North Down (Assembly constituency)
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North Down Northern Ireland Assembly County constituency
North Down shown within Northern Ireland
First Used:	1973
Assembly Members:	Leslie Cree Alex Easton Stephen Farry Alan McFarland Peter Weir Brian Wilson
Districts:	North Down, Ards

North Down is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. It usually shares boundaries with the North Down UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1983 to 1986 as the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes and from 1996 to 1997 when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983-95 constituency boundaries, was still in session.

Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998.

For further details of the history and boundaries of the constituency, see North Down (UK Parliament constituency).

Members

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2007 election are:

• Leslie Cree - Ulster Unionist Party
• Alex Easton - Democratic Unionist Party
• Stephen Farry - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Alan McFarland - Ulster Unionist Party
• Peter Weir - Democratic Unionist Party
• Brian Wilson - Green Party in Northern Ireland

The six MLAs for the constituency elected in the 2003 election were:

• Eileen Bell - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Leslie Cree - Ulster Unionist Party
• Alex Easton - Democratic Unionist Party
• Robert McCartney - UK Unionist Party
• Alan McFarland - Ulster Unionist Party
• Peter Weir - Democratic Unionist Party

In the 1998 election the six MLAs elected were:

• Eileen Bell — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• John Gorman — Ulster Unionist Party
• Robert McCartney — UK Unionist Party
• Alan McFarland — Ulster Unionist Party
• Jane Morrice — Northern Ireland Women's Coalition
• Peter Weir — Ulster Unionist Party

Changes 1998-2003

• Peter Weir moved from the Ulster Unionist Party to the Democratic Unionist Party on April 29, 2002.

In the 1996 election to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum, 5 Forum members were elected from North Down. They were as follows:

• St Clair McAlister — Democratic Unionist Party
• Robert McCartney — UK Unionist Party
• Alan McFarland — Ulster Unionist Party
• Oliver Napier — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Peter Weir — Ulster Unionist Party

In 1982 elections were held for an Assembly for Northern Ireland to hold the Secretary of State to account, in the hope that this would be the first step towards restoring devolution. North Down elected 8 members as follows:

• William Bleakes — Ulster Unionist Party
• John Cushnahan — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Lord Dunleath — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Simpson Gibson — Democratic Unionist Party
• James Kilfedder — Ulster Popular Unionist Party
• Robert McCartney — Ulster Unionist Party
• Wesley Pentland — Democratic Unionist Party
• John Taylor — Ulster Unionist Party

In 1975 elections were held to a Constitutional Convention which sought (unsuccessfully) to generate a consensus on the future of the province. The seven members elected from North Down were:

• John Brooke, 2nd Viscount Brookeborough — Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
• Lord Dunleath — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• George Green — Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
• James Kilfedder — Ulster Unionist Party
• Bertie McConnell — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Charles Poots — Democratic Unionist Party
• John Taylor — Ulster Unionist Party

In 1973 elections were held to the Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement. The seven members elected from North Down were:

• John Brooke — Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• William Brownlow — Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• Robert Campbell — Ulster Unionist Party pro Sunningdale
• Lord Dunleath — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• James Kilfedder — Ulster Unionist Party anti-Sunningdale
• Bertie McConnell — Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Charles Poots Democratic Unionist Party

Elections

2007

2003

1998

1996 Forum

Successful candidates are shown in bold.¹

1982

1975

1973

References

1. ^ 1996 Candidates - North Down, Northern Ireland Elections]