# 1914 Belfast Corporation election

An election to Belfast Corporation took place in 1914 as part of that year's Irish local elections. This would be the last election before the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which would replace the traditional FPTP based ward system with an STV system based on proportional representation. The election saw Unionists continuing their dominance of the council, winning a massive majority of the council's seats.
Sixteen seats were up for election, with a total of forty-eight candidates nominated. Publican John Boston was nominated for every seat, in order to ensure that they would have a contest. The Falls and St Anne's wards had the most candidates, with seven each. Arthur Trew stood in both the Falls and Shankill wards.
After the election Crawford McCullagh was elected by the new council as Lord Mayor of Belfast.

## Council composition by party

| Party | Party | Seats |
| | Irish Unionist | 52 |
| | United Irish League | 8 |
| Totals | Totals | 60 |

## Results by party

| Party | Party | Seats | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Unionist | 14 | 12,944 | 71.88 | |
| | United Irish League | 2 | 2,316 | 12.86 | |
| | Independent | 0 | 1,282 | 7.12 | |
| | John Boston | 0 | 1,218 | 6.76 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | 0 | 247 | 1.37 | |
| Totals | Totals | 16 | 18,007 | 100.00 | — |

## Ward results
### Clifton Ward

Clifton Ward Electorate: 6182 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Robert Dunlop (incumbent Councillor) | 369 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 56 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 313 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 425 |

### Cromac Ward

Cromac Ward Electorate: 5205 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Robert Thomson M.B. (incumbent Councillor) | 549 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 75 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 474 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 624 |

### Court Ward

Court Ward Electorate: 3450 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Joseph Davison (incumbent Councillor) | 1138 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 48 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1090 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1186 |

### Dock Ward

Dock Ward Electorate: 3,316 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Irish Unionist | Dr Samuel William Allworthy M.D. (incumbent Councillor) | 484 | 89.13 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 59 | 10.87 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 425 | 78.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 543 | 16.38 |

### Duncairn Ward

Duncairn Ward Electorate: 5,568 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Thomas Erskine Alexander (incumbent Councillor) | 300 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 32 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 268 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 332 |

### Falls Ward

Falls Ward (2 Councillors) Electorate: 4,561 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Nationalist | John Collins (incumbent Councillor) | 1,555 |
| | Irish Nationalist | James Leo McDonnell | 761 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 91 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 268 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,646 |

### Ormeau Ward

Ormeau Ward (1 Councillor) Electorate: 6,893 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | William Frederick Coates J.P. (incumbent Councillor) | 1,129 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 168 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 268 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,297 |

### Pottinger Ward

Pottinger Ward (1 Councillor) Electorate: 7,111 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Arthur Stanley Atkinson | 1,831 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 247 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,584 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,078 |

### St. Anne's Ward

St. Anne's Ward (1 Councillor) Electorate: 5,283 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Francis Curley J.P. (incumbent Councillor) | 899 |
| | Independent | George Park | 644 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 53 |
| | Independent | Walter Holdinrake | 37 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 255 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,633 |

### Shankhill Ward

Shankhill Ward Electorate: 5974 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | William George Turner (incumbent Councillor) | 2288 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 132 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2156 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2420 |

### St George's Ward

St George's Ward (1 Councillor) Electorate: 3,284 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Charles Hinds | 1,500 |
| | Independent | Joseph Tyney | 601 |
| | Ind. Unionist | James Mateer | 247 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 899 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,359 |

### Smithfield

Smithfield Ward Electorate: 2424 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Patrick Dempsey J.P. (incumbent Councillor) | 634 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 39 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 595 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 673 |

### Victoria Ward

Victoria Ward Electorate: 4593 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Frank Workman (incumbent Councillor) | 207 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 53 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 154 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 260 |

### Windsor Ward

Victoria Ward Electorate: 5387 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | Henry Riddell (incumbent Councillor) | 458 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 63 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 395 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 521 |

### Woodvale Ward

Woodvale Ward Electorate: 4174 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Irish Unionist | James Alexander Laughlin (incumbent Councillor) | 1158 |
| | Independent | John Boston | 91 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1067 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1249 |