# Belfast Central (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°35′49″N 5°55′52″W﻿ / ﻿54.597°N 5.931°W﻿ / 54.597; -5.931
Belfast Central was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

## Boundaries

Belfast Central was a borough constituency comprising part of central 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 Central was created by the division of Belfast West 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.
The constituency consisted of inner city areas of Belfast equivalent to the modern areas of Unity, Brown Square, John Street and Lancaster Street. Residential redevelopment caused the electorate to fall sharply from 20,399 in 1929 to 6,384 in 1969. By the time of the dissolution of the Stormont Parliament, it had just over 2,500 voters.
The constituency is now part of Belfast North and Belfast West with most of the former seat now part of the New Lodge ward.

## Politics

The constituency was one of the most staunchly nationalist in Belfast. It was initially held by Nationalist Party members, then later by a variety of labour movement activists and members of smaller nationalist parties. In 1953, a split between three Labour candidates led to the Unionist candidate finishing just 576 votes behind the victor.

## Members of Parliament

| Year | Name | Party |
| 1929 | Joseph Devlin | Nationalist |
| 1934 | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Nationalist |
| 1946 | Frank Hanna | NI Labour |
| 1949 | Frank Hanna | Independent Labour |
| 1949 | Frank Hanna | Irish Labour |
| 1949 | Frank Hanna | Independent Labour |
| 1958 | Frank Hanna | Ind. Labour Group |
| 1965 | John Joseph Brennan | National Democratic |
| 1969 | Paddy Kennedy | Republican Labour |

## Election results

General Election 22 May 1929: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nationalist | Joseph Devlin | 10,624 | 71.8 | |
| | UUP | David Cecil Lindsay | 4,163 | 28.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,461 | 43.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,787 | 72.5 | |
| | Nationalist win (new seat) | Nationalist win (new seat) | Nationalist win (new seat) | Nationalist win (new seat) | Nationalist win (new seat) |
General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nationalist | Joseph Devlin | 7,411 | 61.4 | −10.4 |
| | Irish Republican | Patrick Thornbury | 4,650 | 38.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,761 | 22.8 | −20.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,061 | 63.6 | −7.9 |
| | Nationalist hold | Nationalist hold | Swing | | |
1934 Belfast Central by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | 4,948 | 47.3 | −14.1 |
| | NI Labour | William McMullen | 3,784 | 36.2 | New |
| | Anti-Partition | Harry Diamond | 1,518 | 14.5 | New |
| | Ulster Democratic | William McKeaveney | 214 | 2.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,164 | 11.1 | −11.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,464 | 55.7 | −7.9 |
| | Nationalist hold | Nationalist hold | Swing | | |
General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Nationalist hold | Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 14 June 1945: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nationalist | Thomas Joseph Campbell | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Nationalist hold | Nationalist hold | Swing | N/A | |
1946 Belfast Central by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | Frank Hanna | 5,566 | 66.7 | New |
| | Socialist Republican | Victor Halley | 2,783 | 33.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,783 | 33.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,349 | 52.4 | N/A |
| | NI Labour gain from Nationalist | NI Labour gain from Nationalist | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Labour | Frank Hanna | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Independent Labour gain from Nationalist | Independent Labour gain from Nationalist | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 22 October 1953: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Labour | Frank Hanna | 3,902 | 35.3 | N/A |
| | UUP | Joseph Foster Cairns | 3,326 | 30.0 | New |
| | Independent Irish Labour | Timothy Joseph O'Sullivan | 2,437 | 22.0 | New |
| | Irish Labour | Jack Beattie | 1,406 | 12.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 576 | 5.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,071 | 69.9 | N/A |
| | Independent Labour hold | Independent Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Ind. Labour Group | Frank Hanna | 4,683 | 46.8 | +11.5 |
| | UUP | William Craig | 3,228 | 32.2 | +2.2 |
| | Irish Labour | Desmond Patrick Marrinan | 2,105 | 21.0 | +8.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,455 | 14.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,016 | 71.6 | +1.7 |
| | Ind. Labour Group gain from Independent Labour | Ind. Labour Group gain from Independent Labour | Swing | | |
General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Ind. Labour Group | Frank Hanna | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Ind. Labour Group hold | Ind. Labour Group hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National Democratic | John Joseph Brennan | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | National Democratic gain from Ind. Labour Group | National Democratic gain from Ind. Labour Group | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican Labour | Paddy Kennedy | 2,032 | 56.9 | New |
| | National Democratic | John Joseph Brennan | 1,538 | 43.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 494 | 13.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,570 | 58.3 | N/A |
| | Republican Labour hold | Republican Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |