Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)
Coordinates: 54°43′19″N 6°56′28″W / 54.722°N 6.941°W / 54.722; -6.941
For other constituencies of the same name, see
Mid Ulster.
Mid Ulster is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons.
Boundaries
The constituency was created in 1950 when the old two-seat constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. Originally the seat primarily consisted of the northern, eastern and western parts of County Tyrone, with the south included in Fermanagh & South Tyrone. Of the post 1973 districts, it contained all of Omagh and Cookstown and part of Strabane and Magherafelt.
In boundary changes proposed by a review in 1995, the seat was split in two, with the name retained by the eastern half, even though it contained only 30% of the old seat. The western half became the nucleus of the new West Tyrone constituency. The new Mid Ulster also gained areas from East Londonderry and Fermanagh and South Tyrone, taking it deeper into County Londonderry.
Following their most recent review of parliamentary boundaries in Northern Ireland, the Boundary Commission have made no changes to Mid Ulster. The electoral areas are confirmed as below, through the passing of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order[1] in 2008.
- The entire districts of Cookstown, and Magherafelt
- From Dungannon and South Tyrone district; Altmore, Coalisland North, Coalisland South, Coalisland West and Newmills, Donaghmore, and Washing Bay
History
For the history of the constituency prior to 1950, see Fermanagh and Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency).
In both its incarnations, Mid Ulster has seen a precarious balance between unionist and nationalist voters, though in recent years the nationalists have advanced significantly to be in a clear majority. Many elections have seen a candidate from one community triumph due to candidates from the other community splitting the vote.
The seat was initially won by the Irish Nationalist Party in 1950 and 1951 then by Sinn Féin in 1955. However the Sinn Féin Member of Parliament (MP) was unseated on petition on the basis that his Irish Republican Army (IRA) convictions made him ineligible, and in subsequent by-elections the seat was won by the Ulster Unionists.
In a by-election in 1969, the seat was won by Bernadette Devlin standing as an independent socialist nationalist on the "Unity" ticket which sought to unite nationalist voters behind a single candidate. At the age of 21, Devlin was the youngest person ever elected to the House of Commons in the era of universal suffrage. The by-election saw a 91.5% turnout, a record for any UK by-election.
Devlin held her seat in the 1970 general election but generated controversy when she had a child out of wedlock as well as for her fierce anti-clericalism. This may have contributed to the Social Democratic and Labour Party standing a candidate against her in the February 1974 general election and the nationalist vote was strongly divided, allowing John Dunlop of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party to win with the support of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party.
Dunlop held his seat for the next nine years, though in 1975 he was part of a large section of Vanguard that broke away to form the short lived United Ulster Unionist Party. He held his seat in 1979 only due to a Unionist pact. He polled poorly in the 1982 Assembly election taking a dismal 2.8% of the vote. Consequently, in 1983 he did not stand again and the following year the UUUP was wound up.
The 1983 general election saw fierce contest for the seat, with the Ulster Unionist Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin all polling strongly. The winner was the DUP's William McCrea, albeit by the narrow majority of just 78 over Sinn Féin. In general elections from then to 2005 the Ulster Unionists did not contest the seat.
Following the boundary changes, McCrea contested the new Mid Ulster in 1997 but by now Sinn Féin had established itself as the best party to outpoll a unionist and so drew votes from the SDLP, resulting in Martin McGuinness winning. He has held the seat to date. During the 2001 General Election, Mid-Ulster had the highest turnout in any constituency in the United Kingdom.
Members of Parliament
The Member of Parliament since the 1997 general election is Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin. Between 1983 and 1997 the MP was William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party.
- Constituency created (1950)
- 1950 — 1951 Anthony Mulvey, Nationalist
- 1951 — 1955 Michael O'Neill, Nationalist
- 1955: Tom Mitchell, Sinn Féin - subsequently unseated on petition
- 1955 (by-election) — 1956: Charles Beattie, Ulster Unionist - election subsequently declared invalid by House of Commons Select Committee
- 1956 (by-election) — 1969: George Forrest, Independent Unionist (on election) then Ulster Unionist
- 1969 (by-election) — Feb 1974: Bernadette Devlin, Independent Socialist & Nationalist on "Unity" ticket
- Feb 1974 — 1983: John Dunlop, Vanguard Progressive Unionist until 1977, then United Ulster Unionist
- 1983 — 1997: William McCrea, Democratic Unionist
- 1997 — present: Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin
Elections
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Between 1992 and 1996 there were significant boundary changes, creating the new seat of West Tyrone. This had a huge knock on effect on Mid Ulster, which lost all its areas in Omagh and Strabane district councils, and gained the Torrent LGD in Dungannon from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and the parts of Magherafelt District Council previously in East Londonderry. Therefore the implied 1992 election results are very different from the actual ones and are displayed above.
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
The seat was awarded to Beattie on petition on the grounds that Mitchell's conviction as a felon made him ineligible to sit in Parliament. However, Beattie in turn was also found ineligible to sit due to holding an office of profit under the crown, triggering a further by-election.
Mitchell was subsequently unseated upon petition, on the grounds that his terrorist convictions made him ineligible to sit in Parliament.
References
Sources
See also
stock | retire | vm
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