Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)

Queen's University, Belfast
Former University constituency for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Number of members	One

Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament from 1918 until 1950.

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

The constituency was not a physical area but was rather elected by the graduates of the Queen's University of Belfast.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1918	Sir William Whitla	Ulster Unionist
	1923	Thomas Sinclair	Ulster Unionist
	1940 by-election	Prof. Douglas Lloyd Savory	Ulster Unionist
	1950	constituency abolished

Politics and History of the constituency

University constituencies had existed in the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors since 1603 and in 1918 Queen's was enfranchised as such. When the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established, the same franchise was preserved - see Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency).

As with most other Northern Ireland seats in this period, the electorate was heavily inclined towards the Ulster Unionists, with no contests for the Westminster seat taking place at all in the interwar years.

Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, university constituencies at Westminster were abolished immediately prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1950.

Election results

1918 general election: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Sir William Whitla	1,487	92.65	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Sean B. Dolan	118	7.35	N/A
Majority			1,369	85.30	N/A
Turnout			1,605	78.72	N/A

^[2]

General Election 1922: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Sir William Whitla	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^{[3] [4]}

General Election 1923: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][5]

General Election 1924: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][5]

General Election 1929: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][6]

General Election 1931: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][7]

General Election 1935: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Thomas Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][8]

Resignation of Sinclair

Queen's University of Belfast by-election, 2 November 1940
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Professor Douglas Lloyd Savory	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][8]

1945 general election: Queen's University of Belfast
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Professor Douglas Lloyd Savory	1,923	72.5	N/A
	Independent	Thomas Cusack	728	27.5	N/A
Majority			1,195	45.0	N/A
Turnout			2,651	51.6	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

^[3][9]

See also

• Queen's University of Belfast (Dáil Éireann constituency)

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "Q"
2. Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 675. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
4. Walker, Brian M., ed. (1992). Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 15. ISBN 0-901714-96-8.
5. Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 16
6. Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 17
7. Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 18
8. Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 19
9. Walker, Parliamentary election results in Ireland, 1918–1992, page 20