On 26 May 1955, the 1955 United Kingdom general election was held in Northern Ireland, to elect all 630 members of the House of Commons, including the 12 Northern Ireland seats in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post.
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.
Candidates
Affiliation CandidatesUlster Unionist Party 12Sinn Féin 12Northern Ireland Labour Party 3Irish Labour 1Total 28
Results
+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 10 1 0 1 83.3 442,647 68.5 9.1 2 colspan="2" 2 16.7 152,310 23.6 0 0 0 — 35,614 5.5 8.0 0 0 1 1 — 16,050 2.5 4.7 0 0 1 1 — 0 0.0 7.1 0 0 1 1 — 0 0.0 7.1 0 0 0 — 0 0.0 5.8 Total 12 646,621 74.1 5.8
MPs elected Constituency Party MPAntrim North Phelim O'NeillAntrim South Knox CunninghamArmagh C. W. ArmstrongBelfast East Alan McKibbinBelfast North H. Montgomery HydeBelfast South David CampbellBelfast West Patricia McLaughlinDown North George CurrieDown South Lawrence OrrFermanagh and South Tyrone Philip ClarkeLondonderry Robin Chichester-ClarkMid Ulster Tom Mitchell
By-elections By-election Date Incumbent Party Winner Party CauseMid Ulster11 August 1955Tom 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.Tom Mitchell Tom Mitchell DisqualificationMid Ulster8 May 1956Charles Beattie George Forrest DisqualificationBelfast East19 March 1959Alan McKibbin Stanley McMaster Death
See also 1955 United Kingdom general election in England 1955 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1955 United Kingdom general election in Wales
References