Belfast Shankill (UK Parliament constituency)

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Belfast Shankill
Borough constituency
Created: 1918
Abolished: 1922
Type: House of Commons

Shankill, a division of Belfast, was a former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This constituency comprised the western half of North Belfast, based on the then Shankill ward of Belfast City Council.

It returned one Member of Parliament 1918-1922.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1918 and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Belfast North constituency.

[edit] Politics

The constituency was strongly unionist, but with significant labour support. The unionists ran a candidate from the Ulster Unionist Labour Association, a group affiliated with the Unionist Party, as a Labour Unionist. He easily won the seat. A Belfast Labour Party candidate was in second place. Sinn Féin demonstrated republican weakness in the seat by receiving only 534 votes, in the 1918 election.

[edit] The First Dáil

Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.

In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This constituency, in republican theory, was incorporated in a four-member Dáil constituency of Belfast North.

[edit] Member of Parliament

Key to party: Lab U Labour Unionist.

From To Name (Party) Born Died
1918 1922 Samuel McGuffin (Lab U) 18 August 1863 21 November 1952

[edit] Election

The 1918 election in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

General Election 1918: Belfast Shankill
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Unionist Samuel McGuffin 11,840 73.78 N/A
Belfast Labour Samuel Kyle 3,674 22.89 N/A
Sinn Féin Michael Carolan 534 3.33 N/A
Majority 8,166 50.88 N/A
Turnout 22,971 69.86 N/A
Labour Unionist gain from new seat Swing N/A

[edit] References

  • Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1979)
  • (Information about boundaries of the constituency derived from the map of Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies (in force from 1921) and the wards included in the Belfast UK Parliament seats (in force 1922) for which see Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-1972, by Sydney Elliott {Political Reference Publications 1973) and Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig {Political Reference Publications 1972) respective

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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