Belfast Duncairn (UK Parliament constituency)

Duncairn, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Belfast Duncairn
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1922
Number of membersone
Replaced byBelfast North
Created fromBelfast North

Boundaries and boundary changes

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918 from an area which had been in the Belfast North constituency. It comprised the eastern half of North Belfast, and contained the then Duncairn ward and the north-eastern part of the then Clifton ward of Belfast Corporation lying north and east of a line commencing at a point in the western boundary of the ward opposite the middle of Old Park Road proceeding along the middle of Old Park Road to its junction with Mountview Street, then along the middle of Mountview Street to its junction with Manor Street, then northwards along the middle of Manor Street to its junction with Cliftonville Road, then south-eastwards along the middle of Cliftonville Road to the ward boundary in Duncairn Street .[1]

It was in use at the 1918 general election only, and under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 its area was again part of the Belfast North constituency, with effect at the 1922 general election.

Politics

The constituency was a strongly unionist area. Carson was the Unionist leader in the House of Commons. His chief opponent was Major William Hamilton Davey, recently returned from France following the armistice. A barrister in civilian life, Major Davey stood for Home Rule and retained his deposit. During the course of the campaign Carson mistakenly referred to Major Davey as a 'Sinn Féiner' which led to damages being awarded to Major Davey in his subsequent action for slander.

First Dáil

After the 1918 election, Sinn Féin invited all those elected for constituencies in Ireland to sit as TDs in Dáil Éireann rather than in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[2] All those elected for Irish constituencies were included in the roll of the Dáil but only those elected for Sinn Féin sat in the First Dáil.[3] In May 1921, the Dáil passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil and that the First Dáil would be dissolved on the assembly of the new body.[4] The area of Belfast Duncairn would then have been represented in the Dáil by the four-seat constituency of Belfast North, which also returned no representatives for Sinn Féin.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1918 Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Henry Carson Irish Unionist
1921 (b) Thomas McConnell Ulster Unionist
1922 constituency abolished

Elections
General Election 14 December 1918: Belfast Duncairn
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Irish Unionist Rt Hon Sir Edward Henry Carson 11,637 81.05
Irish Nationalist William Hamilton Davey 2,449 17.06
Sinn Féin Dr Russell McNab 271 1.89
Majority 9,188 63.99
Turnout 19,085 75.23
Irish Unionist win (new seat)
By-Election 23 June 1921: Belfast Duncairn
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
UUP Thomas McConnell Unopposed N/A N/A
UUP hold Swing N/A

See also

References
  1. Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, Second Schedule, Part I
  2. "The inaugural public meeting of Dáil Éireann". Dáil 100. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  3. "3. AN ROLLA". Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 January 1919. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  4. "Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 May 1921 - PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  • 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
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
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