1921 Northern Ireland general election
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All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 88.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results of the 1921 Northern Ireland General Election. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(1921–72) |
The 1921 Northern Ireland general election was held on Tuesday, 24 May 1921. It was the first election to the
The election took place during the
Sinn Féin campaign
Sinn Féin invested considerable resources in their campaign, placing advertisements in almost 50 northern newspapers making a range of arguments against partition. Sinn Féin also published its own newspaper, The Unionist, of which 50,000 copies were sent to prominent Protestants in East Ulster, particularly County Antrim. In particular, Sinn Féin claimed there was widespread ignorance over the situation in Ulster and warned against the economic dangers of partition, particularly in relation to threats of a renewed boycott against northern goods in a manner similar to the "Belfast Boycott". Sinn Féin also attempted to attract Ulster's rural and agricultural workers, arguing partition would put them at the mercy of eastern Ulster's urban elites.[2]
Despite the scale and organisation of the campaign, its arguments failed to resonate with voters, with the party's chief organiser Eamon Donnelly claiming on the day of the election that all Sinn Féin's efforts had achieved was assuring a high Unionist turnout.[2] Allegations were made claiming intimidation of Nationalist voters, arrests of candidates/organisers and the seizure of electoral literature.[3]
Sinn Féin treated the two elections north and south as combined elections to the Second Dáil. Five of the six successful Sinn Féin candidates in Northern Ireland were also elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland; Seán O'Mahony was only Sinn Féin success solely elected in Northern Ireland.
Results
40 | 6 | 6 |
UUP | Sinn Fein | Nationalist |
1921 Northern Ireland general election | |||||||||||||||
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Party | Candidates | Votes | |||||||||||||
Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % | |||||||
Ulster Unionist | 40 | 40 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 76.92 | 66.9 | 343,347 | N/A | ||||||
Sinn Féin | 20 | 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 11.54 | 20.5 | 104,917 | N/A | ||||||
Nationalist | 12 | 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 11.54 | 11.8 | 60,577 | N/A | ||||||
Belfast Labour | 4 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.00 | 0.6 | 3,075 | N/A | ||||||
Independent
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1 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.00 | 0.2 | 926 | N/A |
Total electorate: 582,464; turnout: 88.0% (512,842).
Votes summary
Seats summary
See also
- 1921 Irish elections
- List of members of the 1st Parliament of Northern Ireland
Footnotes
- ^ "Northern Ireland: 24 May 1921". Elections Ireland. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ ISBN 9781441186898.
- ^ Gallagher, Frank (1957). The Indivisible Island. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. p. 148.
References
- Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results Archived 16 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine