Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)
Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament from 1918 until 1950.
Queen's University, Belfast | |
---|---|
Former University constituency for the House of Commons | |
1918–1950 | |
Number of members | One |
It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Franchise
The MP was rather elected by the graduates of Queen's University Belfast.
First Dáil
After the 1918 election, Sinn Féin invited all those elected for constituencies in Ireland to sit as TDs in Dáil Éireann rather than in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[1] All those elected for Irish constituencies were included in the roll of the Dáil but only those elected for Sinn Féin sat in the First Dáil.[2] In May 1921, the Dáil 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 and that the First Dáil would be dissolved on the assembly of the new body.[3] The graduates of Queen's would then have represented in the Dáil by the four-seat constituency of Queen's University of Belfast, which also returned no representatives for Sinn Féin.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member [4] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1918 | William Whitla | Ulster Unionist | |
1923 | Thomas Sinclair | ||
1940 by-election | Douglas Lloyd Savory | ||
1950 | constituency abolished |
Politics and History of the constituency
University constituencies had existed in the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors since 1603 and in 1918 Queen's was enfranchised as such. When the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established, the same franchise was preserved - see Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency).
As with most other Northern Ireland seats in this period, the electorate was heavily inclined towards the Ulster Unionists, with no contests for the Westminster seat taking place at all in the interwar years.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, university constituencies at Westminster were abolished with effect at the 1950 United Kingdom general election.
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | William Whitla | 1,487 | 92.65 | N/A | |
Sinn Féin | Sean B. Dolan | 118 | 7.35 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,369 | 85.30 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 1,605 | 78.72 | N/A | ||
UUP win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | William Whitla | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Resignation of Sinclair
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Douglas Savory | Unopposed | |||
UUP hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Douglas Savory | 1,923 | 72.5 | N/A | |
Independent | Thomas Cusack | 728 | 27.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 1,195 | 45.0 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 2,651 | 51.6 | N/A | ||
UUP hold |
References
- "The inaugural public meeting of Dáil Éireann". Dáil 100. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- "3. AN ROLLA". Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 January 1919. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- "Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 May 1921 - PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "Q"
- Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
- Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 675. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- Walker, Brian M., ed. (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 15. ISBN 0-901714-96-8.
- Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 16
- Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 17
- Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 18
- Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 19
- Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 20