Mid Ulster (UK Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Mid Ulster (disambiguation).

Mid Ulster
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland.
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of parliament	Francie Molloy (Sinn Féin)
Created from	Fermanagh and Tyrone
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Northern Ireland

Mid Ulster is a parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons.

Boundaries

1983-1997: the District of Cookstown; the District of Omagh; the District of Magherafelt wards of Ballymaguigan, Draperstown, and Lecumpher; and the District of Strabane wards of Castlederg, Clare, Finn, Glenderg, Newtownstewart, Plumbridge, Sion Mills, and Victoria Bridge.

1997-present: the District of Cookstown; the District of Magherafelt; and the District of Dungannon wards of Altmore, Coalisland North, Coalisland South, Coalisland West and Newmills, Donaghmore, and Washing Bay.

The constituency was created in 1950 when the old two-seat constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone was abolished as part of the final move to single-member seats. Originally the seat primarily consisted of the northern, eastern and western parts of County Tyrone, with the south included in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Of the post-1973 districts, it contained all of Omagh and Cookstown and part of Strabane and Magherafelt.

In boundary changes proposed by a review in 1995, the seat was split in two, with the name retained by the eastern half, even though it contained only 30% of the old seat. The western half became the nucleus of the new West Tyrone constituency. The new Mid Ulster also gained areas from East Londonderry and Fermanagh and South Tyrone, taking it deeper into County Londonderry.

History

For the history of the constituency prior to 1950, see Fermanagh and Tyrone.

In both its incarnations, Mid Ulster has seen a precarious balance between unionist and Irish nationalist voters, although in recent years the nationalists have advanced significantly to be in a clear majority. Many elections have seen a candidate from one side triumph due to candidates from the other side splitting the vote.

The seat was initially won by the Irish Nationalist Party in 1950 and 1951 then by Sinn Féin in 1955. However the Sinn Féin Member of Parliament (MP) was unseated on petition on the basis that his Irish Republican Army (IRA) convictions made him ineligible, and in subsequent by-elections the seat was won by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

In a by-election in 1969, the seat was won by Bernadette Devlin standing as an independent socialist nationalist on the "Unity" ticket, which sought to unite nationalist voters behind a single candidate. At the age of 21, Devlin was the youngest person ever elected to the House of Commons in the era of universal suffrage. The by-election saw a 91.5% turnout, a record for any UK by-election.

Devlin held her seat in the 1970 general election but generated controversy when she had a child while still unmarried as well as for her fierce anti-clericalism. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) stood a candidate against her in the February 1974 general election and the nationalist vote was strongly divided, allowing John Dunlop of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party to win with the support of the UUP and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Dunlop held his seat for the next nine years, though in 1975 he was part of a large section of Vanguard that broke away to form the short lived United Ulster Unionist Party. He held his seat in 1979 only due to a unionist pact. He polled poorly in the 1982 Assembly election, taking 2.8% of the vote. Consequently, in 1983 he did not stand again and the following year the UUUP was wound up.

The 1983 general election saw a fierce contest for the seat, with the UUP, DUP, SDLP and Sinn Féin all polling strongly. The winner was the DUP's William McCrea, by a narrow majority of just 78 over Sinn Féin's Danny Morrison. In general elections from then to 2005 the UUP did not contest the seat.

Following the boundary changes, McCrea contested the new Mid Ulster in 1997 but, by then, Sinn Féin had established itself as the most likely party to outpoll a unionist and so drew votes from the SDLP, resulting in Martin McGuinness winning. He held the seat at the general elections of 2001, 2005 and 2010. During the 2001 general election, Mid-Ulster had the highest turnout in any constituency in the United Kingdom.

On 11 June 2012, McGuinness announced his intention to resign from the House of Commons to concentrate on his position as Deputy First Minister and avoid so-called 'double jobbing' by which members of the Northern Ireland Assembly also work as councillors or MPs. This necessitated a by-election. On 30 December 2012, Martin McGuinness formally announced he would resign his Westminster seat with immediate effect. Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy won the resulting by-election in March 2013.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1950	Anthony Mulvey	Independent Republican
	1951	Michael O'Neill	Independent Republican
	1955	Tom Mitchell	Sinn Féin
	1955	Charles Beattie	Ulster Unionist
	1956 by-election	George Forrest	Independent Unionist
	1957		Ulster Unionist
	1969 by-election	Bernadette Devlin	Unity
	1970		Independent Socialist
	Feb 1974	John Dunlop	Vanguard Progressive Unionist
	1975		United Ulster Unionist
	1983	William McCrea	Democratic Unionist
	1997	Martin McGuinness	Sinn Féin
	2013 by-election	Francie Molloy	Sinn Féin

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2015: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Francie Molloy	19,935	48.7	-3.3
	UUP	Sandra Overend	6,318	15.4	+4.4
	DUP	Ian McCrea	5,465	13.4	-1.0
	SDLP	Malachy Quinn	5,055	12.4	-1.9
	TUV	Gareth Ferguson	1,892	4.6	-2.7
	UKIP	Alan Day	863	2.1	+2.1
	Alliance	Eric Bullick	778	1.9	+0.9
	Workers' Party	Hugh Scullion	496	1.2	+1.2
	NI Conservatives	Lucille Nicholson	120	0.3	+0.3
Majority			13,617	33.3	-4.3
Turnout			40,922	60.3	-2.9
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	-3.8

All comparisons with 2010 general election.

By-election 2013: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Francie Molloy	17,462	46.9	-5.1
	Independent	Nigel Lutton	12,781	34.4	N/A
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone	6,478	17.4	+3.1
	Alliance	Eric Bullick	487	1.3	+0.3
Majority			4,681	12.6	-25.0
Turnout				55.7	-7.5
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	-3.4

general election 2010: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	21,239	52.0	+2.4
	DUP	Ian McCrea	5,876	14.4	-9.1
	SDLP	Tony Quinn	5,826	14.3	-3.1
	UCU-NF	Sandra Overend	4,509	11.0	+0.3
	TUV	Walter Millar	2,995	7.3	N/A
	Alliance	Ian Butler	397	1.0	N/A
Majority			15,363	37.6	+13.4
Turnout			40,842	63.2	-10.0
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+5.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	21,641	47.6	-3.5
	DUP	Ian McCrea	10,665	23.5	-7.6
	SDLP	Patsy McGlone	7,922	17.4	+0.6
	UUP	Billy Armstrong	4,853	10.7	+10.7
	Workers' Party	Francis Donnelly	345	0.8	-0.2
Majority			10,976	24.2
Turnout			45,426	73.2	-8.1
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+2.1

General Election 2001: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	25,502	51.1	+11.0
	DUP	Ian McCrea	15,549	31.1	-5.2
	SDLP	Eilish Haughey	8,376	16.8	-5.3
	Workers' Party	Francie Donnelly	509	1.0	+0.5
Majority			9,953	20.0
Turnout			49,936	81.3	-4.8
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	20,294	40.1
	DUP	William McCrea	18,411	36.3
	SDLP	Denis Haughey	11,205	22.1
	Alliance	Ephrem Bogues	460	0.9
	Workers' Party	Marian Donnelly	238	0.5
	Natural Law	Maureen Murray	61	0.1
Majority			1,883	3.7
Turnout			50,669	85.8
	Sinn Féin gain from DUP		Swing

1992 Notional Results: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	19,274	41.0
	SDLP	Denis Haughey	14,360	30.6
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff	11,340	24.4
	Alliance	Ann Gormley	1,229	2.6
	Others		779	1.7
Majority			4,914	10.5
Turnout				7
	DUP hold		Swing

Between 1992 and 1996 there were significant boundary changes, creating the new seat of West Tyrone. This had a huge knock on effect on Mid Ulster, which lost all its areas in Omagh and Strabane district councils, and gained the Torrent LGD in Dungannon from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and the parts of Magherafelt District Council previously in East Londonderry. Therefore the implied 1992 election results are very different from the actual ones and are displayed above.

General Election 1992: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	23,181	42.3
	SDLP	Denis Haughey	16,994	31.0
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff	10,248	18.7
	Alliance	Ann Gormley	1,506	2.8
	Labour and Trade Union	Harry Hutchinson	389	0.7
	Workers' Party	Tommy Owens	285	0.5
	Natural Law	James Anderson	164	0.3
Majority			6,187	11.3
Turnout			52,767	79.3
	DUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	23,004	44.2
	SDLP	Denis Haughey	13,644	26.2
	Sinn Féin	Sean Begley	12,449	23.9
	Alliance	Paddy Bogan	1,846	3.5
	Workers' Party	Paddy Joe McLean	1,133	2.2
Majority			9,360	18.0
Turnout				77.4
	DUP hold		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	23,695	46.4
	Sinn Féin	Danny Morrisson	13,998	27.1
	SDLP	Adrian Colton	13,021	25.2
	Workers' Party	Tommy Owens	691	1.4
Majority			9,697
Turnout			51,405	77.6
	DUP hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DUP	William McCrea	16,174	30.0
	Sinn Féin	Danny Morrison	16,096	29.9
	SDLP	Denis Haughey	12,044	22.4
	UUP	William Thompson	7,066	13.1
	Alliance	Aidan Logan	1,735	3.2
	Workers' Party	Tommy Owens	766	1.4
Majority			78	0.1
Turnout			53,881	84.3
	DUP gain from UUUP		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUUP	John Dunlop	29,249	44.7
	SDLP	Paddy Duffy	19,266	29.4
	Irish Independence	Patrick Fahy	12,055	19.9
	Alliance	Aidan Lagan	3,481	5.3
	Republican Clubs	Francie Donnelly	1,414	2.2
Majority			9,983	15.3
Turnout			65,465	80.4
	UUUP gain from Vanguard		Swing

General Election October 1974: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	John Dunlop	30,552	47.4
	SDLP	Ivan Cooper	25,885	40.1
	Republican Clubs	Francie Donnelly	8,091	12.5
Majority			4,667	7.2
Turnout			64,528	79.0
	Vanguard hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard	John Dunlop	26,044	39.0
	SDLP	Ivan Cooper	19,372	29.1
	Independent Socialist	Bernadette McAliskey	16,672	25.0
	Pro-Assembly Unionist	Neville Thornton	4,633	7.0
Majority			6,632	10.0
Turnout			66,681	79.3
	Vanguard gain from Unity		Swing

General Election 1970: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unity	Bernadette Devlin	37,739	53.5
	UUP	Neville Thornton	31,810	45.1
	Independent	Michael Cunningham	771	1.1
	National Socialist	Phelim O'Neill	198	0.3
Majority			5,929	8.4
Turnout				90.9
	Unity hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

Mid Ulster by-election, 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unity	Bernadette Devlin	33,648	53.3	N/A
	UUP	Anna Forrest	29,437	46.7	– 5.6
Majority			4,211	6.7	+ 2.2
Turnout			63,085	91.5	+ 7.6
	Unity gain from UUP		Swing

General Election 1966: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Forrest	29,728	52.3
	Independent Republican	Tom Mitchell	27,168	47.8
Majority			2,560	4.5
Turnout				83.9
	UUP hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Forrest	29,715	51.6
	Independent Republican	Tom Mitchell	22,810	39.6
	NI Labour	Patrick McGarvey	5,053	8.8
Majority			6,905	12.0
Turnout				85.1
	UUP hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	George Forrest	33,093	70.0
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	14,170	30.0
Majority			18,923	40.0
Turnout				71.0
	UUP hold		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1956

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Unionist	George Forrest	28,605	48.36
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	24,124	40.78
	Anti-Partition	Michael O'Neill	6,421	10.86
Majority			4,481	7.58
Turnout			59,150	88.43
	Independent Unionist gain from Sinn Féin		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1955

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	30,392
	UUP	Charles Beattie	29,586
Majority			806
Turnout
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

The seat was awarded to Beattie on petition on the grounds that Mitchell's conviction as a felon made him ineligible to sit in Parliament. However, Beattie in turn was also found ineligible to sit due to holding an office of profit under the crown, triggering a further by-election.

General Election 1955: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	29,737	50.2
	UUP	Charles Beattie	29,477	49.8
Majority			260	0.4
Turnout				88.6
	Sinn Féin gain from Independent Republican		Swing

Mitchell was subsequently unseated upon petition, on the grounds that his terrorist convictions made him ineligible to sit in Parliament.

General Election 1951: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Republican	Michael O'Neill	33,097	52.7
	UUP	John Shearer	29,701	47.3
Majority			3,396	5.4
Turnout				91.8
	Independent Republican hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Mid Ulster

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Republican	Anthony Mulvey	33,023	52.6	N/A
	UUP	John Shearer	29,721	47.4	N/A
Majority			3,302	5.2	N/A
Turnout				91.6
	Independent Republican win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

Further reading

• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 – 1970

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)