Londonderry (UK Parliament constituency)

Londonderry
Londonderry
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
County	County Londonderry
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Londonderry (IHC)
Replaced by	North Londonderry; South Londonderry;
1922–1983
Seats	1
Created from	Londonderry City; North Londonderry; South Londonderry;
Replaced by	East Londonderry; Foyle;

Londonderry was a parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, as well as a constituency in elections to various regional bodies. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983. Londonderry returned two MPs (1801–1885) and later one (1922–1983).

Boundaries

The constituency consisted, in 1801–1885, of the whole of County Londonderry,^[a] except for the parliamentary boroughs of Coleraine and Londonderry City.

The seat was re-created in 1922. As part of the consequences of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat was focused on County Londonderry. It comprised the administrative county of Londonderry and the County Borough of Londonderry.

In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a United Kingdom general election.

In 1983 the number of seats for Northern Ireland was increased from 12 to 17 and Londonderry was split in two, forming Foyle and East Londonderry.

Members of Parliament

1801–1885

Election	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1801	Hon. Charles Stewart^[1]	Tory	Vacant
1801 by-election			Sir George Hill, 2nd Bt	Tory
1802			Lord George Beresford
1812			Hon. William Ponsonby
1814 by-election	Alexander Stewart	Tory^[2]	Hon. William Ponsonby
1815 by-election	Alexander Stewart	Tory^[2]	George Robert Dawson	Tory^[3]
1818	Alexander Robert Stewart	Tory	George Robert Dawson	Tory^[3]
1830	Theobald Jones	Tory^[4]^[5]	Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt	Tory^[4]^[5]
1834		Conservative^[4]^[5]	Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt	Conservative^[4]^[5]
1842 by-election			Robert Bateson	Conservative^[5]
1844 by-election			Thomas Bateson
1857 by-election			James Johnston Clark
1857	Samuel MacCurdy Greer	Radical^[6]^[7]	James Johnston Clark
1859	Robert Peel Dawson	Conservative^[5]	Sir Frederick Heygate, 2nd Bt
1874	Richard Smyth	Liberal^[5]	Hugh Law	Liberal^[5]
1878 by-election	Sir Thomas McClure, 1st Bt		Hugh Law
1881 by-election			Andrew Porter
1884 by-election			Samuel Walker
1885	constituency abolished: see North Londonderry & South Londonderry

1922–1983

Election		Member	Party
	1922	Sir Malcolm Macnaghten	Ulster Unionist
	1929 by-election	Sir Ronald Ross
	1951 by-election	William Wellwood
	1955	Robin Chichester-Clark
	February 1974	William Ross
1983		constituency abolished: see Foyle & East Londonderry

Westminster elections

Londonderry / East Londonderry election results

Elections in the 1830s

1830 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]^[4]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Robert Bateson, Snr.	Unopposed
	Tory	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			866
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

1831 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]^[4]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Robert Bateson, Snr.	631	38.7
	Tory	Theobald Jones	585	35.9
	Whig	John Byng	382	23.4
	Tory	John Richard James Hart	33	2.0
Majority			203	12.5
Turnout			c. 816	c. 92.9
Registered electors			878
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

1832 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	Robert Bateson, Snr.	Unopposed
	Tory	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,172
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

1835 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Bateson, Snr.	Unopposed
	Conservative	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,658
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

1837 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Bateson, Snr.	Unopposed
	Conservative	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,843
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

1841 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Bateson, Snr.	Unopposed
	Conservative	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,718
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 26 May 1842: Londonderry^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Bateson, Jnr.	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by Bateson's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds

By-election, 13 March 1844: Londonderry^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Bateson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by Bateson's death

1847 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Thomas Bateson	Unopposed
	Conservative	Theobald Jones	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,663
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

By-election, 13 March 1852: Londonderry^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Bateson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Caused by Bateson's appointment as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury

1852 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Bateson	2,098	38.0	*N/A*
	Conservative	Theobald Jones	1,909	34.6	*N/A*
	Radical	Samuel MacCurdy Greer	1,518	27.5	New
Majority			391	7.1	N/A
Turnout			3,522 (est)	81.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			4,305
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 9 March 1857: Londonderry^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Johnston Clark	2,600	64.1	−8.5
	Radical	Samuel MacCurdy Greer	1,457	35.9	+8.4
Majority			1,143	28.2	+21.1
Turnout			4,057	79.8	−2.0
Registered electors			5,081
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5

Caused by Bateson's resignation.

1857 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Johnston Clark	2,404	37.5	−0.5
	Radical	Samuel MacCurdy Greer	2,339	36.4	+8.9
	Conservative	Henry Bruce	1,676	26.1	−8.5
Turnout			3,210 (est)	63.2 (est)	−18.6
Registered electors			5,081
Majority			65	1.1	−6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5
Majority			663	10.3	N/A
	Radical gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.0

1859 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Peel Dawson	2,628	38.2	+0.7
	Conservative	Frederick Heygate	2,468	35.8	+9.7
	Liberal	Samuel MacCurdy Greer	1,790	26.0	−10.4
Majority			678	9.8	+8.7
Turnout			4,338 (est)	83.8 (est)	+20.6
Registered electors			5,178
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.7

Elections in the 1860s

1865 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Peel Dawson	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Heygate	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,512
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

1868 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Robert Peel Dawson	Unopposed
	Conservative	Frederick Heygate	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,582
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

1874 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Smyth	2,988	33.8	*New*
	Liberal	Hugh Law	2,701	30.6	*New*
	Conservative	Robert Jackson Alexander	1,747	19.8	N/A
	Conservative	John Barré Beresford	1,402	15.9	N/A
Majority			954	10.8	N/A
Turnout			4,419 (est)	82.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			5,362
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

By-election, 18 Dec 1878: Londonderry (1 seat)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas McClure	2,479	56.9	−7.5
	Conservative	Samuel Maxwell Alexander	1,878	43.1	+7.4
Majority			601	13.8	+3.0
Turnout			4,357	76.3	−6.1
Registered electors			5,714
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.5

Caused by Smyth's death.

Elections in the 1880s

1880 general election: Londonderry (2 seats)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Law	3,012	37.5	+6.9
	Liberal	Thomas McClure	2,912	36.3	+2.5
	Conservative	Samuel Maxwell Alexander	2,107	26.2	−9.5
Majority			805	10.1	−0.7
Turnout			5,069 (est)	86.6 (est)	+4.2
Registered electors			5,853
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.6

By-election, 19 May 1880: Londonderry (1 seat)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Hugh Law	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,853
	Liberal hold

Caused by Law's appointment as Attorney-General for Ireland

By-election, 6 Dec 1881: Londonderry (1 seat)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Andrew Porter	2,701	56.1	−17.7
	Conservative	Samuel Wilson	2,054	42.7	+16.5
	Home Rule	Charles John Dempsey	56	1.2	New
Majority			647	13.4	+3.3
Turnout			4,811	81.6	−5.0 (est)
Registered electors			5,896
	Liberal hold		Swing	−17.1

Caused by Law's appointment as Lord Chancellor of Ireland

By-election, 10 Jan 1884: Londonderry (1 seat)^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Samuel Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,798
	Liberal hold

Caused by Porter's appointment as Master of the Rolls

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UUP	Malcolm Macnaghten	30,743	75.7
	Ind. Nationalist	Edmund Loftus MacNaghten	9,861	24.3
Majority			20,882	51.4
Turnout			40,604	63.9
	UUP win (new seat)

anti-partition

General election 1923: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	Malcolm Macnaghten	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1924: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Malcolm Macnaghten	30,875	82.9	*N/A*
	Sinn Féin	Charles MacWhinney	5,869	15.8	New
	Ind. Unionist	William Galt	517	1.4	New
Majority			25,006	67.1	N/A
Turnout			37,261	59.1	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

1929 Londonderry by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	Ronald Deane Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1929: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	Ronald Deane Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	Ronald Deane Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

1935 general election: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	Ronald Deane Ross	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Ronald Ross	40,214	50.8	*N/A*
	Nationalist	Denis Cavanagh	37,561	47.4	New
	NI Labour	Milton Gordon	1,471	1.9	New
Majority			2,653	3.4	N/A
Turnout			79,246	88.1	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Ronald Ross	36,602	62.6	+11.8
	Ind. Republican	Hugh McAteer	21,880	37.4	New
Majority			14,722	25.2	+21.8
Turnout			58,482	80.7	−7.4
	UUP hold		Swing

In the 1951 Londonderry by-election^[9] and the 1951 United Kingdom general election, William Wellwood was elected unopposed.

1951 Londonderry by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	William Wellwood	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1951: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes
	UUP	William Wellwood	Unopposed
Registered electors
	UUP hold

General election 1955: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Chichester-Clark	35,673	64.5	*N/A*
	Sinn Féin	Manus Canning	19,640	35.5	New
Majority			16,033	29.0	N/A
Turnout			55,313	77.6	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1959: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Chichester-Clark	37,529	73.0	+8.5
	Sinn Féin	Manus Canning	13,872	27.0	−8.5
Majority			23,657	46.0	+17.0
Turnout			51,401	70.2	−7.4
	UUP hold		Swing	+8.5

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Chichester-Clark	37,700	64.1	−8.9
	Ind. Republican	Hugh McAteer	21,123	35.9	New
Majority			16,577	28.2	−17.8
Turnout			58,823	76.5	+6.3
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1966: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Chichester-Clark	34,729	58.1	−6.0
	Nationalist	Paddy Gormley	22,167	37.1	New
	Ind. Republican	Neil Gillespie	2,860	4.8	−31.1
Majority			12,562	21.0	−7.2
Turnout			59,756	76.4	−0.1
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Robin Chichester-Clark	39,141	53.1	−5.0
	Unity	Eddie McAteer	27,006	36.6	New
	Derry Labour	Eamonn McCann	7,565	10.3	New
Majority			12,135	16.5	−4.5
Turnout			73,712	81.6	+5.2
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General election February 1974: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Ross	33,060	52.7	−0.4
	SDLP	Hugh Logue	23,670	37.7	New
	Republican Clubs	Michael Montgomery	4,889	7.8	New
	Independent	Richard Foster	1,162	1.9	New
Majority			9,390	15.0	−1.5
Turnout			62,781	68.1	−13.5
	UUP hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Ross	35,138	54.4	+1.7
	SDLP	John Hume	26,118	40.4	+2.7
	Republican Clubs	Michael Montgomery	2,530	3.9	−3.9
	Independent	Richard Foster	846	1.3	−0.6
Majority			9,020	14.0	−1.0
Turnout			64,632	69.3	+1.2
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 1979: Londonderry
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	William Ross	31,592	49.7	−4.7
	SDLP	Hugh Logue	19,185	30.2	−10.2
	Alliance	Arthur Barr	5,830	9.2	New
	Irish Independence	Fergus McAteer	5,489	8.6	New
	Republican Clubs	Eamonn Melaugh	888	1.4	−2.5
	Independent Labour	William Webster	639	1.0	New
Majority			12,407	19.5	+5.5
Turnout			63,623	67.1	−2.2
	UUP hold		Swing

Politics and history of the constituency

From its inception Londonderry had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was approaching 40% in some elections.

In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect Robin Chichester-Clark, who had been a Minister in the government of Edward Heath. Instead they ran William Ross, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for the new East Londonderry.

For the history of the area post 1983, please see Foyle (UK Parliament constituency) and East Londonderry.

Notes

^ There is a longstanding Derry/Londonderry name dispute. This article follows the approach that Derry refers to the city and County Londonderry refers to the county (outside of organisations' names, which may follow their own approaches).

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)

^ known as Sir Charles Stewart from 1813
^ Farrell, Stephen. "STEWART, Alexander Robert (1795-1850), of Ards, Letterkenny, co. Donegal". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
^ Farrell, Stephen. "DAWSON, George Robert (1790-1856), of Castledawson, co. Londonderry and 16 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 233.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 227–228, 296–297. ISBN 0901714127.
^ "Triumphant Return of the Conservative". Tyrone Constitution. 13 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Correspondence". Belfast News-Letter. 13 April 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Londonderry". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
^ "1951 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.

[status-1] There is a longstanding Derry/Londonderry name dispute. This article follows the approach that Derry refers to the city and County Londonderry refers to the county (outside of organisations' names, which may follow their own approaches).

[2] wn as Sir Charles Stewart from 1813

[3] Farrell, Stephen. "STEWART, Alexander Robert (1795-1850), of Ards, Letterkenny, co. Donegal". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

[4] Farrell, Stephen. "DAWSON, George Robert (1790-1856), of Castledawson, co. Londonderry and 16 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

[stookssmith1842-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 233.

[walker-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 227–228, 296–297. ISBN 0901714127.

[7] "Triumphant Return of the Conservative". Tyrone Constitution. 13 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[8] "Correspondence". Belfast News-Letter. 13 April 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[hop1820-1832-9] Farrell, Stephen. "Co. Londonderry". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

[10] "1951 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.

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