1959 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

Main article: 1959 United Kingdom general election

1959 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

8 October 1959
12 seats in Northern Ireland of the 630 seats in the House of Commons
First party Second party   Leader Sir Basil Brooke, Bt Paddy McLogan Party Ulster Unionist Sinn Féin Leader since 1943 1954 Leader's seat Did not stand Did not stand Seats won 12 0 Seat change 2 2

The 1959 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 8 October with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post as part of the wider general election in the United Kingdom.

The election took place towards the end of the IRA border campaign, which had seen the IRA launch a series of attacks and bombings against Northern Irish police and infrastructure. The launch of the campaign had in part been encouraged by the results of the last UK general election in Northern Ireland, which had seen Sinn Féin gain 2 seats, and receive nearly a quarter of the vote.

Results

The Ulster Unionists won all the seats in region. This was a net gain from the result at the previous election, although they held all seats in the region before the 1959 election was called: in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Philip Clarke was unseated by petition and Robert Grosvenor was declared elected to the seat; in Mid Ulster, George Forrest had been elected in a by-election as an Independent Unionist, but subsequently joined the Ulster Unionists.

In the election as a whole, the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister, continued in a majority government.

Results

Party		MPs		Votes
		No.	Change	No.	%	Change
	Ulster Unionist	12	2	445,013	77.2%	8.5
	Sinn Féin	0	2	63,415	11.0%	12.6
	NI Labour	0		44,370	7.7%	2.2
	Independent Labour	0		20,062	3.5%	3.5
	Ulster Liberal	0		3,253	0.6%	0.6
Total		12		576,113	100%

MPs elected

Constituency	Party		MP
Antrim North		Ulster Unionist	Henry Clark
Antrim South		Ulster Unionist	Knox Cunningham
Armagh		Ulster Unionist	John Maginnis
Belfast East		Ulster Unionist	Stanley McMaster
Belfast North		Ulster Unionist	Stratton Mills
Belfast South		Ulster Unionist	David Campbell
Belfast West		Ulster Unionist	Patricia McLaughlin
Down North		Ulster Unionist	George Currie
Down South		Ulster Unionist	Lawrence Orr
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Ulster Unionist	Robert Grosvenor
Londonderry		Ulster Unionist	Robin Chichester-Clark
Mid Ulster		Ulster Unionist	George Forrest