Mourne (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Mourne was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Mourne
Former County Constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1972
Election method	First past the post

Boundaries

Mourne was a county constituency comprising part of southern County Down, including the Mountains of Mourne. It was created 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. Mourne was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. 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.

The seat included the town of Newcastle, the town of Kilkeel (which became an urban district in 1936)[1] and also certain district electoral divisions of the rural districts of Banbridge, Downpatrick, Kilkeel and Newry No. 1.[2][3]

Politics

The seat had a small nationalist majority, with Nationalist Party candidates defeating unionists at every election, excepting 1938, when no nationalist stood.[4]

Members of Parliament

Elected	Party		Name[4]
1929		Nationalist	Patrick O'Neill
1938		UUP	George Panter
1945		Nationalist	James McSparran
1958		Nationalist	James O'Reilly

Election results

General Election 1929: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Patrick O'Neill	6,575	55.1	N/A
	UUP	J. M. Boyle	5,352	44.9	N/A
Majority			1,223	10.2	N/A
Turnout				80.5	N/A
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1933: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Patrick O'Neill	6,674	54.1	-1.0
	UUP	John Maynard Sinclair	5,667	45.9	+1.0
Majority			1,007	8.2	-2.0
Turnout				82.3	+1.8
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

At the 1938 Northern Ireland general election, Unionist George Panter was elected unopposed.[4]

General Election 1945: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	James McSparran	7,784	58.4	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Brown	5,544	41.6	N/A
Majority			2,240	16.8	N/A
Turnout				85.2	N/A
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1949: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	James McSparran	7,462	55.3	-3.1
	UUP	N. F. Gordon	6,020	44.7	+3.1
Majority			1,442	10.6	-6.2
Turnout				83.2	-2.0
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1953: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	James McSparran	7,532	55.2	-0.1
	UUP	Joseph Fisher	6,113	44.8	+0.1
Majority			1,419	10.4	-0.2
Turnout				82.6	-0.6
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1958: Mourne[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	James O'Reilly	7,139	52.3	-2.9
	UUP	Eileen Calvert	6,506	47.7	+2.9
Majority			633	4.6	-5.8
Turnout				84.7	+1.5
	Nationalist hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. Belfast Gazette, No 787, P 274, 24 July 1936
2. Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election results: Constituency Boundaries
3. A list of the townlands comprising each of those divisions is in the Belfast Gazette Publication date:22 June 1923 Issue:104 Page:241 (Banbridge RD), the Belfast Gazette Publication date:22 June 1923 Issue:104 Page:260 (Newry No. 1 RD), the Belfast Gazette Publication date:22 June 1923 Issue:104 Page:241 (Kilkeel RD) and the Belfast Gazette Publication date:29 June 1923 Issue:105 Page:309 (Kilkeel RD)
4. Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Down