Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)

Belfast
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1801–1885
Replaced by	Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West

Belfast was an Irish Borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Comprising the city of Belfast, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1801 to 1832, and then two MPs from 1832 until the constituency was divided for the 1885 general election.

Under the Act of Union 1800 the Parliament of Ireland was merged with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 300 members of the Irish House of Commons were reduced to 100 Irish members of the United Kingdom House of Commons. As part of that process Belfast lost one of its seats.

There was no new election for the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom. In Irish constituencies, where the number of seats were reduced from two to one, the MP to go to Westminster was selected by drawing lots.

The map and other details relate to the modern area of Belfast, but are included in this article to give a general idea of the location of the historic constituency.

This constituency was the Parliamentary borough of Belfast in County Antrim. In 1832 and 1868 the boundaries of that borough were extended.

In the redistribution of 1885 Belfast was further expanded (including parts of County Down as well as County Antrim) and split into four single member divisions; Belfast East, Belfast North, Belfast South and Belfast West.

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