1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
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12 seats in Northern Ireland of the 630 seats in the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 26 May as part of the wider general election with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post.
Results
This was the first election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921 where all constituencies in the region were contested
The Ulster Unionists regained the seat which they had lost to Jack Beattie from the Irish Labour Party. The nationalist interest was represented by Sinn Féin who gained the two seats previously held by the Nationalist Party. Patricia McLaughlin was the first woman elected as an MP for a Northern Ireland constituency.
In the election as a whole, the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Sir Anthony Eden as Prime Minister, continued in a majority government.
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Labour Party" || Party | MPs | Change | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UUP | 10 |  2
|
442,647 | 68.5% | |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 2
|
152,310 | 23.6% | |
| NI Labour | 0 | 
|
35,614 | 5.5% | |
| bgcolor="Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" | | Irish Labour | 0 |  1
|
16,050 | 2.5% |
| Total | 12 |
|
646,621 | 100 | |
MPs elected
| Constituency | Party | MP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antrim North
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Phelim O'Neill | |
| Antrim South
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Knox Cunningham | |
| Armagh
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | C. W. Armstrong | |
| Belfast East
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Alan McKibbin | |
| Belfast North
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | H. Montgomery Hyde | |
| Belfast South
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | David Campbell | |
| Belfast West
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Patricia McLaughlin | |
| Down North
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | George Currie | |
| Down South
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Lawrence Orr | |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | |
Sinn Féin | Philip Clarke | |
| Londonderry
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Robin Chichester-Clark | |
| Mid Ulster
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | |
Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell | |
By-elections
| By-election | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid Ulster | 11 August 1955[by 1] | Tom Mitchell
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | |
Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | |
Sinn Féin | Disqualification | ||
| Mid Ulster | 8 May 1956[by 1] | Charles Beattie
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | George Forrest
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" | |
Ind. Unionist | Disqualification | ||
| Belfast East | 19 March 1959 | Alan McKibbin
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Stanley McMaster
style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | |
UUP | Death | ||
- ^ a b Tom Mitchell won the most votes at the general election but was disqualified by the House of Commons on the grounds that he was a convicted felon. A by-election was called at which Mitchell again stood and won the most votes. On this occasion an election petition was lodged and Mitchell was again disqualified with the Election Court declaring his opponent Charles Beattie duly elected. It then emerged that Beattie himself was ineligible to sit because he held offices of profit under the Crown. Beattie was indemnified by Parliament against the consequences of sitting and voting while ineligible, and a further writ was moved. In the subsequent by-election, Independent Unionist George Forrest was elected. Forrest later joined the Ulster Unionists and won the seat for the party at the 1959 general election.
Footnotes
References
- ^ "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1955". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ "The 1955 Westminster Elections in Northern Ireland". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
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