East Tyrone (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°38′46″N 6°44′42″W / 54.646°N 6.745°W

East Tyrone
Former County constituency
for the Parliament of Northern Ireland

East Tyrone shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created 1929
Abolished 1972
Election method First past the post
Northern Ireland 1921–72
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East Tyrone was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

East Tyrone was a county constituency comprising the eastern part of County Tyrone. It was created in 1929, when the House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland. East Tyrone was created by the division of Fermanagh and Tyrone into eight new constituencies, of which five were in County Tyrone. The constituency survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973.[1]

The main town in the area was Cookstown. The seat was bordered by Mid Tyrone to the west, South Tyrone to the south, South Londonderry to the north and Lough Neagh to the east.

Politics

County Tyrone had five Stormont MPs between 1929 and 1972. Mid Tyrone and West Tyrone were strongly nationalist, while the constituencies covering the north and south of the county were consistently won by unionists. East Tyrone was marginal between the two traditions, with nationalists just outnumbering unionists.

Nationalists consistently won the seat, with majorities around 1,000. In the 1958 election, however, the sitting Nationalist MP, Joseph Francis Stewart, was run close by the area's Westminster MP George Forrest (Ulster Unionist MP for Mid Ulster 1956-1969).

Members of Parliament

YearMemberParty
1929 Joseph Francis Stewart Nationalist
1964 Austin Currie Nationalist
1970 Social Democratic and Labour Party

Election results

At the 1929, 1933 general elections, Joseph Francis Stewart was elected unopposed.

General Election 1938: East Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Joseph Francis Stewart 7,942 54.0 N/A
UUP D. G. Kennedy 6,764 46.0 N/A
Majority 1,178 8.0 N/A
Turnout 14,706 89.5 N/A
Nationalist hold Swing N/A

At the 1945 election J F Stewart was elected unopposed.

General Election 1949: East Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Joseph Francis Stewart 7,443 54.9 N/A
UUP S. Miller 6,122 45.1 N/A
Majority 1,321 9.8 +1.8
Turnout 13,565 86.1 N/A
Nationalist hold Swing N/A

At the 1953 election, Joseph Francis Stewart was elected unopposed.

General Election 1958: East Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Joseph Francis Stewart 7,336 50.8 N/A
UUP George Forrest 7,100 49.2 N/A
Majority 236 1.6 N/A
Turnout 14,436 89.1 N/A
Nationalist hold Swing N/A
General Election 1962: East Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Joseph Francis Stewart 7,768 52.8 +2.0
UUP R. Vaughan 6,953 47.2 -2.0
Majority 815 5.6 +4.0
Turnout 14,721 88.0 -1.1
Nationalist hold Swing +2.0

Stewart died on 6 May 1964.

East Tyrone by-election, 30 May 1964
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Austin Currie 8,223 54.3 +1.5
UUP Alexander Blevins 6,927 45.7 -1.5
Majority 1,296 8.6 +3.0
Turnout 15,150 89.7 +1.7
Nationalist hold Swing +1.5

At the 1965 election, Austin Currie was elected unopposed.

General Election 1969: East Tyrone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nationalist Austin Currie 9,065 58.2 N/A
UUP E. R. Curran 6,501 47.2 -3.9
Majority 2,564 16.4 +7.8
Turnout 14,721 88.0 -1.1
Nationalist hold Swing +3.9

The Northern Ireland Parliament was prorogued in 1972 and formally abolished in 1973.

References

  1. ↑ The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921-1972, Northern Ireland Elections