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.

1949 Northern Ireland general election

19 February 1949

All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland
27 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Basil Brooke James McSparran Harry Diamond
Party UUP Nationalist Socialist Republican
Leader since 1 May 1943 15 November 1945 1944
Leader's seat Lisnaskea Mourne Belfast Falls
Last election 33 seats, 50.4% 9 seats, 9.1% 1 seat, 1.5%
Seats won 37 9 1
Seat change 4 1
Popular vote 237,411 101,445 Unopposed
Percentage 62.7% 26.8%
Swing 12.3% 17.6% 1.5%

Election results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Basil Brooke
UUP

Elected Prime Minister

Basil Brooke
UUP

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 development 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.

Results

37 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
  Independent 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

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
62.73%
Nationalist Party
26.80%
Labour
7.10%
Independent Labour
2.11%
Independent Unionist
0.57%
Communist
0.16%
Independent
0.54%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
71.15%
Nationalist Party
17.31%
Independent Unionist
3.85%
Independent Labour
1.92%
Socialist Republican
1.92%
Independent
3.85%

References

See also

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