# Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

54°33′25″N 6°18′40″W﻿ / ﻿54.557°N 6.311°W﻿ / 54.557; -6.311
Down was a county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1929. It returned eight MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

## Boundaries

Down was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and consisted of the administrative County Down, excluding the parts of the historic county within the County Borough of Belfast. The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 divided the constituency into eight constituencies elected under first past the post: Ards, East Down, Iveagh, Mid Down, Mourne, North Down, South Down and West Down.

## Second Dáil

In May 1921, Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic run by Sinn Féin, passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would also serve as the election for the Second Dáil. All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but Éamon de Valera, who was also elected for Clare, was the only MP elected for Down to sit as a TD in Dáil Éireann.

## Politics

Down had a Unionist majority, but with strong Nationalist support in the south. In both elections, six Unionists were elected, alongside one Nationalist and one Republican.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) | MP (Party) |
| 1921 | | James Craig (UUP) | | J. M. Andrews (UUP) | | Thomas Lavery (UUP) | | Harry Mulholland (UUP) | | Robert McBride (UUP) | | Thomas McMullan (UUP) | | Patrick O'Neill (Nationalist) | | Éamon de Valera (Sinn Féin/Republican) |
| 1925 | | James Craig (UUP) | | J. M. Andrews (UUP) | | Thomas Lavery (UUP) | | Harry Mulholland (UUP) | | Robert McBride (UUP) | | Thomas McMullan (UUP) | | Patrick O'Neill (Nationalist) | | Éamon de Valera (Sinn Féin/Republican) |

## Election results

1921 General Election: Down (8 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | UUP | James Craig | 36.7 | 29,829 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Éamon de Valera | 26.7 | 21,677 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | J. M. Andrews | 15.5 | 12,584 | | | | | | | | |
| | Nationalist | Patrick O'Neill | 9.0 | 7,317 | 7,332 | 7,806 | 7,809 | 7,811 | 7,814 | 7,818 | 7,820 | 8,171 |
| | UUP | Harry Mulholland | 5.7 | 4,665 | 10,183 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert McBride | 4.1 | 3,297 | 5,944 | 5,956 | 8,715 | 11,819 | | | | |
| | UUP | Thomas Lavery | 3.5 | 2,863 | 12,883 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Thomas McMullan | 3.3 | 2,692 | 4,738 | 4,751 | 5,421 | 6,147 | 7,282 | 10,041 | | |
| | Independent Labour | A. Adams | 1.5 | 1,188 | 1,448 | 1,463 | 1,514 | 1,532 | 1,547 | 1,564 | 1,569 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick Lavery | 0.4 | 327 | 581 | 6,276 | 6,347 | 6,352 | 6,358 | 6,359 | 6,359 | 7,470 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick M. Moore | 0.2 | 149 | 197 | 1,236 | 1,245 | 1,252 | 1,255 | 1,272 | 1,284 | |
| Electorate: 93,138 Valid: 81,180 Quota: 9,021 Turnout: 87.2% |||||||||||||
1925 General Election: Down (8 seats) :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| UUP | J. M. Andrews | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UUP | James Craig | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Republican | Éamon de Valera | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UUP | Thomas Lavery | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UUP | Robert McBride | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UUP | Thomas McMullan | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UUP | Harry Mulholland | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Nationalist | Patrick O'Neill | unopposed | N/A | N/A | N/A |