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1920 Belfast Corporation election

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Belfast Corporation election, 1920
← 1914 16 January 1920 1925 →
All 60 seats to Belfast Corporation
31 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader William Coates David Robb Campbell
Party Irish Unionist Belfast Labour
Seats won 35 12
Seat change Decrease17 Increase12
Map showing the area of Belfast Corporation
Council control after election

Irish Unionist

An election to Belfast Corporation took place in January 1920 as part of that year's Irish local elections. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 had seen elections for local government in Ireland change to a more proportional system. As a result, Unionist dominance of the Belfast council was somewhat undermined, and the party lost 15 seats. In contrast Labour, Sinn Féin, and Nationalist representation grew, resulting in a more politically and socially representative council.[1]

147 candidates stood for the sixty seats on the council. The sixty seats were in nine new wards, identical to the parliamentary constituencies.[2] In advance of the election, the Irish Times stated that it expected the Unionists to lose between five and eight seats, to be picked up by the Labour and Nationalist candidates, with Sinn Féin having a chance of taking one or two seats.[3]

The result in the Falls was controversial; over twenty candidates stood, creating the most complex election by single-transferable vote to date; and 764 votes for disallowed due to spoiled ballot papers. 300 of these lacked an official mark; this was because the printing press marking them had ceased adding it near the end of the run, but this error was not noticed until the election count took place.[4][5]

After the election Sir William Coates, 1st Baronet was elected by the new council as Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Following the partition of Ireland the Northern Irish Government restored the older, and less representative ward based electoral system.[1]

Results by party

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Labour Association" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #cd5c5c;" data-sort-value="Belfast Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #32cd32;" data-sort-value="Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FFBBBB;" data-sort-value="Independent Labour" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #B31B1B;" data-sort-value="National Amalgamated Union of Labour" |
Party Candidates Seats ± First Pref. votes[6] FPv% ±%
UUP 56 29 -17 40,907 45.95
Labour Unionist 6 4,699 5.28
Belfast Labour 37 10 +10 12,768 14.34
Nationalist 40 5 -3 10,758 12.08
Sinn Féin 10 5 +5 7,120 8.00
Ind. Unionist 2 4,167 4.68
Independent Labour 2 3,007 3.37
Independent 1 4,467 5.02
NAUL 0 1,138 1.28
Totals 60 89,031 100% —

Councillors[5][7]

Pottinger

Julia McMordie (Unionist)
Anderson (Unionist)
McGowan (Unionist)
Gordon (Independent Unionist)
Savage (Nationalist)
McKeague (Labour)

Ormeau

Watters (Unionist)
Williamson (Unionist)
John Campbell White (Unionist)
John Baird (Labour)
David Robb Campbell (Labour)
William Frederick Coates (Unionist)

Duncairn

Barron (Independent Unionist)
Mercier (Unionist)
Alexander (Unionist)
Dempsey (Nationalist)
Lawther (Labour)
Bradbury (Labour Unionist)
Elliott (Unionist)

Cromac

Crawford McCullough (Unionist)
McKeirnan (Nationalist)
T. McConnell (Unionist)
T. J. Kennedy (Independent Unionist)
H. Riddell (Unionist)
Lennox (Labour Unionist)
Jameson (Unionist)

Shankill

Sam Kyle (Labour)
Hugh Murphy (Unionist)
Tommy Henderson (Independent Unionist)
F. F. Clark (Unionist)
Dawson Gordon (Labour)
William George Turner (Unionist)
Michael Carolan (SF)
W. C. Bickerstaff (Unionist)

St Anne's

Alexander Boyd (Independent Labour)
G. M. Donaldson (Labour)
J. A. Doran (Unionist)
Alexander Hopkins (Unionist)
James Johnston (Unionist)
Hugh McLaurin (Unionist)

Victoria

John Harkin (Nationalist)
James Augustine Duff (Unionist)
Frank Workman (Unionist)
T. Kennedy (Labour)
Thompson Donald (Labour Unionist)
J. Cosgrove (SF)
D. Jones (Unionist)

Woodvale

Joseph Davison (Unionist)
John Graham (Unionist)
Clarke Scott (Labour)
A. Hodgens (Unionist)
W. Macartney (Unionist)
W. Addis (Labour)

Falls

Richard Byrne (Nationalist)
Oswald Jamison (Nationalist)
Dennis McCullagh (SF)
Henry McKeag (Unionist)
Demot Barnes (SF)
Denis Houston (Labour)

References

  1. ^ a b Laffan, Michael (1999). The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 327.
  2. ^ "Provincial nominations", Irish Times, 6 January 1920, p.6
  3. ^ "Parties and the elections: interesting figures", Irish Times, 15 January 1920, p.5
  4. ^ "Municipal elections: the Belfast count", 20 January 1920
  5. ^ a b "Returns in the provinces: Belfast Labour's big stride", Irish Times, 19 January 1920
  6. ^ p.139
  7. ^ "Interesting contests", Irish Times, 17 January 1920
Preceded by
Belfast Corporation election, 1914 		Belfast Corporation elections Succeeded by
Belfast Corporation election, 1925
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