Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)

County Antrim is a former county constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was a two-member constituency in Ireland from 1801 to 1885 and in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1950.

Antrim
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Antrim
1801–1885
Seats	2
Created from	County Antrim
Replaced by	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim
1922–1950
Seats	2
Created from	East Antrim Mid Antrim North Antrim South Antrim
Replaced by	North Antrim South Antrim

History and boundaries

The constituency of County Antrim (1801–1885) within Ireland.

County Antrim had been represented by two seats in the Irish House of Commons. From 1801, under the Acts of Union 1800, it was represented by a county constituency with two MPs in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It consisted of County Antrim, except the parts in the parliamentary borough constituencies of Belfast, Carrickfergus and Lisburn. The boroughs of Antrim and Randalstown were disfranchised in 1801.

In 1885, Carrickfergus and Lisburn were disfranchised and the borders of the parliamentary borough of Belfast were extended. The county was split between the divisions of East Antrim, Mid Antrim, North Antrim and South Antrim.^[1]

In 1922, following the establishment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, the number of seats in Northern Ireland at Westminster was cut from 30 to 13 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The constituency of Antrim was recreated to elect two MPs, consisting of the administrative county of Antrim, that is the whole of County Antrim excluding the part in the city of Belfast.^[2] In 1950, the county was split between the divisions of Antrim North and Antrim South, under the Representation of the People Act 1948, which abolished all multi-member constituencies in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1801–1885

Election	MP			MP			Note
1801	Rt Hon. John Staples		Nonpartisan	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten		Tory[4]
1802	Hon. John O'Neill		Tory[5]
1806
1807
1811 b							O'Neill app. constable of Dublin Castle
1812 b							O'Neill disqualified
1812				Francis Seymour-Conway		Tory
1818				Hugh Henry John Seymour		Tory
1820
1822 b				Richard Seymour-Conway		Tory
1826				Edmond Alexander MacNaghten		Tory[4]
1830				George Chichester, Earl of Belfast		Tory[5]
1831						Whig[5]
1832
1835			Conservative[5]
1837				John Irving		Conservative
1841 b	Nathaniel Alexander		Conservative				O'Neill succeeds as Viscount O'Neill
1841
1845 b				Sir Horace Seymour		Conservative	Death of Irving
1847				Sir Edmund Macnaghten, Bt		Conservative
1852	Edward William Pakenham		Conservative	George Macartney		Conservative
1854 b	Thomas Pakenham		Conservative				Death of Pakenham
1857
1859				George Upton		Conservative
1863 b				Hon. Edward O'Neill		Conservative	Upton succeeds as Viscount Templetown
1865	Henry Seymour		Conservative
1866 b							Seymour appointed Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
1868
1869 b	Hugh Seymour		Conservative				Death of Seymour
1874	James Chaine		Conservative
1880				Edward MacNaghten		Conservative
1885 b	William Pirrie Sinclair		Liberal				Death of Chaine

Notes:

• (1) Earl of Yarmouth (1800–1870) was known as Viscount Beauchamp until 17 June 1822.
• (2) Earl of Yarmouth (1843–1912) was known as Hugh de Grey Seymour until 25 August 1870.

MPs 1922–1950

Election	MP			MP
1922	Rt Hon. Charles Craig		UUP	Hugh O'Neill		UUP
1923
1924
1929	Joseph McConnell		UUP
1931
1935
1943 b	John Dermot Campbell		UUP
1945	Samuel Gillmor Haughton		UUP
1950	Constituency abolished. See North Antrim and South Antrim

Elections

In two-member elections the bloc voting system was used. Voters could cast a vote for one or two candidates, as they chose. The two candidates with the largest number of votes were elected. In by-elections, to fill a single seat, the first past the post system applied.

There was no election in 1801. The representatives of the county in the former Parliament of Ireland became members of the 1st Parliament of the United Kingdom.

After 1832, when registration of voters was introduced, a turnout figure is given for contested elections. In two-member elections, when the exact number of participating voters is unknown, this is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two. To the extent that voters did not use both their votes this will be an underestimate of turnout. If the electorate figure is unknown the last known electorate figure is used to provide an estimate of turnout.

Where a party had more than one candidate in one or both of a pair of successive elections change is calculated for each individual candidate, otherwise change is based on the party vote.

Elections in the 1940s

General election 5 July 1945: Antrim (2 seats)^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	57,259	42.6	N/A
	UUP	Samuel Gillmor Haughton	57,232	42.5	N/A
	NI Labour	Henry Holmes	18,403	13.7	N/A
Majority			38,829	28.8	N/A
Turnout			134,528	56.2	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

By-Election 11 February 1943: Antrim^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	John Dermot Campbell	42,371	69.4	N/A
	NI Labour	Robert Getgood	17,253	28.3	New
	Progressive Unionist	Reginald Hanson Press	1,432	2.4	New
Majority			25,118	41.1	N/A
Turnout			135,795	45.0	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

• Seat vacant at dissolution (Death of Campbell)

Elections in the 1930s

General election 14 November 1935: Antrim (2 seats)^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Joseph McConnell	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 27 October 1931: Antrim (2 seats)^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Joseph McConnell	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1920s

General election 30 May 1929: Antrim (2 seats)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	53,864	37.5	−11.5
	UUP	Joseph McConnell	52,851	36.8	−12.2
	Ulster Liberal	George Henderson	18,985	13.2	New
	Ulster Liberal	Robert Boyd	17,824	12.4	New
Majority			33,866	23.6	−23.4
Turnout			123,474	58.6	−5.6
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

General election 29 October 1924: Antrim (2 seats)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Charles Craig	60,868	49.0	N/A
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	60,764	49.0	N/A
	Sinn Féin	William McCormick	2,514	2.0	New
Majority			58,250	47.0	N/A
Turnout			98,616	64.2	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing

General election 6 December 1923: Antrim (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Charles Craig	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 15 November 1922: Antrim (2 seats)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Charles Craig	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	UUP	Hugh O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 21 May 1885: County Antrim^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Pirrie Sinclair	3,971	50.9	+2.6
	Conservative	Robert Torrens O'Neill	3,832	49.1	−2.6
Majority			139	1.8	N/A
Turnout			7,803	66.7	−16.5
Registered electors			11,701
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.6

General election 6 April 1880: County Antrim (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Chaine	5,124	26.3	−8.5
	Conservative	Edward MacNaghten	4,936	25.4	−7.7
	Liberal	Charles Wilson	4,789	24.6	+8.5
	Liberal	Samuel Black	4,610	23.7	+7.6
Majority			147	0.8	−0.2
Turnout			9,730 (est)	83.2	+4.1
Registered electors			11,701
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.7

Elections in the 1870s

General election 12 February 1874: County Antrim (2 seats)^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Chaine	4,356	34.8	N/A
	Conservative	Edward O'Neill	4,142	33.1	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Wilson	4,009	32.1	N/A
Majority			133	1.0	N/A
Turnout			8,258 (est)	79.1 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			10,436
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 21 August 1869: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Seymour	5,588	70.9	N/A
	Liberal	Robert Shafto Adair	2,294	29.1	New
Majority			3,294	41.8	N/A
Turnout			7,882	67.3	N/A
Registered electors			11,715
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

• Caused by Seymour's death.
• Note: Hugh Seymour was known as the Earl of Yarmouth from 25 August 1870.

General election 23 November 1868: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward O'Neill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Seymour	Unopposed
Registered electors			11,715
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 17 July 1866: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Seymour	Unopposed
Registered electors			10,921
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Seymour's appointment as Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.

General election 22 July 1865: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward O'Neill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Henry Seymour	Unopposed
Registered electors			10,921
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 6 May 1863: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward O'Neill	Unopposed
Registered electors			10,195
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Upton's succession to the peerage, becoming Viscount Templetown.

Elections in the 1850s

General election 10 May 1859: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Pakenham	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Upton	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,822
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

General election 16 April 1857: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Pakenham	4,686	44.4	N/A
	Conservative	George Hume Macartney	4,341	41.1	N/A
	Whig	Henry Hutchinson Hamilton O'Hara[14]	1,533	14.5	New
Majority			2,808	26.6	N/A
Turnout			6,047 (est)	62.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			9,676
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 27 December 1854: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Pakenham	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Pakenham's death

General election 23 July 1852: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward William Pakenham	Unopposed
	Conservative	George Macartney	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,207
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 11 August 1847: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nathaniel Alexander	Unopposed
	Conservative	Edmund Workman-Macnaghten	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,962
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 22 December 1845: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Horace Seymour	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by Irving's death

General election 13 July 1841: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Irving	Unopposed
	Conservative	Nathaniel Alexander	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,157
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

By-election, 14 April 1841: County Antrim^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nathaniel Alexander	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

• Caused by O'Neill's succession to the peerage, becoming 3rd Viscount O'Neill

Elections in the 1830s

General election 5 August 1837: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John O'Neill	Unopposed
	Conservative	John Irving	Unopposed
Registered electors			4,032
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Whig

General election 15 January 1835: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John O'Neill	Unopposed
	Whig	George Chichester	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,822
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

General election 2 January 1833: County Antrim (2 seats)^[13][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John O'Neill	1,719	28.9
	Whig	George Chichester	1,654	27.8
	Tory	Edmund McDonnell	1,451	24.4
	Tory	John Cromie	1,133	19.0
Turnout			3,026	86.8
Registered electors			3,487
Majority			65	1.1
	Tory hold
Majority			203	3.4
	Whig hold

General election 21 May 1831: County Antrim (2 seats)^[15][5][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed
	Whig	George Chichester	Unopposed
	Tory hold
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 13 August 1830: Antrim (2 seats)^[15][5][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John O'Neill	839	40.1
	Tory	George Chichester	719	34.4
	Tory	Edmund McDonnell	523	25.0
	Non Partisan	Mark Kerr	10	0.5
Majority			196	9.4
Turnout			c. 1,046	c. 51.3
Registered electors			2,037
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Elections in the 1820s

General election 20 June 1826: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

1822 Antrim by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Richard Seymour-Conway	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold

General election 22 March 1820: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Hugh Henry John Seymour	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Elections in the 1810s

General election 27 June 1818: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Hugh Henry John Seymour	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 21 October 1812: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Francis Seymour-Conway	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

1812 Antrim by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold

1811 Antrim by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory hold

Elections in the 19th century

General election 18 May 1807: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 19 November 1806: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 19 July 1802: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	John O'Neill	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

Co-option 1 January 1801: Antrim (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Non Partisan	John Staples	Co-opted	N/A	N/A
	Tory	Edmond Alexander MacNaghten	Co-opted	N/A	N/A

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2 )
• Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949. Macmillan Press.
• Farrell, Stephen (2009). Fisher, D.R. (ed.). "Co. Antrim". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820–1832. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
• Stooks Smith, Henry (1973) [1844–50]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Political Reference Publications.
• Stenton, M., ed. (1976). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885. The Harvester Press.
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.
• Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714127.
• Walker, Brian M., ed. (1992). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1918–92: Irish elections to parliaments and parliamentary assemblies at Westminster, Belfast, Dublin, Strabourg. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714968. ISSN 0332-0286.

Citations

1. Sixth Schedule, Seventh Part III Ireland, "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, 48 & 49 Vict. C. 23". The public general acts. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. p. 183.
2. "Government of Ireland Act 1920: Fifth Schedule". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
3. First Schedule, Part IV (Northern Ireland), (b) Borough constituencies, "Representation of the People Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6, Ch. 65)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
4. Escott, Margaret. "MACNAGHTEN, Edmond Alexander (1762–1832), of Beardiville, co. Antrim and Duke Street, St. James's, Mdx". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
5. Stooks Smith, Henry (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections: Containing the Uncontested Elections Since 1830. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. p. 214.
6. Walker 1992, p. 20.
7. Walker 1992, p. 19.
8. Walker 1992, p. 18.
9. Walker 1992, p. 17.
10. Walker 1992, p. 16.
11. Walker 1992, p. 15.
12. Walker 1978, p. 249.
13. Walker 1978, p. 248.
14. "General Intelligence". Coventry Standard. 17 April 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 15 September 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. Walker 1978, p. 195.
16. Farrell 2009.