East Antrim

The pre-1922 constituency was a strongly conservative then unionist area, where republican and nationalist candidates were not elected. A victory for the Unionist candidate in 1918 by 15,206 votes to Sinn Féin's 861 votes demonstrated the virtual unanimity of the unionist support. Sinn Féin did not contest the 1919 East Antrim by-election. Similarly, the post-1983 constituency has been overwhelmingly unionist, with the combined votes for nationalist parties rarely exceeding 10%. However, there have been above average votes for parties outside the traditional unionist block, such as the Alliance and the Conservatives. In the local government elections for the equivalent area many votes often…