Enniskillen (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°20′49″N 7°38′24″W / 54.347°N 7.640°W

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

Enniskillen was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

Boundaries

Enniskillen was a county constituency comprising the northern part of County Fermanagh. It was created in 1929, 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. 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.^[1]

Politics

Enniskillen had a unionist majority, but a substantial nationalist minority. The seat was consistently won by the Ulster Unionist Party candidate,^[1] and it was only contested on four occasions: in 1938 by an Independent Unionist Association candidate, in 1949 by a Nationalist candidate, in 1965 by an Liberal candidate and in 1969 by both the People's Democracy and an independent Unionist candidate.^[2]

Members of Parliament

Elected	Party		Name[2]
1929		UUP	Sir Edward Archdale
1938		UUP	Erne Ferguson
1949		UUP	Thomas Charles Nelson
1954		UUP	Harry West

Elections

At the 1929 and 1933 general elections, Edward Archdale was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 9 February 1938: Enniskillen[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Erne Ferguson	5,679	55.9	N/A
	Ind. Unionist Association	W. Clarke	4,485	44.1	N/A
Majority			1,194	11.8	N/A
Turnout				86.4	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1945, Erne Ferguson was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 10 February 1949: Enniskillen[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Erne Ferguson	5,706	54.7	N/A
	Nationalist	W. Blake	4,729	45.3	N/A
Majority			977	9.4	N/A
Turnout				85.7	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the Enniskillen by-election, 1949 and the Northern Ireland general election, 1953, Thomas Charles Nelson was elected unopposed.^[2]

At the Enniskillen by-election, 1954 and the 1958 and 1962 general elections, Harry West was elected unopposed.^[2]

General Election 25 November 1965: Enniskillen[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Harry West	5,982	66.3	N/A
	Liberal	Albert McElroy	3,042	33.7	N/A
Majority			2,940	32.6	N/A
Turnout				74.9	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 24 February 1969: Enniskillen[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Harry West	4,891	48.5	-17.8
	People's Democracy	M. Bowes-Egan	2,784	27.6	N/A
	Independent Unionist	D. T. Archdale	2,418	23.9	N/A
Majority			2,107	20.9	–11.7
Turnout				86.3	+11.4
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

• Parliament prorogued 30 March 1972 and abolished 18 July 1973

References

1. The Northern Ireland House of Commons, 1921–1972, Northern Ireland Elections
2. Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Counties: Fermanagh