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South Antrim
South Antrim is an overwhelmingly unionist constituency which once had the strongest vote for the Ulster Unionist Party anywhere in the province. From 1886 to 1974 the Conservative and Unionist members of the United Kingdom House of Commons formed a single Parliamentary party, and they continuously represented South Antrim

In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a British General Election. In the 1979 general election James Molyneaux had the largest majority of any MP in the entire of the United Kingdom, helped also by having one of the largest electorates.

The boundary changes in 1983 reduced the Ulster Unionist vote somewhat, with a significant portion now contained in the new Lagan Valley (which Molyneaux then contested) but the constituency still gave strong results for the party.

However, in April 2000 the Ulster Unionist incumbent, Clifford Forsythe, died suddenly. The ensuing by-election took place amidst a fierce political struggle between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party over the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement that the UUP were themselves split over. The DUP had not contested the seat at the previous general election but on this occasion stood William McCrea, the former MP for Mid Ulster, who campaigned strongly on the DUP's refusal to co-operate with Sinn Féin in the absence of arms decommissioning by the IRA. The local UUP branch selected David Burnside to contest the seat who declared that he had supported the Good Friday Agreement at the time that it was signed but had since become disillusioned with its implementation. As a result many commentators predicted that whatever the outcome of the election it was a severe blow for the UUP's leader David Trimble. On a low turnout amidst a fierce contest McCrea narrowly won the seat.

Burnside was nominated again to contest the seat in the 2001 general election in which he overturned McCrea's majority, aided by tactical voting by SDLP and Alliance voters. However the DUP were eager to regain the seat and in the 2003 Assembly election they outpolled the UUP by 298 votes. In the 2005 general election McCrea defeated Burnside in their third contest, but with a noticeably lower swing than those garnered by other DUP candidates who ousted UUP MPs. McCrea held the seat in the 2010 general election with a reduced majority. The seat was won by the UUP at the 2015 general election following the defeat of McCrea by Danny Kinahan. The DUP regained the seat following the 2017 general election with the defeat of Kinahan by Paul Girvan.

Kinahan recontested the seat in the 2019 snap election, and defeated Girvan with a swing of 6%. Shortly after his reelection Kinahan disagreed with the Antrim and Newtownabbey Ulster Unionist's decision to cut integrated education funding. He left the Ulster Unionist to become an Independent Unionist, triggering a by-election which he won assisted by the UUP's decision to stand aside. He took the Liberal Democrat whip in 2023, becoming the party's first Northern Irish MP and party spokesperson on Northern Ireland affairs. He was deselected by the Lib Dems at the ensuing General Election in favor of the Alliance Party. He ran again as an independent, but this time against the UUP, allowing the DUP to win the seat against the national trend.

Paul Girvan was one of the unionist MPs to resign their seats in protest against the Irish Language Act passed by the UUP/SDLP executive. Kinahan had rejoined the UUP and was selected as their candidate for the by-election. The DUP was expected to hold the seat with an increased majority, however, the nationalist parties and Alliance did not the contest. The seat went back to Kinahan, who held it for the two following general elections.

Danny Kinahan stood down in 2034, and political commentators expected the UUP to lose the seat as they lost Kinahan's large personal vote, but Aiken was elected against strong competition from the former Belfast South MP Emma Little Pengelly. The DUP targeted the seat in the 2039 general election and successfully elected Pengally. The DUP's plummeting vote share made Pengally become a Ulster Unionist in 2042.

The Progressive Unionist Party increased their vote in the constituency in the prior assembly elections, elected an MLA and gained a significant presence on the local council. The party, eager to receive representation in parliment, selected senior member Billy Hutchinson to fight the election. Internal polling by the DUP suggested that they would not be able to win again due to the Progressive Unionist rising support. They chose not to stand a candidate to avoid humiliation against their former MP, backing Hutchinson alongside the Real Unionists and the TUV. This broad pact of unionists managed to defeat Pengally. The DUP ran again in 2049, and a three way race between the DUP, UUP and PUP ensued, with the UUP emerging as the victors.

Pengally became one of the 5 MPs to found the Feminist Party. She triggered and won a by-election with an increased majority and a low turnout as other parties did not target the seat.

Matches (2000–)
Key: PR – Preliminary round; QR – Qualifying round; 1/2/3QR – First/Second/Third qualifying round; PLR – Play-off round; 1R/2R – First/Second round; QF – Quarter-final


 * Notes