1921 Northern Ireland general election
{{Short description|none}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1921 Northern Ireland general election
| country = Northern Ireland
| flag_image = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
| type = parliamentary
| ongoing = no
|previous_election =
|previous_year =
| elected_mps = MPs elected
| next_election = 1925 Northern Ireland general election
| next_year = 1925
| seats_for_election = All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland
27 seats were needed for a majority
| election_date = 24 May 1921
| turnout = 88.0%
| image1 = 150x150px
| leader1 = James Craig
| leader_since1 = 1921
| party1 = Ulster Unionist Party
| leaders_seat1 = Down
| seats1 = 40
| popular_vote1 = 343,347
| percentage1 = 66.9%
| image2 = 150x150px
| leader2 = Éamon de Valera
| leader_since2 = 1917
| party2 = Sinn Féin
| leaders_seat2 = Down
| seats2 = 6
| popular_vote2 = 104,917
| percentage2 = 20.5%
| image3 = 150x150px
| leader3 = Joe Devlin
| leader_since3 = 1918
| party3 = Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
| leaders_seat3 = Belfast West
| seats3 = 6
| popular_vote3 = 60,577
| percentage3 = 11.8%
|map_image = File:1921 Northern Ireland General Election Results Map.png
|map_size = 400px
|map_caption = Results of the 1921 Northern Ireland General Election.
| title = Prime Minister
| posttitle = Prime Minister after election
| before_election = N/A
| after_election = James Craig
| after_party = Ulster Unionist Party
}}{{For|election of Southern Ireland|1921 Irish elections}}{{Politics of Northern Ireland 1921-72}}
The 1921 Northern Ireland general election was held on Tuesday, 24 May 1921. It was the first election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Ulster Unionist Party members won two-thirds of votes cast and more than three-quarters of the seats in the assembly. Sinn Féin in particular was shocked at the scale of the Unionist victory, having spent considerable resources on the campaign, and had expected to win between 1/3 and 1/2 of the seats. Sinn Féin and Nationalist Party candidates were successful in the joint County Tyrone/Fermanagh constituency with 54.71 percent of the vote.{{cite web |url=https://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1921NI&cons=727 |title=Northern Ireland: 24 May 1921|author= |date= |website=Elections Ireland |publisher= |access-date=14 October 2023 |quote=}} The election was conducted using the single transferable vote system.
The election took place during the Irish War of Independence, on the same day as the election to the parliament of Southern Ireland. As the election in Southern Ireland was merely a formality, with all candidates being returned unopposed (and therefore guaranteeing Sinn Féin complete dominance), Sinn Féin was able to focus its resources entirely on the election in Northern Ireland. The Sinn Féin campaign focused on the issue of partition implemented by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, with Sinn Féin and the Nationalist party running on a combined anti-partition ticket.
Sinn Féin campaign
Sinn Féin invested considerable resources in their campaign, placing advertisements in almost 50 northern newspapers making a range of arguments against partition. Sinn Féin also published its own newspaper, The Unionist, of which 50,000 copies were sent to prominent Protestants in East Ulster, particularly County Antrim. In particular, Sinn Féin claimed there was widespread ignorance over the situation in Ulster and warned against the economic dangers of partition, particularly in relation to threats of a renewed boycott against northern goods in a manner similar to the "Belfast Boycott". Sinn Féin also attempted to attract Ulster's rural and agricultural workers, arguing partition would put them at the mercy of eastern Ulster's urban elites.{{cite book |last=Lynch |first=Robert |title=Revolutionary Ireland, 1912–25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RTfbBQAAQBAJ&dq=despite+all+this+the+nationalist+hopes+for+the+election+were+high&pg=PA97 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2015 |pages=96–97 |isbn=9781441186898}}
Despite the scale and organisation of the campaign, its arguments failed to resonate with voters, with the party's chief organiser Eamon Donnelly claiming on the day of the election that all Sinn Féin's efforts had achieved was assuring a high Unionist turnout. Allegations were made claiming intimidation of Nationalist voters, arrests of candidates/organisers and the seizure of electoral literature.{{cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Frank |author-link= |date=1957 |title=The Indivisible Island |url= |location=London |publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd. |page=148 |isbn=}}
Sinn Féin treated the two elections north and south as combined elections to the Second Dáil. Five of the six successful Sinn Féin candidates in Northern Ireland were also elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland; Seán O'Mahony was the only Sinn Féin success solely elected in Northern Ireland.
Results
| style="width:50%; text-align:center;"
|+ ↓ |
| style="color:white;"
| style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}; width:76.92%;" | 40 | style="background:{{party color|Sinn Féin}}; width:11.54%;" | 6 | style="background:{{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}; width:11.54%;" | 6 |
| UUP
| Sinn Fein | Nationalist |
{{Election summary begin with candidates| title = 1921 Northern Ireland general election|image=File:Northern Irish general election 1921.svg}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
|party = Ulster Unionist Party
|government = yes
|candidates = 40
|seats = 40
|gain = N/A
|loss = N/A
|net = N/A
|votes = 343,347
|votes % = 66.9
|seats % = 76.92
|plus/minus = N/A
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
|party = Sinn Féin
|candidates = 20
|seats = 6
|gain = N/A
|loss = N/A
|net = N/A
|votes = 104,917
|votes % = 20.5
|seats % = 11.54
|plus/minus = N/A
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
|party = Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
|candidates = 12
|seats = 6
|gain = N/A
|loss = N/A
|net = N/A
|votes = 60,577
|votes % = 11.8
|seats % = 11.54
|plus/minus = N/A
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
|party = Belfast Labour Party
|candidates = 4
|seats = 0
|gain = N/A
|loss = N/A
|net = N/A
|votes = 3,075
|votes % = 0.6
|seats % = 0.00
|plus/minus = N/A
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
|party = Independent (politician)
|candidates = 1
|seats = 0
|gain = N/A
|loss = N/A
|net = N/A
|votes = 926
|votes % = 0.2
|seats % = 0.00
|plus/minus = N/A
}}
|}
Total electorate: 582,464; turnout: 88.0% (512,842).
=Votes summary=
{{Bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=500px
|barwidth=400px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Ulster Unionist|{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}|66.95}}
{{bar percent|Sinn Féin|{{party color|Sinn Féin}}|20.46}}
{{bar percent|Nationalist|{{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}|11.81}}
{{bar percent|Belfast Labour|{{party color|Belfast Labour Party}}|0.60}}
{{bar percent|Independent|{{party color|Independent (politician)}}|0.18}}
}}
=Seats summary=
{{Bar box
|title=Parliamentary seats
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=500px
|barwidth=400px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Ulster Unionist|{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}|76.92}}
{{bar percent|Sinn Féin|{{party color|Sinn Féin}}|11.54}}
{{bar percent|Nationalist|{{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}|11.54}}
}}
See also
Footnotes
{{Reflist}}
References
- [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/totals.html Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116175039/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/totals.html |date=16 November 2017 }}
{{Northern Ireland elections}}
Northern Ireland general election