East Down (UK Parliament constituency)

East Down
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Down
1885–1922
Seats	1
Created from	County Down Downpatrick
Replaced by	Down

East Down was a United Kingdom parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922, on the electoral system of first past the post.

Politics

The constituency had an anti-unionist majority at the 1918 general election, but its support was split between Nationalist and Sinn Féin candidates. An attempt at a limited electoral pact broke down in this constituency. This produced a minority Unionist win. ^[1]

Boundaries

From 1801 to 1885, County Down returned two MPs to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom sitting at the Palace of Westminster, with separate representation for the parliamentary boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Downpatrick ceased to exist as a parliamentary borough and the parliamentary county was divided into four divisions: North Down, East Down, West Down, and South Down.

Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, Newry ceased to exist as a parliamentary borough, and the parliamentary county gained the additional division of Mid Down. ^[2] Sinn Féin contested the 1918 general election on an abstentionist platform that instead of taking up any seats at Westminster, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. All MPs elected to Irish seats were invited to participate in the First Dáil convened in January 1919, but no members outside of Sinn Féin did so. ^[3]

The Government of Ireland Act 1920 established the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which came into operation in 1921. The representation of Northern Ireland in the Parliament of the United Kingdom was reduced from 30 MPs to 13 MPs, taking effect at the 1922 United Kingdom general election. At Westminster, the five divisions of County Down were replaced by a two-member county constituency of Down. A eight-seat constituency of Down was created for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, which formed the basis in republican theory for representation in the Second Dáil. ^[4]

1885–1918	The baronies of Dufferin, Kinelarty, Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper, and so much of the barony of Castlereagh Upper, except for the parishes or parts of parishes of Comber and Knockbreda. [5] [6]
1918–1922	The rural district of Downpatrick, exclusive of the district electoral divisions of Ballynahinch, Kilmore and Leggygowan; the part of the rural district of Kilkeel which consists of the district electoral divisions of Bryansford, Fofanny and Maghera; and the part of the rural district of Banbridge which consists of the district electoral divisions of Ballyward, Crossgar and Leitrim. [7]

Members of Parliament

James Craig, MP from 1906 to 1918, later served as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1940.

Election	Member	Party
1885	Richard Ker		Irish Conservative
1886
1890 b	James Alexander Rentoul		Irish Conservative
1892			Irish Unionist
1895
1900
1902 b	James Wood		Russellite Unionist
1906	James Craig		Irish Unionist
Jan. 1910
Dec. 1910
1918	David Douglas Reid		Irish Unionist
1922	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Richard Ker	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative win (new seat)

1886 general election: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	Richard Ker	5,093	66.5	N/A
	Irish Parliamentary	Henry McGrath	2,561	33.5	New
Majority			2,532	33.0	N/A
Turnout			7,654	78.1	N/A
Registered electors			9,805
	Irish Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1890s

By-election 1890: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Conservative	James Alexander Rentoul	Unopposed
	Irish Conservative hold

1892 general election: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Alexander Rentoul	Unopposed
	Irish Unionist hold

1895 general election: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Alexander Rentoul	Unopposed
	Irish Unionist hold

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: East Down ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Alexander Rentoul	Unopposed
	Irish Unionist hold

1902 by-election: East Down ^{[10] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Russellite Unionist	James Wood	3,576	51.0	New
	Irish Unionist	Robert Hugh Wallace	3,429	49.0	N/A
Majority			147	2.0	N/A
Turnout			7,005	85.6	N/A
Registered electors			8,184
	Russellite Unionist gain from Irish Unionist		Swing	N/A

1906 general election: East Down ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Craig	4,011	54.6	N/A
	Russellite Unionist	James Wood	3,341	45.4	N/A
Majority			670	9.2	N/A
Turnout			7,352	91.1	N/A
Registered electors			8,072
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

January 1910 general election: East Down ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Craig	4,028	56.9	+2.3
	Liberal	James Wood	3,054	43.1	−2.3
Majority			974	13.8	+4.6
Turnout			7,082	89.7	−1.4
Registered electors			7,895
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	+2.3

December 1910 general election: East Down ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	James Craig	4,110	63.0	+6.1
	Liberal	James Williamson	2,412	37.0	−6.1
Majority			1,698	26.0	+12.2
Turnout			6,522	82.6	−7.1
Registered electors			7,895
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing	+6.1

1918 general election: East Down ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Irish Unionist	David Reid	6,007	42.3	−20.7
	Irish Parliamentary	Michael J. Johnston	4,362	30.4	New
	Sinn Féin	Russell McNabb	3,876	27.3	New
Majority			1,645	11.9	−14.1
Turnout			14,245	79.8	−2.8
Registered electors			17,846
	Irish Unionist hold		Swing

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)
• Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN   0901714127.
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1978). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume II 1886–1918. The Harvester Press.
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.

References

1. Whyte, Nicholas (19 December 2000). "The Irish General Election of 1918". ARK. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
2. Representation of the People Bill 1917: redistribution of seats: report. Boundary Commission (Ireland). 1917.
3. "3. An Rolla". Dáil Debates (in Irish). F (1). Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 January 1919. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
4. "Appendix 19: Dáil Éireann: Extract from Minutes of Meeting on 16th August 1921: Copy of Roll". Dáil Debates. T (17). Houses of the Oireachtas.
5. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23), s. 8 and Seventh Schedule, Part III" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk .
6. Maps of baronies at "Down Maps". Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. 24 December 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
7. "Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 65), Fourth Schedule, Part I" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk .
8. "Election intelligence". The Times. No. 36652. London. 31 December 1901. p. 4.
9. Walker, B.M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 342–343, 387. ISBN   0901714127.
10. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36685. London. 7 February 1902. p. 8.