# 1949 Northern Ireland general election

The 1949 Northern Ireland general election was held on 19 February 1949. The election became known as the Chapel-gate election because collections were held at churches in the Republic of Ireland to support the Nationalist Party campaign.
The election was held just after the Republic of Ireland's declaration of a republic. The Unionists were able to use their majority in the Parliament of Northern Ireland to schedule the election at a time when many Protestants felt uneasy about events taking place south of the border, and as a result might be more likely to vote Unionist than for Labour candidates. This appears to have been borne out in the collapse of the Labour vote; the party lost both of its 2 seats in the Commons, and would not return to the Parliament until 1958.
20 MPs were elected unopposed, most of them Ulster Unionists.

## Results

| 37 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| UUP | Nationalist | IU | Oth |
1949 Northern Ireland general election :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Party | Party | Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % |
| | UUP | 46 | 37 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 71.2 | 62.7 | 237,411 | +12.3 |
| | Nationalist | 17 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 17.3 | 26.8 | 101,445 | +17.6 |
| | NI Labour | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | — | 7.1 | 26,831 | -11.4 |
| | Independent Labour | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 7,970 | -0.7 |
| | Ind. Unionist | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 2,150 | -4.4 |
| | Independent | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 2,028 | +0.2 |
| | Communist (NI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.2 | 623 | -2.6 |
| | Socialist Republican | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0 | -1.5 |
All parties shown. Electorate 846,719 (477,354 in contested seats); Turnout 79.3% (378,458).

### Votes summary

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
62.73%
Nationalist Party
26.80%
Labour
7.10%
Independent Labour
2.11%
Independent Unionist
0.57%
Communist
0.16%
Independent
0.54% :

### Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
71.15%
Nationalist Party
17.31%
Independent Unionist
3.85%
Independent Labour
1.92%
Socialist Republican
1.92%
Independent
3.85% :

### Contested seats

Only 32 of the 52 seats (62%) were actually contested.
1949 Northern Ireland general election (contested seats) :
| Party | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % |
| | Ulster Unionist | 237,411 | 62.7 | 32 | 23 | 71.9 |
| | Nationalist | 101,445 | 26.8 | 15 | 7 | 21.9 |
| | Labour | 26,831 | 7.1 | 9 | 0 | — |
| | Ind. Labour | 7,970 | 2.1 | 3 | 0 | — |
| | Ind. Unionist | 2,150 | 0.6 | 1 | 0 | — |
| | Independent | 2,028 | 0.5 | 2 | 2 | 6.3 |
| | Communist | 623 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Total | Total | 378,458 | 79.3 | 63 | 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.
1949 Northern Ireland general election (uncontested seats) :
| Party | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % |
| | Ulster Unionist | Unopposed | Unopposed | 14 | 14 | 70.0 |
| | Nationalist | Unopposed | Unopposed | 2 | 2 | 10.0 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Unopposed | Unopposed | 2 | 2 | 10.0 |
| | Ind. Labour | Unopposed | Unopposed | 1 | 1 | 5.0 |
| | Socialist Republican | Unopposed | Unopposed | 1 | 1 | 5.0 |
| Total | Total | | | 20 | 20 | 100 |