1965 Northern Ireland general election

Last updated

1965 Northern Ireland general election
Ulster Banner.svg
  1962 25 November 1965 1969  

All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland
27 seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  No image wide.svg No image wide.svg
Leader Terence O'Neill Eddie McAteer Tom Boyd
Party Ulster Unionist Nationalist NI Labour
Leader since25 March 19632 June 19641958
Leader's seat Bannside Foyle Belfast Pottinger
Last election34 seats, 48.8%9 seats, 15.1%4 seats, 25.4%
Seats won3692
Seat changeIncrease2.svg2Steady2.svgDecrease2.svg2
Popular vote191,89626,74866,323
Percentage59.1%8.2%20.4%
SwingIncrease2.svg10.3%Decrease2.svg6.9%Decrease2.svg5.0%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  No image wide.svg No image wide.svg
Leader Gerry Fitt Gerry Quigley Albert McElroy
Party Republican Labour National Democratic Ulster Liberal
Leader since196419651956
Leader's seat Belfast Dock None Enniskillen (Lost)
Last electionDid not standDid not stand1 seat, 3.6%
Seats won211
Seat changeIncrease2.svg2Increase2.svg1Steady2.svg
Popular vote3,32615,20612,618
Percentage1.0%4.7%3.9%
SwingNew partyNew partyIncrease2.svg 0.3%

Northern Ireland general election 1965.png
Election results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Terence O'Neill
Ulster Unionist

Prime Minister after election

Terence O'Neill
Ulster Unionist

The 1965 Northern Ireland general election was held on 25 November 1965. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. This was the last election in Northern Ireland in which one party won a majority of the vote. The Ulster Unionists increased their vote share largely due to a reduction in the number of uncontested seats, but also picked up two additional seats. Similarly, the Nationalist vote share decreased largely due to more of the seats in which they stood candidates being contested.

Contents

Results

369223
UUPNationalistLROth
1965 Northern Ireland general election
Northern Irish general election 1965.svg
PartyCandidatesVotes
StoodElectedGainedUnseatedNet % of total %No.Net %
  Ulster Unionist 413620+269.259.1191,896+10.3
  NI Labour 17202-23.820.466,323-5.0
  Nationalist 9900017.38.226,748-6.9
  National Democratic 1 1 1 0+11.94.715,206N/A
  Ulster Liberal 4 1 0001.93.912,618+0.3
  Independent Labour 1 00001.44,371-1.7
  Republican Labour 2210+13.81.03,326N/A
 New Ireland Movement 1 00001.03,111N/A
  Independent Republican 1 00000.2682N/A
  Communist (NI) 1 00000.1308N/A
  Independent 1 1 0001.90.00-0.4

All parties shown. The only independent candidate was elected unopposed.Electorate: 907,667 (563,252 in contested seats); Turnout: 57.6% (324,589).

Votes summary

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
59.12%
Labour
20.43%
Nationalist
8.24%
National Democratic
4.68%
Ulster Liberal
3.89%
Independent Labour
1.35%
Republican Labour
1.02%
New Ireland Movement
0.96%
Independent Republican
0.21%
Communist
0.09%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
69.23%
Nationalist
17.31%
Labour
3.85%
Republican Labour
3.85%
National Democratic
1.92%
Independent
1.92%

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1918 Irish general election</span>

The 1918 Irish general election was the part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election which took place in Ireland. It is now seen as a key moment in modern Irish history because it saw the overwhelming defeat of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), which had dominated the Irish political landscape since the 1880s, and a landslide victory for the radical Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin had never previously stood in a general election, but had won six seats in by-elections in 1917–18. The party had vowed in its manifesto to establish an independent Irish Republic. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1959 United Kingdom general election</span> 8th October 1959

The 1959 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 8 October 1959. It marked a third consecutive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, now led by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. For the second time in a row, the Conservatives increased their overall majority in Parliament, this time to a landslide majority of 100 seats, having gained 20 seats for a return of 365. The Labour Party, led by Hugh Gaitskell, lost 19 seats and returned 258. The Liberal Party, led by Jo Grimond, again returned only six MPs to the House of Commons, but managed to increase its overall share of the vote to 5.9%, compared to just 2.7% four years earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

Mid Ulster is a parliamentary constituency in the UK House of Commons. The current MP is Francie Molloy of Sinn Féin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)</span>

Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons. The current MP is Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1922 onwards

Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is John Finucane of Sinn Féin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1922 onwards

Belfast South is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Claire Hanna of the SDLP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1922 onwards

Belfast East is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Gavin Robinson of the DUP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Down (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

North Down is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party. Farry was elected to the position in the 2019 general election, replacing the incumbent Sylvia Hermon. Hermon had held the position since being elected to it in the 2001 general election, but chose not to contest in 2019.

The by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 9 April 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant by-election held in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It saw the first electoral victory for militant Irish republicanism, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin. The successful candidate was the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, who died twenty-six days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats compared to the 167-seat majority it had won four years before. This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and remains the party's most recent general election victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry West</span> Northern Ireland politician (1917–2004)

Henry William West was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1945 Northern Ireland general election</span>

The 1945 Northern Ireland general election was held on 14 June 1945. The election saw significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party, though they retained their majority.

The United Kingdom general elections overview is an overview of United Kingdom general election results since 1922. The 1922 election was the first election in the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after the creation of the Irish Free State removed Southern Ireland from the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Northern Ireland by-elections</span> By-elections held in January 1986

The 1986 Northern Ireland by-elections were fifteen by-elections held on 23 January 1986, to fill vacancies in the Parliament of the United Kingdom caused by the resignation in December 1985 of all sitting Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs). The MPs, from the Ulster Unionist Party, Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Popular Unionist Party, did this to highlight their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Each of their parties agreed not to contest seats previously held by the others, and each outgoing MP stood for re-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Belfast South by-election</span>

The Belfast South by-election was held on 4 March 1982 following the death of Robert Bradford, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament for Belfast South.

The Northern Ireland Conservatives is a section of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party that operates in Northern Ireland. The party won 0.03% of the vote in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election and 0.7% of the vote in the 2019 United Kingdom General election in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional Unionist Voice</span> Political party in Northern Ireland

The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span>

The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 18 seats were contested. 1,236,765 people were eligible to vote, up 67,581 from the 2010 general election. 58.45% of eligible voters turned out, an increase of half a percentage point from the last general election. This election saw the return of Ulster Unionists to the House of Commons, after they targeted 4 seats but secured 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1946 Londonderry Borough Council election</span> Local govt election in Northern Ireland

Elections to Londonderry Borough Council were held on 16 October 1946. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) retained their majority with Sir Basil McFarland continuing as Mayor of Londonderry. The elections were postponed from the original February date due to an unusually large number of objections to the list of electors.

References