1939 Down by-election

The Down by-election, 1939 was a parliamentary by-election held in the United Kingdom on 10 May 1939 for the House of Commons constituency of Down in Northern Ireland.

Previous Result

General election 1935: Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	David Reid	66,324	43.5	N/A
	UUP	John Morrow Simms	58,777	46.4	N/A
	Independent Republican	Patrick O'Hagan	20,236	13.3	N/A
Majority			38,541	33.1
Turnout			145,337	56.7
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Result

James Little was elected unopposed as an Ulster Unionist.

Aftermath

Little subsequently left the party in the run-up to the 1945 general election in a dispute over re-selection and stood as an Independent Unionist.

General election 1945: Down

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Unionist	James Little	46,732	40.4	N/A
	UUP	Walter Smiles	24,148	20.9	N/A
	UUP	John Blakiston Houston	22,730	19.6	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Brown	22,163	19.1	N/A
Majority			1,418	1.3
Turnout			115,773	39.8
	Independent Unionist gain from UUP		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

References

• British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1979)