Mid Ulster is a primarily rural constituency, located in the heart of Northern Ireland. The geographical centre of Northern Ireland is located in the townland of Annaghone, not far from Stewartstown, at the southern end of the constituency. It is bounded on the eastern side by Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. The Sperrin Mountains are an important physical aspect of the constituency, with Slieve Gallion and Glenshane being a part of this range. The constituency stretches from the A6 Glenshane Rd (Londonderry-Belfast route) in the north, to within two miles of the M1 in the south. The two major rivers in the constituency, both of which flow into Lough Neagh, are the Moyola, which primarily runs through Magherafelt District, and the Ballinderry, which primarily runs through Cookstown District. The River Bann at Portglenone and at Toomebridge marks the boundary of Mid Ulster with North and South Antrim respectively.

Mid Ulster consists of the whole of Magherafelt District, the whole of Cookstown District and the Torrent wards of Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough. (the area around Newmills, Coalisland and Donaghmore) It therefore consists of much of South Londonderry and all of East Tyrone. The main towns in the constituency are Cookstown, (population in 2001: 10,646) Magherafelt, (population in 2001: 8,372) Coalisland (population in 2001: 4,917) and Maghera (population in 2001: 3,711) Other smaller population centres include: Castledawson, Bellaghy, Swatragh, Moneymore, Coagh, Stewartstown, Donaghmore, Tobermore, Pomeroy, Draperstown, Upperlands, Knockloughrim, Tamlaght O’Crilly, Desertmartin, The Loup and Ballyronan, which is also County Londonderry’s only port on Lough Neagh. It is certainly fair to say that the bulk of Mid Ulster’s population live in the rural areas. Since 2001, the main population centres have witnessed an influx of migrant workers, especially from Poland, Lithuania and Portugal.

Farming is the main industry in Mid Ulster, although the larger towns have very distinct commercial and industrial zones. Some Notable Mid Ulster based companies include: Tobermore Concrete, F.P McCann Ltd, Henry Brothers, Hyndman’s Bakery, Genesis Bakery, Grampian Country Pork, The McAvoy Group and Cookstown based construction company McAleer & Rushe.

For 14 years, and under radically different boundaries, William McCrea of the DUP was MP for Mid Ulster, before losing the seat in 1997 to Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein. McGuinness remains MP for the constituency today. Mid Ulster is notable for having one of the highest voter turnouts in Northern Ireland at election time; 73% of the eligible electorate voted in the 2007 Assembly elections. Billy Armstrong MLA was one of six MLAs elected to serve the constituency in the 1998 Assembly elections. He has been successfully re-elected in 2003 and 2007. Billy continues to serve the population of Mid Ulster each and every day both in his constituency office (located in the heart of Mid Ulster, at Stewartstown) and on the floor of the Northern Ireland Assembly.