1958 Northern Ireland general election

The 1958 Northern Ireland general election was called on 27 February by 1st Viscount Brookeborough[1] to be held on 20 March 1958.

1958 Northern Ireland general election

← 1953 20 March 1958 1962 →

All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland
27 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Basil Brooke Joe Stewart
Party UUP Nationalist
Leader since 1 May 1943 1958
Leader's seat Lisnaskea East Tyrone
Last election 38 seats, 48.6% 7 seats, 10.8%
Seats won 37 7
Seat change Decrease1 Steady
Popular vote 106,177 36,013
Percentage 44.0% 14.9%
Swing Decrease4.6% Increase4.1%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Tom Boyd None
Party NI Labour Ind. Labour Group
Leader since 1958 n/a
Leader's seat Belfast Pottinger None
Last election 0 seats, 12.1% Did not stand
Seats won 4 1
Seat change Increase4 Increase1
Popular vote 38,093 4,683
Percentage 15.8% 2.0%
Swing Increase3.0% New party

Election results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Basil Brooke
UUP

Prime Minister after election

Basil Brooke
UUP

Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. The Northern Ireland Labour Party returned to the Commons after being wiped out in the 1949 election.

Campaign

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Announcing the election, Viscount Brookeborough remarked that the election would be on the Border issue once more, noting that this was the ninth election on the same issue.[2] Unemployment was also an issue in the election with 50,000 people out of work in the province in that year.[2]

Results

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37 7 4 4
UUP Nationalist Lab Oth
1958 Northern Ireland general election
 
Party Candidates Votes
Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % No. Net %
  UUP 46 37 3 4 -1 71.2 44.0 106,177 -4.6
  NI Labour 8 4 4 0 +4 7.7 15.8 38,093 +3.0
  Nationalist 8 7 0 0 0 13.5 14.9 36,013 +4.1
  Ind. Unionist 5 0 0 1 0 6.8 16,537 N/A
  Independent Labour 2 0 0 1 -1 3.1 7,544 +0.6
  Ind. Republican Labour 1 1 0 0 0 1.9 3.1 7,510 +0.8
  Irish Labour 3 0 0 1 -1 3.0 7,321 -2.1
  Ind. Nationalist 2 1 1 0 +1 1.9 2.1 5,168 N/A
  Ulster Protestant Action 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 4,704 N/A
  Ind. Labour Group 1 1 1 0 +1 1.9 2.0 4,683 N/A
  Independent 2 1 0 0 0 1.9 1.8 4,231 +1.1
  Independent Irish Labour 1 0 0 0 0 1.1 2,761 -2.5
  Ulster Liberal 1 0 0 0 0 0.3 759 N/A

Electorate: 891,064 (359,816 in contested seats); Turnout: 67.1% (241,501).

Votes summary

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Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
43.97%
Labour
15.77%
Nationalist Party
14.91%
Independent Unionist
6.85%
Independent Labour
5.06%
Republican Labour
3.11%
Irish Labour
3.03%
Ind. Nationalist
2.14%
Ind. Protestant Unionist
1.95%
Independent Irish Labour
1.14%
Ulster Liberal
0.31%
Independent
1.75%

Seats summary

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Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
71.15%
Nationalist Party
13.46%
Labour
7.69%
Independent Labour
1.92%
Republican Labour
1.92%
Independent Nationalist
1.92%
Independent
1.92%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Six Counties Election on March 20". Evening Echo. 27 February 1958. p. 1.
  2. ^ a b "Border To Be Issue Again". Irish Independent. 28 February 1958. p. 9.