Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 until 1969. It returned four MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. In 1969 the constituency was abolished by the under reforms carried out by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill.

Queen's University of Belfast
Former University Constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Queen's University of Belfast shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1921
Abolished	1969
Election method	Single transferable vote

Franchise

The constituency was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and its four MPs were elected by the graduates of Queen's University of Belfast.

Second Dáil

In May 1921, Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic run by Sinn Féin, passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil.[1] All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but as no Sinn Féin MP was elected for Queen's University, it was not represented there.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election	Member	Party		Member	Party		Member	Party		Member	Party
MPs (1921)	John Campbell		UUP	John Hanna Robb		UUP	Robert James Johnstone		UUP	Hugh Morrison		UUP
MPs (1929)	Robert Corkey		UUP							Robert McNeill		Independent Unionist
MPs (1935)										Arthur Brownlow Mitchell		UUP
MPs (1938)				John MacDermott		UUP
MPs (1938)							Howard Stevenson		UUP
MPs (1942)										William Lyle		UUP
MPs (1943)	John W. Renshaw		UUP
MPs (1944)				Herbert Quin		UUP
MPs (1945)	Frederick McSorley		Independent							Irene Calvert		Independent
MPs 1948	Samuel Irwin		UUP
MPs (1949)				Eileen M. Hickey		Independent	William Lyle		UUP
MPs (1949)							Frederick Lloyd-Dodd		UUP
MPs (1953)										Elizabeth Maconachie		UUP
MPs (1958)				Charles Stewart		Independent
MPs (1961)	Sheelagh Murnaghan		Ulster Liberal
MPs (1962)							Ian McClure		UUP
MPs (1966)				Robert Porter		UUP

Election results

Elections in the 1920s

1921 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	UUP	John Campbell	43.35	835
	UUP	John Hanna Robb	19.11	368	438
	UUP	Professor Robert James Johnstone	14.49	279	602
	UUP	Hugh Smith Morrison	12.62	243	296	564
	Sinn Féin	Sean B. Dolan	10.44	201	204	204
Electorate: 2,528   Valid: 1,926   Quota: 386   Turnout: 76.19%

At the 1925 Northern Ireland general election, John Campbell, Robert James Johnstone, Hugh Morrison and John Hanna Robb were elected unopposed.

1929 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	UUP	John Hanna Robb	24.9	528
	UUP	Robert Corkey	24.0	510
	Independent Unionist	Robert McNeill	20.8	441
	UUP	Robert James Johnstone	16.0	340	397	438
	UUP	Arthur Brownlow Mitchell	14.2	302	348	392
Electorate: 3,324   Valid: 2,121   Quota: 425   Turnout: 63.8%

Elections in the 1930s

1933 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	UUP	Robert James Johnstone	29.5	695
	UUP	Robert Corkey	21.7	512
	UUP	John Hanna Robb	19.1	451	472
	Independent Unionist	Robert McNeill	15.6	368	604
	Independent	Frederick McSorley	14.0	331	337
Electorate: 3,800   Valid: 2,357   Quota: 472   Turnout: 62.0%

At the 1935 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, Arthur Brownlow Mitchell was elected unopposed.

1938 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	UUP	Robert Corkey	608	24.8	1	1
	UUP	Robert James Johnstone	600	24.5	2	1
	UUP	Arthur Brownlow Mitchell	369	14.7	3	5
	Independent	Frederick McSorley	359			5
	Independent Unionist	S. Sims	259	10.6		3
	UUP	John MacDermott	253	10.3	4	5
Turnout			2,448	61.1	– 0.9

At the 1938 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, Howard Stevenson was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1940s

At the 1942 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, William Lyle was elected unopposed.

At the 1943 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, John W. Renshaw was elected unopposed.

1944 Queen's University of Belfast by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Herbert Quin	1,178	53.6	N/A
	Independent	Irene Calvert	1,020	46.4	N/A
Majority			158	71.9	N/A
Turnout			2,198	46.7	– 14.4
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1945 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	Independent	Frederick McSorley	649	21.6	1	1
	UUP	Howard Stevenson	580	19.3	2	1
	Independent	Irene Calvert	570	18.9	3	1
	UUP	Herbert Quin	535	17.8	4	3
	UUP	E. B. Wallace	286	9.5		3
	UUP	William Lyle	279	9.3		3
	Independent Unionist	S. Sims	109	3.6		2
Turnout			3,008	59.1	– 2.0

1948 Queen's University of Belfast by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Samuel Irwin	2,735	70.8	N/A
	Independent	Eileen M. Hickey	1,126	29.2	N/A
Majority			1,609	41.7	N/A
Turnout			3,861	57.4	– 1.7
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1949 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	UUP	Samuel Irwin	1,662	31.7	1	1
	Independent	Eileen M. Hickey	1,073	20.5	2	1
	Independent	Irene Calvert	955	18.2	3	3
	UUP	E. B. Wallace	620	11.8		3
	UUP	William Lyle	588	11.2	4	3
	UUP	Howard Stevenson	339	6.5		2
Turnout			5,237	75.0	+ 15.9

1949 Queen's University of Belfast by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Frederick Lloyd-Dodd	2,100	54.0	N/A
	Independent Unionist	N. S. Dickson	1,312	33.7	N/A
	Independent	E. Reid	479	12.3	N/A
Majority			749	19.2	N/A
Turnout			3,891	54.2	– 20.8
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

1953 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	UUP	Samuel Irwin	1,840	32.9	1	1
	Independent	Eileen M. Hickey	1,206	21.6	2	1
	UUP	Elizabeth Maconachie	940	16.8	4	2
	UUP	Frederick Lloyd-Dodd	706	12.6	3	2
	Independent	R. Appleton	539	9.6		2
	NI Labour	Sam Napier	297	5.3		2
Turnout			5,586	63.7	– 11.3

1958 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	UUP	Samuel Irwin	1,640	28.3	1	1
	Independent	Charles Stewart	1,218	21.0	2	1
	UUP	Elizabeth Maconachie	1,131	19.5	3	2
	Ulster Liberal	Albert McElroy	759	13.1		4
	UUP	Frederick Lloyd-Dodd	706	12.2	4	4
	NI Labour	S. J. Watt	345	5.9		2
Turnout			5,799	52.9	– 10.8

Elections in the 1960s

1961 Queen's University of Belfast by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Liberal	Sheelagh Murnaghan	2,622	52.5	N/A
	UUP	Samuel Rodgers	2,370	47.5	N/A
Majority			252	5.0	N/A
Turnout			4,992	45.1	– 7.8
	Ulster Liberal gain from UUP		Swing	N/A

1962 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	1st Pref	%	Seat	Count
	UUP	Ian McClure	2,040	30.0	1	1
	Ulster Liberal	Sheelagh Murnaghan	1,698	24.9	2	1
	UUP	Elizabeth Maconachie	1,252	18.4	3	2
	Independent	Charles Stewart	1,220	17.9	4	3
	UUP	H. R. Brown	597	8.8		3
Turnout			6,807	53.8	+ 0.9

At the 1965 Northern Ireland general election, Harold McClure, Elizabeth Maconachie, Sheelagh Murnaghan and Charles Stewart were elected unopposed.

1966 Queen's University of Belfast by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robert Porter	3,717	55.6	N/A
	Ulster Liberal	Albert McElroy	2,968	44.4	N/A
Majority			749	11.2	N/A
Turnout			6,685	48.7	N/A
	UUP gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

References

1. "Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 May 1921 - PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
2. "APPENDIX 19 DÁIL ÉIREANN". Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 August 1921. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: University