1945 Northern Ireland general election

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.

1945 Northern Ireland general election

← 1938 14 June 1945 1949 →
← outgoing members MPs elected →
All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Basil Brooke T. J. Campbell Party UUP Nationalist Leader since 1 May 1943 18 January 1934 Leader's seat Lisnaskea Belfast Central Last election 39 seats, 56.8% 8 seats, 4.9% Seats won 33[a] 10[b] Seat change 6 2 Popular vote 180,342[c] 32,546[c] Percentage 50.4% 9.1% Swing 6.4% 4.2%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Paddy Agnew Harry Midgley Party NI Labour Commonwealth Labour Leader since 1938 1942 Leader's seat South Armagh (defeated) Belfast Willowfield Last election 1 seat, 5.7% Did not stand Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 66,053[c] 28,079[c] Percentage 18.5% 7.8% Swing 12.8% New party
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party
Prime Minister before election Basil Brooke UUP Prime Minister after election Basil Brooke UUP

20 MPs were elected unopposed (38%), the vast majority of whom were Ulster Unionists. Four MPs affiliated with the labour movement were elected, a new record that would not be surpassed until 1958.

Results

↓

33	10	2	2	5
UUP	Nationalist	L	IU	Oth

1945 Northern Ireland general election
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	UUP	41	33[a]	0	6	-6	63.5	50.4	180,342	-6.4
	NI Labour	15	2	2	1	+1	3.8	18.5	66,053	+12.8
	Nationalist	11	10[b]	2	0	+2	19.2	9.1	32,546	+4.2
	Commonwealth Labour	6	1	1	0	+1	1.9	7.8	28,079	N/A
	Ind. Unionist	5	2[d]	1	1	0	3.8	5.0	17,906	-1.8
	Communist (NI)	3	0	0	0	0		3.5	12,456	N/A
	Independent Labour	2	1	0	0	0	1.9	2.8	9,872	+1.1
	Socialist Republican	2	1	1	0	+1	1.9	1.5	5,497	N/A
	Federation of Labour	1	0	0	0	0		1.1	3,912	N/A
	Independent	2	2	2	0	+2	3.8	0.3	1,219	-1.9

Electorate: 845,964 (509,098 in contested seats); Turnout: 70.3% (357,882).

Votes summary

Popular vote Ulster Unionist   50.39% Labour   18.46% Nationalist Party   9.09% Commonwealth Labour   7.85% Independent Unionist   5.00% Communist   3.48% Independent Labour   2.76% Socialist Republican   1.54% Federation of Labour   1.09% Independent   0.34%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Ulster Unionist   63.46% Nationalist Party   19.23% Independent Unionist   3.85% Labour   3.85% Independent Labour   1.92% Commonwealth Labour   1.92% Socialist Republican   1.92% Independent   3.85%

Contested seats

Only 32 of the 52 seats (62%) were actually contested.

1945 Northern Ireland general election (contested seats)
Party		Popular vote		Candidates
		Votes	%	Stood	Elected	%
	Ulster Unionist	180,342	50.4	28	20	62.5
	Labour	66,053	18.5	15	2	6.3
	Nationalist	32,546	9.1	5	4	12.5
	Commonwealth Labour	28,079	7.8	6	1	3.1
	Ind. Unionist	17,906	5.0	4	1	3.1
	Communist	12,456	3.5	3	0	—
	Ind. Labour	9,872	2.8	2	1	3.1
	Socialist Republican	5,497	1.5	2	1	—
	Federation of Labour	3,912	1.1	1	0	—
	Independent	1,219	0.3	2	2	6.3
Total		357,882	70.3	68	32	—

Uncontested seats

In 20 of the 52 seats (38%), only one candidate stood and they were elected unopposed without any votes cast. The vast majority of the MPs elected without a contest were Ulster Unionists.

1945 Northern Ireland general election (uncontested seats)
Party		Popular vote		Candidates
		Votes	%	Stood	Elected	%
	Ulster Unionist	Unopposed		13	13	65.0
	Nationalist	Unopposed		6	6	30.0
	Ind. Unionist	Unopposed		1	1	5.0
Total				20	20	100

See also

• 1945 United Kingdom general election