | 73.0 | +5.8 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1953: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Ind. Unionist | Norman Porter | 4,747 | 51.9 | New |
| | UUP | Samuel Hall-Thompson | 4,402 | 48.1 | −35.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 345 | 3.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,149 | 50.9 | −22.1 |
| | Ind. Unionist gain from UUP | Ind. Unionist gain from UUP | Swing | | |
General Election 1958: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Robin Kinahan | 5,755 | 50.2 | +2.1 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Norman Porter | 5,710 | 49.8 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 45 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,465 | 67.5 | +16.6 |
| | UUP gain from Ind. Unionist | UUP gain from Ind. Unionist | Swing | | |
Belfast Clifton by-election, 1959 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | William James Morgan | 5,212 | 50.2 | 0.0 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Norman Porter | 3,978 | 38.4 | −11.4 |
| | NI Labour | Victoria Dunlop | 1,185 | 11.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,234 | 11.8 | +11.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,375 | 61.1 | −6.4 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1962: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | William James Morgan | 6,474 | 58.6 | +8.4 |
| | NI Labour | Norman Thompson | 4,571 | 41.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,903 | 17.2 | +16.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,045 | 66.9 | −0.6 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1965: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | William James Morgan | 6,083 | 65.2 | +6.6 |
| | NI Labour | Norman Thompson | 3,247 | 34.8 | −6.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,836 | 30.4 | +13.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,330 | 57.5 | −9.4 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1969: Belfast Clifton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unofficial Unionist | Lloyd Hall-Thompson | 6,066 | 50.4 | New |
| | UUP | William James Morgan | 3,215 | 26.7 | −38.5 |
| | NI Labour | Norman Thompson | 1,681 | 13.9 | −20.9 |
| | National Democratic | Michael McKeown | 1,079 | 9.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,851 | 23.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,041 | 74.3 | +15.8 |
| | Unofficial Unionist gain from UUP | Unofficial Unionist gain from UUP | Swing | | |