East Down (UK Parliament constituency)
Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1922
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East Down was a United Kingdom parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922, on the electoral system of first past the post.
| East Down | |
|---|---|
| Former county constituency for the House of Commons | |
| County | County Down |
| 1885–1922 | |
| Seats | 1 |
| Created from | |
| Replaced by | Down |
Politics
The constituency had an anti-unionist majority at the 1918 general election, but its support was split between Nationalist and Sinn Féin candidates. An attempt at a limited electoral pact broke down in this constituency. This produced a minority Unionist win.[1]
Boundaries
From 1801 to 1885, County Down returned two MPs to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom sitting at the Palace of Westminster, with separate representation for the parliamentary boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Downpatrick ceased to exist as a parliamentary borough and the parliamentary county was divided into four divisions: North Down, East Down, West Down, and South Down.
Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, Newry ceased to exist as a parliamentary borough, and the parliamentary county gained the additional division of Mid Down.[2] Sinn Féin contested the 1918 general election on an abstentionist platform that instead of taking up any seats at Westminster, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. All MPs elected to Irish seats were invited to participate in the First Dáil convened in January 1919, but no members outside of Sinn Féin did so.[3]
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 established the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which came into operation in 1921. The representation of Northern Ireland in the Parliament of the United Kingdom was reduced from 30 MPs to 13 MPs, taking effect at the 1922 United Kingdom general election. At Westminster, the five divisions of County Down were replaced by a two-member county constituency of Down. An eight-seat constituency of Down was created for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, which formed the basis in republican theory for representation in the Second Dáil.[4]
| 1885–1918 | The baronies of Dufferin, Kinelarty, Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper,
and so much of the barony of Castlereagh Upper, except for the parishes or parts of parishes of Comber and Knockbreda.[5][6] |
| 1918–1922 | The rural district of Downpatrick, exclusive of the district electoral divisions of Ballynahinch, Kilmore and Leggygowan;
the part of the rural district of Kilkeel which consists of the district electoral divisions of Bryansford, Fofanny and Maghera; and the part of the rural district of Banbridge which consists of the district electoral divisions of Ballyward, Crossgar and Leitrim.[7] |
Members of Parliament
James Craig, MP from 1906 to 1918, later served as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1940.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Richard Ker | Irish Conservative | |
| 1886 | |||
| 1890 b | James Alexander Rentoul | Irish Conservative | |
| 1892 | Irish Unionist | ||
| 1895 | |||
| 1900 | |||
| 1902 b | James Wood | Russellite Unionist | |
| 1906 | James Craig | Irish Unionist | |
| Jan. 1910 | |||
| Dec. 1910 | |||
| 1918 | David Douglas Reid | Irish Unionist | |
| 1922 | constituency abolished | ||
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Conservative | Richard Ker | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Conservative | Richard Ker | 5,093 | 66.5 | N/A | |
| Irish Parliamentary | Henry McGrath | 2,561 | 33.5 | New | |
| Majority | 2,532 | 33.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 7,654 | 78.1 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 9,805 | ||||
| Irish Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1890s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Conservative | James Alexander Rentoul | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Conservative hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Alexander Rentoul | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Unionist hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Alexander Rentoul | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Unionist hold | |||||
Elections in the 1900s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Alexander Rentoul | Unopposed | |||
| Irish Unionist hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russellite Unionist | James Wood | 3,576 | 51.0 | New | |
| Irish Unionist | Robert Hugh Wallace | 3,429 | 49.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 147 | 2.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 7,005 | 85.6 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 8,184 | ||||
| Russellite Unionist gain from Irish Unionist | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Craig | 4,011 | 54.6 | N/A | |
| Russellite Unionist | James Wood | 3,341 | 45.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 670 | 9.2 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 7,352 | 91.1 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 8,072 | ||||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | N/A | |||
Elections in the 1910s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Craig | 4,028 | 56.9 | +2.3 | |
| Liberal | James Wood | 3,054 | 43.1 | −2.3 | |
| Majority | 974 | 13.8 | +4.6 | ||
| Turnout | 7,082 | 89.7 | −1.4 | ||
| Registered electors | 7,895 | ||||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | James Craig | 4,110 | 63.0 | +6.1 | |
| Liberal | James Williamson | 2,412 | 37.0 | −6.1 | |
| Majority | 1,698 | 26.0 | +12.2 | ||
| Turnout | 6,522 | 82.6 | −7.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 7,895 | ||||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | +6.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irish Unionist | David Reid | 6,007 | 42.3 | −20.7 | |
| Irish Parliamentary | Michael J. Johnston | 4,362 | 30.4 | New | |
| Sinn Féin | Russell McNabb | 3,876 | 27.3 | New | |
| Majority | 1,645 | 11.9 | −14.1 | ||
| Turnout | 14,245 | 79.8 | −2.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,846 | ||||
| Irish Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
Sources
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
- Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
- Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1978). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume II 1886–1918. The Harvester Press.
- Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.