The 1949 Northern Ireland general election was held on 19 February 1949. The election became known as the Chapel-gate election because collections were held at churches in the Republic of Ireland to support the Nationalist Party campaign.[citation needed]
The election was held just after the Republic of Ireland's declaration of a republic. The Unionists were able to use their majority in the Parliament of Northern Ireland to schedule the election at a time when many Protestants felt uneasy about development south of the border and as a result might be more likely to vote Unionist than for Labour candidates. This appears to have been borne out in the collapse of the Labour vote.
Contents
1 Results
1.1 Votes summary
1.2 Seats summary
2 References
3 See also
Results[edit]
↓
37
9
2
4
UUP
Nationalist
IU
Oth
1949 Northern Ireland general election
Party
Candidates
Votes
Stood
Elected
Gained
Unseated
Net
% of total
%
No.
Net %
UUP
46
37
4
0
+4
71.2
62.7
237,411
+12.3
Nationalist
17
9
0
1
-1
17.3
26.8
101,445
+17.6
NI Labour
9
0
0
2
-2
—
7.1
26,831
-11.4
Independent Labour
4
1
1
1
0
1.9
2.1
7,970
-0.7
Independent Unionist
3
2
0
0
0
3.8
0.6
2,150
-4.4
Independent
2
2
0
0
0
3.8
0.5
2,028
+0.2
Communist (NI)
1
0
0
0
0
—
0.2
623
-2.6
Socialist Republican
1
1
0
0
0
1.9
0.0
0
-1.5
All parties shown. The only Socialist Republican Party candidate was elected unopposed.Electorate 846,719 (477,354 in contested seats); Turnout 79.3% (378,458).
Votes summary[edit]
Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
62.73%
Nationalist Party
26.80%
Labour
7.10%
Independent Labour
2.11%
Independent Unionist
0.57%
Communist
0.16%
Independent
0.54%
Seats summary[edit]
Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
71.15%
Nationalist Party
17.31%
Independent Unionist
3.85%
Independent Labour
1.92%
Socialist Republican
1.92%
Independent
3.85%
References[edit]
Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results Archived 16 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
See also[edit]
MPs elected in the Northern Ireland general election, 1949