On 8 October 1959, the 1959 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.

The election took place towards the end of the IRA border campaign, which had seen the IRA launch a series of attacks and bombings against Northern Irish police and infrastructure. The launch of the campaign had in part been encouraged by the results of the last UK general election in Northern Ireland, which had seen Sinn Féin gain 2 seats, and receive nearly a quarter of the vote.

The Ulster Unionists won all the seats in region. This was a net gain from the result at the previous election, although they held all seats in the region before the 1959 election was called: in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Philip Clarke was unseated by petition and Robert Grosvenor was declared elected to the seat; in Mid Ulster, George Forrest had been elected in a by-election as an Independent Unionist, but subsequently joined the Ulster Unionists.

In the election as a whole, the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister, continued in a majority government.

Candidates

Affiliation CandidatesUlster Unionist Party 12Sinn Féin 12Northern Ireland Labour Party 3Independent Labour Group 1Ulster Liberal Party 1Total 29

Results

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Total Of all (%) Difference 12 2 0 2 100.0 445,013 77.2 8.5 0 0 2 2 — 63,415 11.0 12.6 0 0 0 — 44,370 7.7 2.2 0 colspan="3" — 20,062 3.5 0 colspan="3" — 3,253 0.6 Total 12 576,113 65.9 8.2

MPs elected Constituency Party MPAntrim North Henry ClarkAntrim South Knox CunninghamArmagh John MaginnisBelfast East Stanley McMasterBelfast North Stratton MillsBelfast South David CampbellBelfast West Patricia McLaughlinDown North George CurrieDown South Lawrence OrrFermanagh and South Tyrone Robert GrosvenorLondonderry Robin Chichester-ClarkMid Ulster George Forrest

See also 1959 United Kingdom general election in England 1959 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1959 United Kingdom general election in Wales

References