Central Armagh (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°23′35″N 6°25′01″W / 54.393°N 6.417°W

Central Armagh
Former County Constituency for the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Central Armagh shown within Northern Ireland
Former constituency
Created	1929
Abolished	1972
Election method	First past the post

Central Armagh was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Central Armagh was a county constituency comprising the north central part of County Armagh. 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. Central Armagh was created by the division of Armagh into four 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 was centred on the towns of Portadown and Tandragee and included parts of the rural districts of Armagh, Lurgan and Tandragee.^[1]

Politics

The seat was always won by Ulster Unionist Party candidates. It was twice contested by labour movement candidates, who took around one third of the votes cast.^[2]

Members of Parliament

Elected	Party		Name[2]
1929		UUP	David Shillington
1941		UUP	George Dougan
1955		UUP	Isaac Hawthorne
1969		UUP	Herbert Whitten

Election results

At the 1929, 1933 and 1938 Northern Ireland general elections, David Shillington was elected unopposed.^[2]

At the 1941 by-election, George Dougan was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 1945: Central Armagh[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Dougan	9,508	67.6	N/A
	Commonwealth Labour	Thomas Martin	4,559	32.4	N/A
Majority			4,949	35.2	N/A
Turnout				74.0	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the 1949, and 1953 Northern Ireland general elections, George Dougan was elected unopposed.^[2]

At the 1955 by-election and the Northern Ireland general election, 1958, Isaac Hawthorne was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 1962: Central Armagh[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Isaac Hawthorne	9,390	64.8	N/A
	NI Labour	Thomas Newell	5,101	35.2	N/A
Majority			4,289	29.6	N/A
Turnout				67.0	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At Northern Ireland general election, 1965, Isaac Hawthorne was elected unopposed.^[2]

At Northern Ireland general election, 1969, Herbert Whitten was elected unopposed.^[2]

References

1. Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election results: Constituency Boundaries
2. Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Counties: Armagh