North Down

Details of each count in 1998 election

Map by Conal Kelly

This constituency takes in the south-eastern coastal strip of Belfast Lough, including the whole of North Down District Council and Donaghadee in Ards District Council. The member of parliament is Lady Sylvia Hermon (UUP); in the 2001 election she defeated the UKUP leader, Bob McCartney, who himself had first won the seat in a 1995 by-election caused by the death of Sir James Kilfedder, the leader of the Ulster Popular Unionist Party, who had represented North Down since the 1970s. The constituency was greatly reduced in size in 1983 and again altered in 1995.

See also results of all North Down elections 1993-2003.

Stage 2: Of McCartney's 8188 votes, 4643 (56.70%) went to Roche (UKUP); 795 to McAlister and 775 to Graham, thus 1570 (19.17%) to the DUP candidates; 580 to McFarland, 227 to Sir John Gorman, and 216 to Weir, thus 1023 (12.49%) to the UUP candidates; 209 (2.55%) to Chambers (Ulster Independent); 115 (1.40%) to Currie (PUP); 96 (1.17%) to Wilson (Ind); 85 (1.04%) to Lindsay (UDP); 80 (0.98%) to Morrice (NIWC); also 80 (0.98%) to Fee (Cons); 48 to Bell and 30 to Walker, thus 78 (0.95%) to the Alliance candidates; 17 (0.21%) to Baird-Gunning (Labour); 15 (0.18%) to Carter (Ulster's Independent Voice); 8 to Farrell (SDLP); and also 8 to Gribben (NLP) with 161 (1.97%) non-transferable.

Stage 8: of the 192 votes that transferred to McFarland from Currie, 96 (50%) went to Weir (UUP); 21 (10.93%) to Morrice (NIWC); 10 to Bell and 7 to Walker, thus 17 (8.85%) to the Alliance candidates; 12 (6.25%) to Graham (DUP); 6 (3.13%) to Roche (UKUP); and 2 (1.04%) to Farrell (SDLP) with 38 (19.79%) non-transferable.

Stage 10: Of the 1397 votes that transferred to Bell from Walker, 570 (40.80%) transferred further to Morrice (NIWC); 373 (26.70%) to Weir (UUP); 228 (16.32%) to Farrell (SDLP); 17 (1.22%) to Roche (UKUP); and 7 (0.50%) to Graham (DUP) with 202 (14.46%) non-transferable.

The poor performance of the DUP, as well as the success of the Women's Coalition and the UUP's third seat, were all major surprises here in perhaps the most volatile constituency in Northern Ireland. The SDLP's good performance was not enough to prevent them being eliminated; their transfers pulled Jane Morrice of the Women's Coalition ahead of the DUP for the last seat.

Full 1998 results for each seat: East Belfast | North Belfast | South Belfast | West Belfast | East Antrim | North Antrim | South Antrim | North Down | South Down | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Foyle | Lagan Valley | East Londonderry | Mid Ulster | Newry and Armagh | Strangford | West Tyrone | Upper Bann

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com..

Nicholas Whyte, 15 October 2000; modified 16 February 2002.