October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

Main article: October 1974 United Kingdom general election

October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

←  Feb. 1974 10 October 1974 1979  →
12 seats in Northern Ireland of the 635 seats in the House of Commons
First party Second party   Leader Harry West William Craig Party UUP Vanguard Leader since Jan. 1974 1973 Leader's seat Fermanagh and South Tyrone (defeated) Belfast East Seats won 6 3 Seat change 1 Popular vote 256,053 92,622 Percentage 36.5% 13.1% Swing 4.2% 2.5%   Third party Fourth party   SDL Leader Gerry Fitt Ian Paisley Party SDLP DUP Leader since 1970 1971 Leader's seat Belfast West Antrim North Seats won 1 1 Seat change Popular vote 154,193 59,451 Percentage 22.4% 8.5% Swing 0.2% 0.3%

The October 1974 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 10 October with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post as part of the wider general election in the United Kingdom.

Results

This was the second general election to take place in 1974, as Harold Wilson who was leading a minority government sought to secure a majority for the Labour Party. He was successful, but only by a very narrow margin, which dissipated over the course of the parliament.

In Northern Ireland, the United Ulster Unionist Council continued to support an arrangement between the Ulster Unionist Party, the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party and the Democratic Unionist Party not to contest against each other in their joint opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement, while former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner led the new Unionist Party of Northern Ireland in favour of a coalition-based executive under the Agreement. Enoch Powell, formerly an MP for Wolverhampton South West from 1959 to February 1974, was elected for South Down. Powell had left the Conservative Party in opposition to the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities.

On the nationalist side, the SDLP held its seat in Belfast West, and stood aside in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, allowing for the defeat of UUP leader Harry West by Independent Nationalist Frank Maguire.

Results ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Party		Seats					Aggregate Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	Of all (%)	Total	Of all (%)	Difference
	UUP	6	0	1	1	50.0	256,053	36.5	4.2
	Vanguard	3	0	0		25.0	92,622	13.1	2.5
	SDLP	1	0	0		8.3	154,193	22.4
	DUP	1	0	0		8.3	59,451	8.5	0.3
	Ind. Nationalist	1	1	0	1	8.3	32,795	4.7	4.7
	Alliance	0	0	0		0.0	44,644	6.4	3.2
	Republican Clubs	0	0	0		0.0	21,633	3.1	1.0
	Unionist Party NI	0	0	0		0.0	20,454	3.1	10.0 [a 1]
	NI Labour	0	0	0		0.0	11,539	1.6	0.6
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	0		0.0	4,982	0.7	0.7
	Marxist–Leninist	0	0	0		0.0	540	0.1	0.1
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	3,536	0.5	3.1
Total		12					703,042

MPs elected

Constituency	Party		MP
Antrim North		DUP	Ian Paisley
Antrim South		UUP	James Molyneaux
Armagh		UUP	Harold McCusker
Belfast East		Vanguard	William Craig
Belfast North		UUP	John Carson
Belfast South		Vanguard	Robert Bradford
Belfast West		SDLP	Gerry Fitt
Down North		UUP	Jim Kilfedder
Down South		UUP	Enoch Powell
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Ind. Nationalist	Frank Maguire
Londonderry		UUP	William Ross
Mid Ulster		Vanguard	John Dunlop

Notes

1. Comparison with the Pro-Assembly Unionists.

References

1. Walker, Brian Mercer (1992). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1918–1992 (New History of Ireland). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 30–31. ISBN   0901714968.
2. "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1974 October". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
3. "Westminster election, 10 October 1974". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2019.