Belfast Corporation election, 1914

Belfast Corporation election, 1914

1914

All 60 seats to Belfast Corporation 31 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Crawford McCullagh Party Irish Unionist United Irish League Seats won 35 8

Map showing the area of Belfast Corporation

Council control before election Irish Unionist Council control after election Irish Unionist

An election to Belfast Corporation took place in 1914 as part of that year's Irish local elections. This would be the last election before the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which would replace the traditional FPTP based ward system with an STV system based on proportional representation. The election saw Unionists continuing their dominance of the council, winning a massive majority of the councils seats.^[1]

Sixteen seats were up for election, with a total of forty-eight candidates nominated. Publican John Boston was nominated for every seat, in order to ensure that they would have a contest. The Falls and St Anne's wards had the most candidates, with seven each. Arthur Trew stood in both the Falls and Shankill wards.^[2]

After the election Crawford McCullagh was elected by the new council as Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	52
	United Irish League	8
Totals		60			100%	—

References

1. Laffan, Michael (1999). The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 327.
2. "Municipal elections in the provinces", Irish Times, 10 January 1914