Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency).
Queen's University, Belfast
Former University constituency
for the House of Commons
1918 (1918)–1950 (1950)
Number of members One

Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament from 1918 until 1950.

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Contents

Boundaries

The constituency was not a physical area but was rather elected by the graduates of the Queen's University of Belfast.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [1] Party
1918 Sir William Whitla Ulster Unionist
1923 Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist
1940 by-election Prof. Douglas Lloyd Savory Ulster Unionist
1950 constituency abolished

Politics and History of the constituency

University constituencies had existed in the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors since 1603 and in 1918 Queen's was enfranchised as such. When the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established, the same franchise was preserved - see Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency).

As with most other Northern Ireland seats in this period, the electorate was heavily inclined towards the Ulster Unionists, with no contests for the Westminster seat taking place at all in the interwar years.

In the late 1940s legislation was passed to abolish the university constituencies at Westminster.

Election results

Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
General Election, 1918 [2]
New constituency
Electorate: 2039
Turnout: 1605 (78.7%)		 Ulster Unionist win
Majority: 1,369 (85.3%)		 Sir William Whitla Ulster Unionist 1,487 92.7 N/A
Sean Dolan Sinn Féin 118 7.4 N/A
General Election, 1922 [3] [4] Ulster Unionist hold Sir William Whitla Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1923 [3][5] Ulster Unionist hold Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1924 [3][5] Ulster Unionist hold Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1929 [3][6] Ulster Unionist hold Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1931 [3][7] Ulster Unionist hold Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1935 [3][8] Ulster Unionist hold Thomas Sinclair Ulster Unionist unopposed
By-election, 2 November 1940 [3][8]
Resignation of Sinclair		 Ulster Unionist hold Douglas Lloyd Savory Ulster Unionist unopposed
General Election, 1945 [3][9]
Electorate: 5,134
Turnout: 2,651 (51.6%)		 Ulster Unionist hold
Majority: 1,195 (45.0%)		 Douglas Lloyd Savory Ulster Unionist 1,923 72.5 N/A
Thomas Cusack Independent 728 27.5 N/A

See also

References

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "Q"
  2. ^ Walker, Brian M., ed (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0-901714-12-7. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 675. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 
  4. ^ Walker, Brian M., ed (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 15. ISBN 0-901714-96-8. 
  5. ^ a b Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 16
  6. ^ Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 17
  7. ^ Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 18
  8. ^ a b Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 19
  9. ^ Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 20