Mourne (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°09′50″N 6°08′02″W / 54.164°N 6.134°W / 54.164; -6.134

Mourne
Former County constituency
for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created1929
Abolished1972
Election methodFirst past the post

Mourne was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

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Mourne was a county constituency comprising part of southern County Down, including the Mountains of Mourne. It was created 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. Mourne was created by the division of Down into eight new constituencies. 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.

The seat included the town of Newcastle, the town of Kilkeel (which became an urban district in 1936)[1] and also certain district electoral divisions of the rural districts of Banbridge, Downpatrick, Kilkeel and Newry No. 1.[2][3]

Politics

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The seat had a small nationalist majority, with Nationalist Party candidates defeating unionists at every election, excepting 1938, when no nationalist stood.[4]

Members of Parliament

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ElectedPartyName[4]
1929NationalistPatrick O'Neill
1938UUPGeorge Panter
1945NationalistJames McSparran
1958NationalistJames O'Reilly

Election results

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General Election 1929: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistPatrick O'Neill 6,575 55.1
UUPJ. M. Boyle5,35244.9
Majority1,22310.2
Turnout11,92780.5
Nationalist win (new seat)
General Election 1933: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistPatrick O'Neill 6,674 54.1 -1.0
UUPJohn Maynard Sinclair5,66745.9+1.0
Majority1,0078.2-2.0
Turnout12,34182.3+1.8
Nationalist holdSwingN/A

At the 1938 Northern Ireland general election, Unionist George Panter was elected unopposed.[4]

General Election 1945: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistJames McSparran 7,784 58.4 New
Ind. UnionistJames Brown5,54441.6New
Majority2,24016.8N/A
Turnout13,32885.2N/A
Nationalist holdSwingN/A
General Election 1949: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistJames McSparran 7,462 55.3 -3.1
UUPN. F. Gordon6,02044.7+3.1
Majority1,44210.6-6.2
Turnout13,48283.2-2.0
Nationalist holdSwingN/A
General Election 1953: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistJames McSparran 7,532 55.2 -0.1
UUPJoseph Fisher6,11344.8+0.1
Majority1,41910.4-0.2
Turnout13,64582.6-0.6
Nationalist holdSwingN/A
General Election 1958: Mourne[4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalistJames O'Reilly 7,139 52.3 -2.9
UUPEileen Calvert6,50647.7+2.9
Majority6334.6-5.8
Turnout13,64584.7+2.1
Nationalist holdSwingN/A

References

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