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1951 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

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1951 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

← 1950 25 October 1951 1955 →

12 seats in Northern Ireland of the 625 seats in the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Sir Basil Brooke, Bt James McSparran William Norton
Party UUP Nationalist Irish Labour
Leader since 1943 1945 1932
Leader's seat Did not stand[fn 2] Did not stand[fn 3] Did not stand[fn 1]
Seats won 9 1 1
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1 Increase 1

  Fourth party
 
Party Ind. Nationalist
Seats won 1
Seat change Increase 1

The 1951 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 25 October as part of the wider general election with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post.

Results

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The Ulster Unionists lost one seat to Jack Beattie, formerly an Independent Labour MP but now standing for the Irish Labour Party. Four Ulster Unionist candidates were returned unopposed, the last UK general election in which any candidates were so returned.[1] The Nationalists also lost one seat to retirement. It was gained by Michael O'Neill, an independent Nationalist.[2]

In the election as a whole, the Labour Party government led by Clement Attlee, which had won with a narrow majority in the previous election, lost out to the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Sir Winston Churchill, who returned as Prime Minister.

Results[3]
Party MPs Change Uncontested Votes[4] %[4]
Ulster Unionist 9 Decrease 1 4 274,928 59.4
Irish Labour Party 1 Increase 1 0 33,174 7.2
Independent Nationalist 1 Increase 1 0 33,094 7.1
Nationalist 1 Decrease 1 0 32,717 7.1
Northern Ireland Labour Party 0 Steady 0 62,324 13.5
Independent Republican 0 Steady 0 26,976 5.8
Total 12 Steady 4 463,213 100

MPs elected

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Constituency Party MP
Antrim North Ulster Unionist Hugh O'Neill
Antrim South Ulster Unionist Douglas Savory
Armagh Ulster Unionist Richard Harden
Belfast East Ulster Unionist Alan McKibbin
Belfast North Ulster Unionist H. Montgomery Hyde
Belfast South Ulster Unionist Conolly Gage
Belfast West Irish Labour Jack Beattie
Down North Ulster Unionist Walter Smiles
Down South Ulster Unionist Lawrence Orr
Fermanagh and South Tyrone Nationalist Cahir Healy
Londonderry Ulster Unionist William Wellwood
Ulster Mid Ind. Nationalist Michael O'Neill

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Norton sat as a TD for Kildare in Dáil Éireann.
  2. ^ Brooke sat as the MP for Lisnaskea in the Northern Ireland Parliament.
  3. ^ McSparran sat as the MP for Mourne in the Northern Ireland Parliament.

References

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  1. ^ "General Election Results 1885–1979". election.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 February 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ F. W. S. Craig. British Parliamentary Election Results: 1950-1970. p. 686.
  3. ^ "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1951". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2006). British Electoral Facts. Ashgate. p. 37.