# 1929 Northern Ireland general election

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

| 37 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| UUP | Nationalist | IU | NILP |
1929 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 | 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 |
| | Ind. 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

Popular vote
Ulster Unionist
50.85%
Independent Unionist
14.30%
Nationalist Party
11.66%
Labour
7.99%
Ulster Liberal
6.23%
Independent
3.28%
Other
5.71% :

### Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Ulster Unionist
71.15%
Nationalist Party
21.15%
Independent Unionist
5.77%
Labour
1.92% :

### Contested seats

Only 30 of the 52 seats (58%) were actually contested.
1929 Northern Ireland general election (contested seats) :
| Party | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % |
| | Ulster Unionist | 148,579 | 50.8 | 27 | 21 | 70.0 |
| | Ind. Unionist | 41,778 | 14.3 | 10 | 3 | 10.0 |
| | Nationalist | 34,069 | 11.7 | 5 | 5 | 16.7 |
| | Labour | 23,334 | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 3.3 |
| | Liberal | 18,208 | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | — |
| | Local Option | 9,776 | 3.3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| | Town Tenants | 6,901 | 2.4 | 2 | 0 | — |
| | Ind. Nationalist | 3,694 | 1.3 | 1 | 0 | — |
| | Independent | 3,437 | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | — |
| | Ind. Labour | 2,442 | 0.8 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Total | Total | 292,218 | 67.6% | 61 | 30 | — |

### 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.
1929 Northern Ireland general election (uncontested seats) :
| Party | Party | Popular vote | Popular vote | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Stood | Elected | % |
| | Ulster Unionist | Unopposed | Unopposed | 16 | 16 | 72.7 |
| | Nationalist | Unopposed | Unopposed | 6 | 6 | 27.3 |
| Total | Total | | | 22 | 22 | 100 |