Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency)
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- For other constituencies of the same name, see Londonderry (disambiguation).
| Londonderry County constituency |
|
|---|---|
| Created: | 1801, 1922 |
| Abolished: | 1885, 1983 |
| Type: | House of Commons |
Londonderry was a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also a constituency in elections to various regional bodies. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983. It returned two MPs 1801-1885 and one 1922-1983.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
The constituency consisted, in 1801-1885, of the whole of County Londonderry, except for the Parliamentary boroughs of Coleraine and Londonderry City.
The seat was re-created in 1922. As part of the consequences of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat was focused on County Londonderry. It comprised the Administrative county of Londonderry and the County Borough of Londonderry.
In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a United Kingdom general election.
In 1983 the number of seats for Northern Ireland was increased from 12 to 17 and Londonderry was split in two, forming Foyle and East Londonderry.
[edit] Members of Parliament
- Constituency created (1922)
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Sir Malcolm M. Macnaghten | Ulster Unionist Party | |
| 1929 by-election | Sir Ronald Deane Ross | Ulster Unionist Party | |
| 1951 by-election | William Wellwood | ||
| 1955 | Robin Chichester-Clark | Ulster Unionist Party | |
| Feb. 1974 | William Ross | Ulster Unionist Party | |
| 1983 | Constituency abolished | ||
[edit] Westminster elections
[edit] Elections in the 1970s
| General Election 1979: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | William Ross | 31,592 | 49.7 | ||
| Social Democratic and Labour | Hugh Logue | 19,185 | 30.2 | ||
| Alliance | Arthur Barr | 5,830 | 9.2 | ||
| Irish Independence | Fergus McAteer | 5,489 | 8.6 | ||
| Republican Clubs | Eamonn Melaugh | 888 | 1.4 | ||
| Independent Labour | William Webster | 639 | 1.0 | ||
| Majority | 12,407 | 19.5 | |||
| Turnout | 63,623 | 67.1 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election October 1974: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | William Ross | 35,138 | 54.4 | ||
| Social Democratic and Labour | John Hume | 26,118 | 40.4 | ||
| Republican Clubs | Michael Montgomery | 2,530 | 3.9 | ||
| Independent | Richard Foster | 846 | 1.3 | ||
| Majority | 9,020 | 14.0 | |||
| Turnout | 64,632 | 69.3 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election February 1974: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | William Ross | 33,060 | 52.7 | ||
| Social Democratic and Labour | Hugh Logue | 23,670 | 37.7 | ||
| Republican Clubs | Michael Montgomery | 4,889 | 7.8 | ||
| Independent | Richard Foster | 1,162 | 1.9 | ||
| Majority | 9,390 | 15.0 | |||
| Turnout | 62,781 | 68.1 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1970: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Robin Chichester-Clark | 39,141 | 53.1 | ||
| Unity | Eddie McAteer | 27,006 | 36.6 | ||
| Derry Labour | Eamonn McCann | 7,565 | 10.3 | ||
| Majority | 12,135 | 16.5 | |||
| Turnout | 73,712 | 81.6 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1960s
| General Election 1966: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Robin Chichester-Clark | 34,729 | 58.1 | ||
| Nationalist (NI) | Paddy Gormley | 22,167 | 37.1 | ||
| Independent Republican | Neil Gillespie | 2,860 | 4.8 | ||
| Majority | 12,562 | 21.0 | |||
| Turnout | 59,756 | 76.4 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1964: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Robin Chichester-Clark | 37,700 | 64.1 | ||
| Independent Republican | Hugh McAteer | 21,123 | 35.9 | ||
| Majority | 16,577 | 28.1 | |||
| Turnout | 58,823 | 76.5 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1950s
| General Election 1959: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Robin Chichester-Clark | 37,529 | 73.0 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Manus Canning | 13,872 | 27.0 | ||
| Majority | 23,657 | 46.0 | |||
| Turnout | 51,401 | 70.2 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election 1955: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Robin Chichester-Clark | 35,673 | 64.5 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Manus Canning | 19,640 | 35.5 | ||
| Majority | 16,033 | 29.0 | |||
| Turnout | 55,313 | 77.6 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
- In the Londonderry by-election, 1951 and the United Kingdom general election, 1951, William Wellwood was elected unopposed.
| General Election 1950: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Ronald Deane Ross | 36,602 | 62.6 | ||
| Independent Republican | Hugh McAteer | 21,880 | 37.4 | ||
| Majority | 14,722 | 25.2 | |||
| Turnout | 58,482 | 80.7 | |||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] Elections in the 1940s
| General Election 1945: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Ronald Deane Ross | 40,214 | 50.8 | N/A | |
| Nationalist (NI) | Denis Cavanagh | 37,561 | 47.4 | N/A | |
| Labour (NI) | Mitchell Gordon | 1,471 | 1.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 2,653 | 3.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 79,246 | 88.1 | N/A | ||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
[edit] Elections in the 1930s
- In the 1931 and 1935 United Kingdom general elections, Ronald Deane Ross was elected unopposed.
[edit] Elections in the 1920s
- In the Londonderry by-election, 1929 and the United Kingdom general election, 1929, Ronald Deane Ross was elected unopposed.
| General Election 1924: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Malcolm Macnaghten | 30,875 | 82.9 | N/A | |
| Sinn Féin | Charles MacWhinney | 5,869 | 15.8 | N/A | |
| Independent Unionist | William Galt | 517 | 1.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 25,006 | 67.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 37,261 | 59.1 | N/A | ||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
- In the United Kingdom general election, 1923, Malcolm Macnaghten was elected unopposed.
| General Election 1922: Londonderry | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Ulster Unionist | Malcolm Macnaghten | 30,743 | 75.7 | N/A | |
| Independent Unionist | Edmund Macnaughten | 9,861 | 24.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 20,882 | 51.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 40,604 | 63.9 | N/A | ||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
[edit] Politics and History of the constituency
From its inception Londonderry had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was approaching 40% in some elections.
In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect Robin Chichester-Clark, who had been a Minister in the government of Edward Heath. Instead they ran William Ross, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for the new East Londonderry.
For the history of the area post 1983, please see Foyle (UK Parliament constituency) and East Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency).
