# Belfast Pottinger (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°35′38″N 5°53′53″W﻿ / ﻿54.594°N 5.898°W﻿ / 54.594; -5.898
Belfast Pottinger was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

## Boundaries

Belfast Pottinger was a borough constituency comprising part of eastern 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 Pottinger was created by the division of Belfast East 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

The seat was a stronghold for the labour movement, although Unionist candidates always polled well and were occasionally able to win the seat.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1929 | Jack Beattie | Northern Ireland Labour |
| | 1934 | Jack Beattie | Independent Labour |
| | 1942 | Jack Beattie | Northern Ireland Labour |
| | 1943 | Jack Beattie | Independent Labour |
| | 1945 | Jack Beattie | Federation of Labour |
| | 1949 | Jack Beattie | Independent Labour |
| | 1949 | Samuel Rodgers | Ulster Unionist |
| | 1958 | Tom Boyd | Northern Ireland Labour |
| | 1969 | Joshua Cardwell | Ulster Unionist |
| 1973 | 1973 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Election results

General Election 1929: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Jack Beattie | 6,071 | 54.6 | |
| | UUP | James Augustine Duff | 5,057 | 45.4 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,014 | 9.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,128 | 76.0 | |
| | NI Labour win (new seat) | NI Labour win (new seat) | NI Labour win (new seat) | NI Labour win (new seat) | NI Labour win (new seat) |
General Election 1933: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Jack Beattie | 5,753 | 53.6 | −1.0 |
| | UUP | Thomas Loftus Cole | 4,978 | 46.4 | +1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 775 | 7.2 | −2.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,731 | 79.6 | +3.6 |
| | NI Labour hold | NI Labour hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1938: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Labour | Jack Beattie | 5,480 | 52.2 | −1.4 |
| | UUP | Thomas Loftus Cole | 5,011 | 47.8 | +1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 469 | 4.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,491 | 80.9 | +1.3 |
| | Independent Labour gain from NI Labour | Independent Labour gain from NI Labour | Swing | | |
General Election 1945: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Labour | Jack Beattie | 5,952 | 52.5 | +0.3 |
| | UUP | Samuel Rodgers | 4,474 | 47.5 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 478 | 5.0 | +0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,426 | 78.7 | −2.2 |
| | Independent Labour hold | Independent Labour hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1949: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Rodgers | 6,262 | 62.9 | +15.4 |
| | Independent Labour | Jack Beattie | 3,693 | 37.1 | −15.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,569 | 25.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9,955 | 82.7 | +4.0 |
| | UUP gain from Independent Labour | UUP gain from Independent Labour | Swing | | |
General Election 1953: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Rodgers | 3,680 | 45.1 | −17.8 |
| | NI Labour | Tom Boyd | 3,324 | 40.8 | New |
| | Irish Labour | Jack Beattie | 1,151 | 14.1 | −23.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 356 | 4.3 | −21.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,155 | 68.2 | −14.5 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1958: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Tom Boyd | 4,573 | 58.5 | +17.7 |
| | UUP | Samuel Rodgers | 3,240 | 41.5 | −3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,333 | 17.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,813 | 71.8 | +3.6 |
| | NI Labour gain from UUP | NI Labour gain from UUP | Swing | | |
General Election 1962: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Tom Boyd | 4,674 | 62.4 | +3.9 |
| | UUP | Herbert Walker | 2,822 | 37.6 | −3.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,852 | 24.8 | +7.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,496 | 72.0 | +0.2 |
| | NI Labour hold | NI Labour hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1965: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Tom Boyd | 3,208 | 57.9 | −4.5 |
| | UUP | John Bannister | 2,334 | 42.1 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 874 | 15.8 | −9.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,542 | 58.9 | −13.1 |
| | NI Labour hold | NI Labour hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1969: Belfast Pottinger :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Joshua Cardwell | 2,902 | 51.4 | +9.3 |
| | NI Labour | Martin McBirney | 2,744 | 48.6 | −9.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 158 | 2.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,646 | 67.8 | +8.9 |
| | UUP gain from NI Labour | UUP gain from NI Labour | Swing | | |