1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
The 1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 26 May as part of the wider general election with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post.
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12 seats in Northern Ireland of the 630 seats in the House of Commons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results
This was the first election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921 where all constituencies in the region were contested
The Ulster Unionists regained the seat which they had lost to Jack Beattie from the Irish Labour Party. The nationalist interest was represented by Sinn Féin who gained the two seats previously held by the Nationalist Party. Patricia McLaughlin was the first woman elected as an MP for a Northern Ireland constituency.
In the election as a whole, the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Sir Anthony Eden as Prime Minister, continued in a majority government.
Party | MPs | Change | Votes | % | |
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UUP | 10 | ![]() |
442,647 | 68.5% | |
Sinn Féin | 2 | ![]() |
152,310 | 23.6% | |
NI Labour | 0 | ![]() |
35,614 | 5.5% | |
Irish Labour | 0 | ![]() |
16,050 | 2.5% | |
Total | 12 | ![]() |
646,621 | 100 |
MPs elected
By-elections
By-election | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
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Mid Ulster | 11 August 1955[by 1] | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Disqualification | ||
Mid Ulster | 8 May 1956[by 1] | Charles Beattie | UUP | George Forrest | Independent Unionist | Disqualification | ||
Belfast East | 19 March 1959 | Alan McKibbin | UUP | Stanley McMaster | UUP | Death |
- Tom Mitchell won the most votes at the general election but was disqualified by the House of Commons on the grounds that he was a convicted felon. A by-election was called at which Mitchell again stood and won the most votes. On this occasion an election petition was lodged and Mitchell was again disqualified with the Election Court declaring his opponent Charles Beattie duly elected. It then emerged that Beattie himself was ineligible to sit because he held offices of profit under the Crown. Beattie was indemnified by Parliament against the consequences of sitting and voting while ineligible, and a further writ was moved. In the subsequent by-election, Independent Unionist George Forrest was elected. Forrest later joined the Ulster Unionists and won the seat for the party at the 1959 general election.
Footnotes
- Brooke sat as the MP for Lisnaskea in the Northern Ireland Parliament.
References
- "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1955". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- "The 1955 Westminster Elections in Northern Ireland". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Retrieved 19 January 2019.