Enniskillen (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°20′49″N 7°38′24″W / 54.347°N 7.640°W / 54.347; -7.640

Enniskillen
Former County constituency
for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Enniskillen shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created1929
Abolished1972
Election methodFirst past the post

Enniskillen was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

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Enniskillen was a county constituency comprising the northern part of County Fermanagh. It was created in 1929, 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. 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.[1]

Politics

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Enniskillen had a unionist majority, but a substantial nationalist minority. The seat was consistently won by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate,[1] and it was only contested on four occasions: in 1938 by an Independent Unionist Association candidate, in 1949 by a Nationalist candidate, in 1965 by a Liberal candidate and in 1969 by both the People's Democracy and an independent Unionist candidate.[2]

Members of Parliament

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ElectedPartyName[2]
1929UUPSir Edward Archdale
1938UUPErne Ferguson
1949UUPThomas Charles Nelson
1954UUPHarry West

Elections

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At the 1929 and 1933 general elections, Edward Archdale was elected unopposed.[2]

General Election 9 February 1938: Enniskillen[2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUPErne Ferguson 5,679 55.9 N/A
Ind. Unionist PartyW. Clarke4,48544.1New
Majority1,19411.8N/A
Turnout10,16486.4N/A
UUP holdSwingN/A

At the 1945 Northern Ireland general election, Erne Ferguson was elected unopposed.[2]

General Election 10 February 1949: Enniskillen[2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUPErne Ferguson 5,706 54.7 N/A
NationalistW. Blake4,72945.3New
Majority9779.4N/A
Turnout10,43585.7N/A
UUP holdSwingN/A

At the 1949 Enniskillen by-election and the 1953 Northern Ireland general election, Thomas Charles Nelson was elected unopposed.[2]

At the 1954 Enniskillen by-election and the 1958 and 1962 general elections, Harry West was elected unopposed.[2]

General Election 25 November 1965: Enniskillen[2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUPHarry West 5,982 66.3 N/A
Ulster LiberalAlbert McElroy3,04233.7New
Majority2,94032.6N/A
Turnout9,02474.9N/A
UUP holdSwingN/A
General Election 24 February 1969: Enniskillen[2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUPHarry West 4,891 48.5 -17.8
People's DemocracyM. Bowes-Egan2,78427.6New
Ind. UnionistD. T. Archdale2,41823.9New
Majority2,10720.9–11.7
Turnout10,09386.3+11.4
UUP holdSwingN/A
  • Parliament prorogued 30 March 1972 and abolished 18 July 1973

References

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