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UK Parliament - South Antrim

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United Kingdom > Northern Ireland > Northern Ireland > South Antrim

Office

Parliament

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

April 20, 2010 - 06:00pm

Polls Open

May 06, 2010 - 01:00am

Polls Close

May 06, 2010 - 04:00pm

Term Start

May 17, 2010 - 12:00pm

Term End

May 17, 2015 - 12:00pm

Contributor

Ralphie

Last Modified

Ralphie May 06, 2010 08:33pm

Data Sources

[Link]

Description

BBC Profile:
Before 1983 boundary changes this seat had the biggest electorate in the UK. Unionist MP Clifford Forsythe held the seat for the Ulster Unionist Party from 1983 until his death in 2000. In the resulting by-election UUP candidate David Burnside was narrowly defeated at the hands of the former DUP MP for Mid Ulster and gospel singer-cum-preacher, the Reverend William McCrea.

Burnside reclaimed the seat for his party by a very narrow margin at the 2001 general election but McCrea won the seat back or the DUP in 2005 with a majority of 3,448.

At this election, this seat loses five mostly suburban Newtonabbey wards from the Glengormley area to North Belfast. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result above.

This large rural seat lies at the heart of Northern Ireland to the north of Belfast and combines all of Antrim Borough Council and part of the Newtownabbey council districts. It stretches from the river Bann and Lough Neagh in the west to the edge of Belfast. The main towns are Antrim on the banks of Lough Neagh and Ballyclare to the east.

The seat has good transport links. Belfast international airport is located at Aldergrove in the constituency. The airport is a major employer, with connected service industries.

This is a largely Protestant and Unionist seat, with Catholics forming just over a quarter of the population.

There is a major eel fishing site at Toome and most of the eels that are eaten in Europe come from this constituency.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
No Boundary Changes