1914 Belfast Corporation election

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1914 Belfast Corporation election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
 191115 January 1914 1920  

16 seats to Belfast Corporation
9 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  No image.svg
Leader R. J. McMordie
Party Irish Unionist United Irish League
Seats won142

Belfast Corporation Election 1914 (Ward Results).svg
Map showing the election results by ward.

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 council's seats. [1]

Contents

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.

Council composition by party

PartySeats±
Irish Unionist 52
United Irish League 8
Totals60

Results by party

PartySeats±Votes%±%
Irish Unionist 1412,94471.88
United Irish League 22,31612.86
Independent 01,2827.12
John Boston01,2186.76
Ind. Unionist 02471.37
Totals1618,007100%

Ward results

Clifton Ward

Clifton Ward [3]
Electorate: 6182
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Robert Dunlop
(incumbent Councillor)
369
Independent John Boston56
Majority313
Turnout 425

Cromac Ward

Cromac Ward [3]
Electorate: 5205
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Robert Thomson M.B.
(incumbent Councillor)
549
Independent John Boston75
Majority474
Turnout 624

Court Ward

Court Ward [3]
Electorate: 3450
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Joseph Davison
(incumbent Councillor)
1138
Independent John Boston48
Majority1090
Turnout 1186

Dock Ward

Dock Ward [3]
Electorate: 3,316
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Dr Samuel William Allworthy M.D.
(incumbent Councillor)
48489.13
Independent John Boston5910.87
Majority42578.27
Turnout 54316.38

Duncairn Ward

Duncairn Ward [3]
Electorate: 5,568
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Thomas Erskine Alexander
(incumbent Councillor)
300
Independent John Boston32
Majority268
Turnout 332

Falls Ward

Falls Ward [3]
(2 Councillors)
Electorate: 4,561
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Nationalist John Collins
(incumbent Councillor)
1,555
Irish Nationalist James Leo McDonnell761
Independent John Boston91
Majority268
Turnout 1,646

Ormeau Ward

Ormeau Ward [3]
(1 Councillor)
Electorate: 6,893
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist William Frederick Coates J.P.
(incumbent Councillor)
1,129
Independent John Boston168
Majority268
Turnout 1,297

Pottinger Ward

Pottinger Ward [3]
(1 Councillor)
Electorate: 7,111
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Arthur Stanley Atkinson1,831
Independent John Boston247
Majority1,584
Turnout 2,078

St. Anne's Ward

St. Anne's Ward [3]
(1 Councillor)
Electorate: 5,283
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Francis Curley J.P.
(incumbent Councillor)
899
Independent George Park644
Independent John Boston53
Independent Walter Holdinrake37
Majority255
Turnout 1,633

Shankhill Ward

Shankhill Ward [3]
Electorate: 5974
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist William George Turner
(incumbent Councillor)
2288
Independent John Boston132
Majority2156
Turnout 2420

St George's Ward

St George's Ward [3]
(1 Councillor)
Electorate: 3,284
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Charles Hinds1,500
Independent Joseph Tyney601
Ind. Unionist James Mateer247
Independent John Boston11
Majority899
Turnout 2,359

Smithfield

Smithfield Ward [3]
Electorate: 2424
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Patrick Dempsey J.P.
(incumbent Councillor)
634
Independent John Boston39
Majority595
Turnout 673

Victoria Ward

Victoria Ward [3]
Electorate: 4593
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Frank Workman
(incumbent Councillor)
207
Independent John Boston53
Majority154
Turnout 260

Windsor Ward

Victoria Ward [3]
Electorate: 5387
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist Henry Riddell
(incumbent Councillor)
458
Independent John Boston63
Majority395
Turnout 521

Woodvale Ward

Woodvale Ward [3]
Electorate: 4174
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Irish Unionist James Alexander Laughlin
(incumbent Councillor)
1158
Independent John Boston91
Majority1067
Turnout 1249

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References

  1. Laffan, Michael (1999). The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 327. ISBN   9781139426299.
  2. "Municipal elections in the provinces", Irish Times , 10 January 1914
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Belfast News-Letter - Friday 16 January 1914