# Belfast Victoria (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°35′53″N 5°52′19″W﻿ / ﻿54.598°N 5.872°W﻿ / 54.598; -5.872
Belfast Victoria was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

## Boundaries

Belfast Victoria 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 Victoria 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.
The seat contained the eastern parts of the former Victoria ward. It covered an area equivalent to the current wards of Sydenham, Belmont and Ballyhackamore together with parts of the Island and Stormont wards.

## Politics

The seat was held in the early years by Ulster Unionist Party candidates. However, there was always strong support for labour movement candidates, with David Bleakley holding the seat for seven years.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1929 | Sir Dawson Bates | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1933 | Sir Dawson Bates | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1938 | Sir Dawson Bates | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1945 | Robert Alexander | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1949 | Robert Alexander | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1953 | Bill Henderson | Ulster Unionist Party |
| 1958 | David Bleakley | Northern Ireland Labour Party |
| 1962 | David Bleakley | Northern Ireland Labour Party |
| 1965 | Roy Bradford | Ulster Unionist Party$^†$ |
| 1969 | Roy Bradford | Ulster Unionist Party$^†$ |
| 1973 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |
    $^†$Bradford was elected in 1969 as an "O'Neill Unionist" supporting the reform proposals of the then Prime Minister.

## Election results

General Election 22 May 1929: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Dawson Bates | 6,046 | 61.0 | |
| | Local Option | James Price | 3,858 | 39.0 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,180 | 22.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,251 | 69.5 | |
| | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) |
General Election 30 November 1933: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Dawson Bates | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 9 February 1938: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Dawson Bates | 8,309 | 59.3 | N/A |
| | Progressive Unionist | Joseph McMaster | 3,434 | 24.5 | New |
| | NI Labour | Tom Boyd | 2,268 | 16.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,875 | 34.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,921 | 78.2 | N/A |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |
General Election 22 October 1945: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Robert Alexander (Northern Ireland politician) | 7,618 | 54.1 | +0.8 |
| | NI Labour | George Matthews | 4,342 | 30.8 | +14.6 |
| | Commonwealth Labour | Norman Black | 2,133 | 15.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,276 | 23.3 | −11.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,525 | 76.1 | −2.1 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 10 February 1949: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Robert Alexander (Northern Ireland politician) | 11,330 | 82.4 | +28.3 |
| | NI Labour | David Bleakley | 2,423 | 17.6 | −13.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,907 | 64.8 | +41.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,404 | 74.7 | −1.4 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 14 June 1953: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Bill Henderson | 7,198 | 56.5 | −25.9 |
| | NI Labour | David Bleakley | 5,536 | 43.5 | +25.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,662 | 13.0 | −51.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,041 | 63.5 | −1.2 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |
General Election 20 March 1958: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | David Bleakley | 7,487 | 50.5 | +7.0 |
| | UUP | Bill Henderson | 7,340 | 49.5 | −7.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 147 | 1.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,652 | 75.4 | +11.9 |
| | NI Labour gain from UUP | NI Labour gain from UUP | Swing | | |
General Election 31 May 1962: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | NI Labour | David Bleakley | 7,882 | 54.2 | +3.7 |
| | UUP | Leslie Stewart | 6,668 | 45.8 | −3.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,214 | 8.4 | +7.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,053 | 72.6 | −2.8 |
| | NI Labour hold | NI Labour hold | Swing | | |
General Election 25 November 1965: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Roy Bradford | 6,892 | 51.6 | +5.8 |
| | NI Labour | David Bleakley | 6,469 | 48.4 | −5.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 423 | 3.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,370 | 65.6 | −7.0 |
| | UUP gain from NI Labour | UUP gain from NI Labour | Swing | | |
General Election 24 February 1969: Belfast Victoria :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Roy Bradford | 9,249 | 62.9 | +11.3 |
| | NI Labour | John Coulthard | 2,972 | 20.2 | −28.2 |
| | Protestant Unionist | Ronald Bunting | 2,489 | 16.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,277 | 42.7 | +39.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,504 | 75.4 | +9.8 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | | |