Mid Down (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Down
Mid Down
Former county constituency ; for the House of Commons
1918–1922
Seats	1
Created from	East Down ; North Down ; West Down ;
Replaced by	Down

Last updated February 15, 2024

Mid Down was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland and after 1921 Northern Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system .

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

1918-1922: The Urban District of Holywood, the Rural Districts of Castlereagh and Hillsborough, and the District Electoral Divisions of Ballygowan, Ballymaglaff, Kilmood, Moneyreagh and Tullynakill in the Rural District of Newtownards.

This county constituency comprised the central northern part of County Down, to the south-east of the city of Belfast.

Prior to the 1918 General Election parts of the area were included in East Down, West Down and North Down constituencies. After the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 Mid Down became part of the two-member Down constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a strongly unionist area, as demonstrated by the small Sinn Féin vote in 1918.

The MP elected in 1918, Sir James Craig, became the Ulster Unionist leader and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1921. Having accepted his new office from the Crown on 7 June 1921, Craig's Westminster seat was automatically vacated. He did not seek re-election and a new Unionist MP was elected unopposed.

Dáil Éireann

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. Mid Down, in republican theory, was incorporated in an eight-member Dáil constituency of Down.

Members of Parliament 1918–1922

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sir James Craig, Bt	Irish Unionist
	1921 (b)	Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford	Ulster Unionist
1922		constituency abolished

Elections

General Election 14 December 1918: Mid Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Irish Unionist	Sir James Craig, Bt	10,639	93.77
	Sinn Féin	Joseph Robinson	707	6.23
Majority			9,932	87.54
Turnout			17,195	65.98
	Irish Unionist win (new seat)

Appointment of Craig as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

By-Election 2 July 1921 : Mid Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Rt Hon. Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
	Ulster Unionist hold

Related Research Articles

County Waterford was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the British House of Commons.

Mid Armagh was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act and first used at the 1885 general election. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) until it was abolished with effect from the 1922 general election.

North Armagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

South Armagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

North Kilkenny was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1922.

East Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

West Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

North Fermanagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

South Fermanagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.

Cromac, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Falls, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Ormeau, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Pottinger, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Shankill, a division of the parliamentary borough of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, on the electoral system of first past the post.

St Anne's, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Victoria, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

Woodvale, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

North East Tyrone was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland. From 1918 to 1922 it returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

North West Tyrone was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons from 1918 to 1922.

Mid Antrim was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland and after 1921 Northern Ireland which returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.

References

Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 388. ISBN 0901714127.

Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). 'Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)