# Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)

Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament from 1918 until 1950.
It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.

## Franchise

The MP was rather elected by the graduates of Queen's University Belfast.

## First Dáil

After the 1918 election, Sinn Féin invited all those elected for constituencies in Ireland to sit as TDs in Dáil Éireann rather than in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. All those elected for Irish constituencies were included in the roll of the Dáil but only those elected for Sinn Féin sat in the First Dáil. In May 1921, the Dáil passed a resolution declaring that elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland would be used as the election for the Second Dáil and that the First Dáil would be dissolved on the assembly of the new body. The graduates of Queen's would then have been represented in the Dáil by the four-seat constituency of Queen's University of Belfast, which also returned no representatives for Sinn Féin.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1918 | William Whitla | Ulster Unionist |
| 1923 | Thomas Sinclair | Ulster Unionist |
| 1940 by-election | Douglas Lloyd Savory | Ulster Unionist |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Politics and History of the constituency

University constituencies had existed in the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors since 1603 and in 1918 Queen's was enfranchised as such. When the Parliament of Northern Ireland was established, the same franchise was preserved - see Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency).
As with most other Northern Ireland seats in this period, the electorate was heavily inclined towards the Ulster Unionists, with no contests for the Westminster seat taking place at all in the interwar years.
Under the Representation of the People Act 1948, university constituencies at Westminster were abolished with effect at the 1950 United Kingdom general election.

## Election results

1918 general election: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | William Whitla | 1,487 | 92.65 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Sean B. Dolan | 118 | 7.35 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,369 | 85.30 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,605 | 78.72 | |
| | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) |
General election 1922: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | William Whitla | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
General election 1923: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
General election 1924: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
General election 1929: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
General election 1931: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
General election 1935: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Thomas Sinclair | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
Resignation of Sinclair
Queen's University of Belfast by-election, 2 November 1940 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Douglas Savory | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |
1945 general election: Queen's University of Belfast :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Douglas Savory | 1,923 | 72.5 | N/A |
| | Independent | Thomas Cusack | 728 | 27.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,195 | 45.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,651 | 51.6 | N/A |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold | UUP hold |