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.

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.

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.

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.

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.