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The seat was created in 1922 when as part of the establishement of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the west section of Belfast, though at times it has included the area around the Docks on the north east side of the Lagan Estuary. West Belfast also contains part of the district of Lisburn.
At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations for the boundaries of constituencies in Northern Ireland. West Belfast currently has one of the smallest electorates of any constituency in Northern Ireland and it is proposed to expand it further into Lisburn, taking in areas currently contained in Lagan Valley.
Not included in the proposals is a common suggestion to reunite the five wards centred on the Shankill Road which are currently split between West Belfast and North Belfast. As the proposals are likely to be subject to public consultation it is likely this suggestion will be made and may be encorporated into the final boundaries.
The Member of Parliament since the 1997 general election is Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein. He previously held the seat between 1983The general election of June 9, 1983 gave the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher the second most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945. Thatcher had been extremely unpopular during her first two years in office but following a swift and and 1992The general election of April 9, 1992, was the fourth victory in a row for the Conservatives. Margaret Thatcher had been forced out of office in November 1990 and John Major, poorly regarded by some, succeeded her. During his term leading up to the 1992 e when he lost it to Joe Hendron of the Social Democratic and Labour PartyThe Social Democratic and Labour Party SDLP — Irish: Pairti Soisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. The SDLP is also a social democratic party, and is affiliated to the Socialist Intern but regained it in 1997.