# 1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland

The 1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 26 May as part of the wider general election with 12 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post.

## Results

This was the first election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since the creation of Northern Ireland in 1921 where all constituencies in the region were contested
The Ulster Unionists regained the seat which they had lost to Jack Beattie from the Irish Labour Party. The nationalist interest was represented by Sinn Féin who gained the two seats previously held by the Nationalist Party. Patricia McLaughlin was the first woman elected as an MP for a Northern Ireland constituency.
In the election as a whole, the Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, led by Sir Anthony Eden as Prime Minister, continued in a majority government.
1955 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Party | Party | Stood | Elected | Gained | Unseated | Net | % of total | % | No. | Net % |
| | UUP | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 83.3 | 68.5 | 442,647 | +9.1 |
| | Sinn Féin | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 16.7 | 23.6 | 152,310 | +23.6 |
| | NI Labour | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5.5 | 35,614 | -8.0 |
| | Labour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | — | 2.5 | 16,050 | -4.7 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | — | — | — | -7.1 |
| | Nationalist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | — | — | — | -7.1 |
| | Ind. Republican | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | -5.8 |

## MPs elected

| Constituency | Party | MP |
| Antrim North | UUP | Phelim O'Neill |
| Antrim South | UUP | Knox Cunningham |
| Armagh | UUP | C. W. Armstrong |
| Belfast East | UUP | Alan McKibbin |
| Belfast North | UUP | H. Montgomery Hyde |
| Belfast South | UUP | David Campbell |
| Belfast West | UUP | Patricia McLaughlin |
| Down North | UUP | George Currie |
| Down South | UUP | Lawrence Orr |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Sinn Féin | Philip Clarke |
| Londonderry | UUP | Robin Chichester-Clark |
| Mid Ulster | Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell |

### By-elections

| By-election | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause |
| Mid Ulster | 11 August 1955 | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Tom Mitchell | Sinn Féin | Disqualification |
| Mid Ulster | 8 May 1956 | Charles Beattie | UUP | George Forrest | Ind. Unionist | Disqualification |
| Belfast East | 19 March 1959 | Alan McKibbin | UUP | Stanley McMaster | UUP | Death |
* 1 2 Tom Mitchell won the most votes at the general election but was disqualified by the House of Commons on the grounds that he was a convicted felon. A by-election was called at which Mitchell again stood and won the most votes. On this occasion an election petition was lodged and Mitchell was again disqualified with the Election Court declaring his opponent Charles Beattie duly elected. It then emerged that Beattie himself was ineligible to sit because he held offices of profit under the Crown. Beattie was indemnified by Parliament against the consequences of sitting and voting while ineligible, and a further writ was moved. In the subsequent by-election, Independent Unionist George Forrest was elected. Forrest later joined the Ulster Unionists and won the seat for the party at the 1959 general election.