On 3 May 1979, the 1979 United Kingdom general election was held in Northern Ireland, to elect all 635 members of the House of Commons, with 12 constituencies being in Northern Ireland.

The election was after Labour Party prime minister James Callaghan lost a vote of confidence by 311 votes to 310. The election was won by the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher, and began a period of 18-year government by the party, with the election being the first of four consecutive election victories for the Conservative Party.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the February 1974 general election in Northern Ireland.

Affiliation CandidatesAlliance Party of Northern Ireland 12Ulster Unionist Party 11Social Democratic and Labour Party 9Republican Clubs 7Democratic Unionist Party 5Irish Independence Party 4Unionist Party of Northern Ireland 3Northern Ireland Labour Party 3United Ulster Unionist Party 2Independent Unionist 1United Labour Party 1Reform 1Inter-Dependence Party 1Independent Republican 1Independent Labour 1Independent Social Democratic and Labour 1Labour Integrationist 1Total 64

Analysis

Ulster Unionist leader Harry West failed to win a seat for the second time, and would resign later that year after failing to win a seat at the first European Parliament election. The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party had disbanded with its members and MPs primarily joining the Ulster Unionist Party. Of the Vanguard's three Members of Parliament, two joined the UUP. Robert Bradford was re-elected in Belfast South; however, the former party's leader William Craig lost Belfast East.

Conversely, the newly formed United Ulster Unionist Party, which had split from the Vanguard, won the seat of Mid Ulster This was by way of John Dunlop, former member and MP in the seat for the Vanguard, retaining the seat and therefor winning the seat for the UUUP from his former party.

The Democratic Unionist Party increased its representation from the one seat of Leader Ian Paisley in North Antrim. The party also won Belfast East from William Craig, with future Leader of the CUP and First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson entering Parliament. the Democratic Unionist also won Belfast North from the UUP.

Frank Maguire was re-elected as an Independent Nationalist, defeating the leaders of both the UUP and the new United Ulster Unionist Party, as well as Austin Currie, a member of the SDLP standing without the support of the party. Maguire's death on 5 March 1981 led to a by-election won by Bobby Sands, an IRA prisoner who died later that year as a result of a hunger strike. The Representation of the People Act 1981 disqualified prisoners detained for more than a year from membership of the House of Commons, so the resulting by-election was contested by Sands's election agent Owen Carron, rather than by another prisoner on hunger strike.

Results

+PartySeatsAggregate Votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%) 5 0 1 1 41.7 254,578 36.6 0.1 1 0 0 8.3 126,235 18.2 4.2 0 0 0 — 82,892 11.9 5.5 3 2 0 2 25.0 70,795 10.2 1.7 1 colspan="2" 1 8.3 39,856 5.7 1 1 0 1 8.3 36,989 5.3 4.6 0 colspan="3" — 23,086 3.3 1 0 0 8.3 22,398 3.2 1.5 0 0 0 — 12,098 1.7 1.3   Independent SDLP 0 colspan="3" — 10,795 1.6 0 0 0 — 8,021 1.2 1.9 0 0 0 — 4,411 0.6 1.0 0 colspan="3" — 1,895 0.3   Labour Integrationist 0 colspan="3" — 692 0.1   Independent Labour 0 colspan="3" — 639 0.1   Inter-Dependence 0 colspan="3" — 216 0.0   Reform 0 colspan="3" — 31 0.0   Other 0 colspan="2" 3 — 31 0.0 Total 12 0 100.0 695,887 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 67.7

MPs elected Constituency Party MPAntrim North Ian PaisleyAntrim South James MolyneauxArmagh Harold McCuskerBelfast East Peter RobinsonBelfast North John McQuadeBelfast South Robert BradfordBelfast West Gerry FittDown North Jim KilfedderDown South Enoch PowellFermanagh and South Tyrone Frank MaguireLondonderry William RossMid Ulster John Dunlop

By-elections Constituency Date Incumbent Party Winner Party CauseFermanagh and South Tyrone9 April 1981Frank Maguire Bobby Sands DeathFermanagh and South Tyrone20 August 1981Bobby Sands Owen Carron Death from hunger strikeBelfast South4 March 1982Robert Bradford Martin Smyth Killed by the IRA

See also 1979 United Kingdom general election in England 1979 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1979 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Notes

References