1949 Northern Ireland general election
The 1949 Northern Ireland general election was held on 19 February 1949. The election became known as the Chapel-gate election because collections were held at churches in the Republic of Ireland to support the Nationalist Party campaign.[1][2]
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All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Election results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The election was held just after the Republic of Ireland's declaration of a republic. The Unionists were able to use their majority in the Parliament of Northern Ireland to schedule the election at a time when many Protestants felt uneasy about events taking place south of the border, and as a result might be more likely to vote Unionist than for Labour candidates. This appears to have been borne out in the collapse of the Labour vote; the party lost all of its seats in the Commons, and would not return to the Parliament until 1958.
20 MPs were elected unopposed, most of them Ulster Unionists.
Results
edit37 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
UUP | Nationalist | IU | Oth |
1949 Northern Ireland general election | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidates | Votes | |||||||||||||
Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % | |||||||
UUP | 46 | 37 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 71.2 | 62.7 | 237,411 | +12.3 | ||||||
Nationalist | 17 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 17.3 | 26.8 | 101,445 | +17.6 | ||||||
NI Labour | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | — | 7.1 | 26,831 | -11.4 | ||||||
Independent Labour | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 7,970 | -0.7 | ||||||
Ind. Unionist | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 2,150 | -4.4 | ||||||
Independent | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 2,028 | +0.2 | ||||||
Communist (NI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.2 | 623 | -2.6 | ||||||
Socialist Republican | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0 | -1.5 |
All parties shown. The only Socialist Republican Party candidate was elected unopposed. Electorate 846,719 (477,354 in contested seats); Turnout 79.3% (378,458).
Votes summary
editSeats summary
editContested seats
editOnly 32 of the 52 seats (62%) were actually contested.
1949 Northern Ireland general election (contested seats) | |||||||||||||||
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Party | Popular vote | Candidates | |||||||||||||
Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % | |||||||||||
Ulster Unionist | 237,411 | 62.7 | 32 | 23 | 71.9 | ||||||||||
Nationalist | 101,445 | 26.8 | 15 | 7 | 21.9 | ||||||||||
Labour | 26,831 | 7.1 | 9 | 0 | — | ||||||||||
Ind. Labour | 7,970 | 2.1 | 3 | 0 | — | ||||||||||
Ind. Unionist | 2,150 | 0.6 | 1 | 0 | — | ||||||||||
Independent | 2,028 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 | 6.3 | ||||||||||
Communist | 623 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | — | ||||||||||
Total | 378,458 | 79.3 | 63 | 32 | — |
Uncontested seats
editIn 20 of the 52 seats (38%), only one candidate stood and they were elected unopposed without any votes cast. The vast majority of the MPs elected without a contest were Ulster Unionists.
1949 Northern Ireland general election (uncontested seats) | |||||||||||||||
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Party | Popular vote | Candidates | |||||||||||||
Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % | |||||||||||
Ulster Unionist | Unopposed | 14 | 14 | 70.0 | |||||||||||
Nationalist | Unopposed | 2 | 2 | 10.0 | |||||||||||
Ind. Unionist | Unopposed | 2 | 2 | 10.0 | |||||||||||
Ind. Labour | Unopposed | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | |||||||||||
Socialist Republican | Unopposed | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | |||||||||||
Total | 20 | 20 | 100 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Armitage, Darryl (24 May 2021). "THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: Duty of every loyalist to vote warns Ulster's Minister of Labour". News Letter. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ "The Anti-Partition League and 'The Chapel Gate Election' 1949". BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results Archived 16 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Includes 14 members elected unopposed.
- ^ Includes 2 members elected unopposed.