1929 Northern Ireland general election

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All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader James Craig Joe Devlin Samuel Kyle Party Ulster Unionist Nationalist NI Labour Leader since 7 June 1921 1918 1925 Leader's seat North Down Belfast Central Belfast North (abolished)[fn 1] Last election 32 seat, 55.0% 10 seats, 23.8% 3 seats, 4.7% Seats won 37[u 1] 11[n 1] 1 Seat change 5 1 2 Popular vote 148,579 34,069 23,334 Percentage 50.8% 11.7% 8.0% Swing 4.2% 9.5% 3.3%
Election results by constituency
Prime Minister before election James Craig Ulster Unionist Prime Minister after election James Craig Ulster Unionist

(1921–72)
Politics of Northern Ireland
Government Governor Privy Council Ministries Prime Minister Craigavon ministry Andrews ministry Brookeborough ministry O'Neill ministry Chichester-Clark ministry Faulkner ministry Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments
Parliament Acts Statutory rules and orders Senate Speaker of the Senate Leader of the Senate House of Commons Speaker Leader of the Opposition Members 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 Senate
Elections Elections in Northern Ireland 1921, 1925, 1929, 1933 1938, 1945, 1949, 1953 1958, 1962, 1965, 1969 By-elections Constituencies Political parties
See also Fourth Home Rule Bill Constitution Act 1973
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The 1929 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 May 1929. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. It was the first held after the abolition of proportional representation and the redrawing of electoral boundaries to create single-seat constituencies. As with the rest of the United Kingdom, this has made it more difficult for independent and minor party candidates to win seats.

22 MPs (42%), mostly Ulster Unionists, were elected unopposed without any votes being cast. This began a trend which would continue for decades - until 1969, at least 20 MPs in every Northern Ireland general election would be elected unopposed.

Results

1929 Northern Ireland general election
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Ulster Unionist	43	37	N/A	N/A	+5	71.2	50.8	148,579	-4.2
	Ind. Unionist	10	3	N/A	N/A	-1	5.8	14.3	41,778	+5.3
	Nationalist	11	11	N/A	N/A	+1	21.2	11.7	34,069	-9.5
	NI Labour	5	1	N/A	N/A	-2	1.9	8.0	23,334	+3.3
	Ulster Liberal	5	0	N/A	N/A	-1	—	6.2	18,208	+4.9
	Local Option	3	0	N/A	N/A	0	—	3.3	9,776	N/A
	Town Tenants' Association	2	0	N/A	N/A	0	—	2.4	6,901	+1.5
	Independent Nationalist	1	0	N/A	N/A	0	—	1.3	3,694	N/A
	Independent	1	0	N/A	N/A	0	—	1.2	3,437	N/A
	Independent Labour	2	0	N/A	N/A	0	—	0.8	2,442	N/A

Electorate: 775,307 (432,439 in contested seats); Turnout: 67.6% (292,218). Ulster Liberal Party result is compared to Unbought Tenants' Association in 1925.

Votes summary

Seats summary

Contested seats

Only 30 of the 52 seats (58%) were actually contested.

Uncontested seats

In 22 of the 52 seats (42%), 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.

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