Prior to the 1885 United Kingdom general election and from the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Antrim constituency.
In terms of the then local government areas the constituency in 1929 comprised parts of the Rural Districts of Ballymena, Ballymoney and Larne.
From 1886 to 1974 the Conservative and Unionist members of the United Kingdom House of Commons formed a single Parliamentary party.
Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin.
Elections to both assemblies were conducted not under the first past the post system, but instead under the Single Transferable Vote.