West Down (UK Parliament constituency)

West Down
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885 (1885)–1922 (1922)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Down
Created from	Down

West Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency comprised the western part of County Down. There was a boundary change altering this division in 1918, when the new Mid Down constituency was created.

It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1922.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Down constituency.

Politics

The constituency was strongly unionist in 1918, when Sinn Féin only polled 1,725 votes. Two subsequent by-elections produced unopposed returns for the Unionist candidates.

The First Dáil

Sinn Féin contested the general election of 1918 on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil. This took place on 16 August 1921.

In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic's Second Dáil. This area, in republican theory, was incorporated in an eight-member Dáil constituency of Down.

Members of Parliament

Key to parties: U Irish Unionist 1886–1921 and Ulster Unionist 1921–1922.

From	To	Name (Party)	Born	Died
1885	1898	Lord Arthur William Hill (U)	28 July 1846	13 January 1931
1898	1905	Arthur Hill (U)	30 December 1873	27 June 1913
1905	1907	Harry Liddell (U)	1866	8 July 1931
1907	1908	Lord Arthur William Hill (U)	28 July 1846	13 January 1931
1908	1918	William John MacGeagh MacCaw (U)	1850	3 March 1928
1918	1921	Daniel Martin Wilson (U)	1862	5 January 1932
1921	1922	Thomas Browne Wallace (U)	28 January 1865	28 April 1951
1922	1922	Hugh Hayes (U)		5 September 1928

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

General Election 14 December 1918: West Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	Daniel Martin Wilson	10,559		N/A
	Sinn Féin	Bernard Campbell	1,725		N/A
Majority					N/A
Turnout			17,997		N/A
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Wilson appointed Recorder of Belfast

By-Election 5 July 1921: West Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Browne Wallace	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

• Wallace appointed Chief Clerk to the High Court of Northern Ireland

By-Election 17 February 1922: West Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Hugh Hayes	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume II 1886–1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1978)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume III 1919–1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1979)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)

External links

• http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0
• http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/en.toc.dail.html

See also

• List of UK Parliament Constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland
• Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918
• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1918
• List of Dáil Éireann constituencies in Ireland (historic)
• Members of the 1st Dáil