# Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Queen's University of Belfast was a university constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 until 1969. It returned four MPs, using proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. In 1969 the constituency was abolished under the reforms carried out by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill.

## Franchise

The constituency was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and its four MPs were elected by the graduates of Queen's University of Belfast.

## 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 be used as the election for the Second Dáil. All those elected were on the roll of the Second Dáil, but as no Sinn Féin MP was elected for Queen's University, it was not represented there.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party | Member | Party | Member | Party | Member | Party |
| MPs (1921) | John Campbell | UUP | John Hanna Robb | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | UUP | Hugh Morrison | UUP |
| MPs (1929) | Robert Corkey | UUP | John Hanna Robb | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | UUP | Robert McNeill | Ind. Unionist |
| MPs (1935) | Robert Corkey | UUP | John Hanna Robb | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | UUP | Arthur Brownlow Mitchell | UUP |
| MPs (1938) | Robert Corkey | UUP | John MacDermott | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | UUP | Arthur Brownlow Mitchell | UUP |
| MPs (1938) | Robert Corkey | UUP | John MacDermott | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | Arthur Brownlow Mitchell | UUP |
| MPs (1942) | Robert Corkey | UUP | John MacDermott | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | William Lyle | UUP |
| MPs (1943) | John W. Renshaw | UUP | John MacDermott | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | William Lyle | UUP |
| MPs (1944) | John W. Renshaw | UUP | Herbert Quin | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | William Lyle | UUP |
| MPs (1945) | Frederick McSorley | Independent | Herbert Quin | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | Irene Calvert | Independent |
| MPs 1948 | Samuel Irwin | UUP | Herbert Quin | UUP | Howard Stevenson | UUP | Irene Calvert | Independent |
| MPs (1949) | Samuel Irwin | UUP | Eileen M. Hickey | Independent | William Lyle | UUP | Irene Calvert | Independent |
| MPs (1949) | Samuel Irwin | UUP | Eileen M. Hickey | Independent | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | UUP | Irene Calvert | Independent |
| MPs (1953) | Samuel Irwin | UUP | Eileen M. Hickey | Independent | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | UUP |
| MPs (1958) | Samuel Irwin | UUP | Charles Stewart | Independent | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | UUP |
| MPs (1961) | Sheelagh Murnaghan | Ulster Liberal | Charles Stewart | Independent | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | UUP |
| MPs (1962) | Sheelagh Murnaghan | Ulster Liberal | Charles Stewart | Independent | Ian McClure | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | UUP |
| MPs (1966) | Sheelagh Murnaghan | Ulster Liberal | Robert Porter | UUP | Ian McClure | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | UUP |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1920s

1921 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | UUP | John Campbell | 43.35 | 835 | | |
| | UUP | John Hanna Robb | 19.11 | 368 | 438 | |
| | UUP | Professor Robert James Johnstone | 14.49 | 279 | 602 | |
| | UUP | Hugh Smith Morrison | 12.62 | 243 | 296 | 564 |
| | Sinn Féin | Sean B. Dolan | 10.44 | 201 | 204 | 204 |
| Electorate: 2,528 Valid: 1,926 Quota: 386 Turnout: 76.19% |||||||
    At the 1925 Northern Ireland general election, John Campbell, Robert James Johnstone, Hugh Morrison and John Hanna Robb were elected unopposed.
1929 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | UUP | John Hanna Robb | 24.9 | 528 | | |
| | UUP | Robert Corkey | 24.0 | 510 | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Robert McNeill | 20.8 | 441 | | |
| | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | 16.0 | 340 | 397 | 438 |
| | UUP | Arthur Brownlow Mitchell | 14.2 | 302 | 348 | 392 |
| Electorate: 3,324 Valid: 2,121 Quota: 425 Turnout: 63.8% |||||||

### Elections in the 1930s

1933 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | 29.5 | 695 | |
| | UUP | Robert Corkey | 21.7 | 512 | |
| | UUP | John Hanna Robb | 19.1 | 451 | 472 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Robert McNeill | 15.6 | 368 | 604 |
| | Independent | Frederick McSorley | 14.0 | 331 | 337 |
| Electorate: 3,800 Valid: 2,357 Quota: 472 Turnout: 62.0% ||||||
    At the 1935 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, Arthur Brownlow Mitchell was elected unopposed.
1938 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | UUP | Robert Corkey | 608 | 24.8 | 1 | 1 |
| | UUP | Robert James Johnstone | 600 | 24.5 | 2 | 1 |
| | UUP | Arthur Brownlow Mitchell | 369 | 14.7 | 3 | 5 |
| | Independent | Frederick McSorley | 359 | | | 5 |
| | Ind. Unionist | S. Sims | 259 | 10.6 | | 3 |
| | UUP | John MacDermott | 253 | 10.3 | 4 | 5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,448 | 61.1 | – 0.9 |
    At the 1938 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, Howard Stevenson was elected unopposed.

### Elections in the 1940s

    At the 1942 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, William Lyle was elected unopposed.
    At the 1943 Queen's University of Belfast by-election, John W. Renshaw was elected unopposed.
1944 Queen's University of Belfast by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Herbert Quin | 1,178 | 53.6 | −20.7 |
| | Independent | Irene Calvert | 1,020 | 46.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 158 | 71.8 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,198 | 46.7 | – 14.4 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |
1945 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | Independent | Frederick McSorley | 649 | 21.6 | 1 | 1 |
| | UUP | Howard Stevenson | 580 | 19.3 | 2 | 1 |
| | Independent | Irene Calvert | 570 | 18.9 | 3 | 1 |
| | UUP | Herbert Quin | 535 | 17.8 | 4 | 3 |
| | UUP | E. B. Wallace | 286 | 9.5 | | 3 |
| | UUP | William Lyle | 279 | 9.3 | | 3 |
| | Ind. Unionist | S. Sims | 109 | 3.6 | | 2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,008 | 59.1 | – 2.0 |
1948 Queen's University of Belfast by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Samuel Irwin | 2,735 | 70.8 | +13.9 |
| | Independent | Eileen M. Hickey | 1,126 | 29.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,609 | 41.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,861 | 57.4 | – 1.7 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |
1949 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | UUP | Samuel Irwin | 1,662 | 31.7 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent | Eileen M. Hickey | 1,073 | 20.5 | 2 | 1 |
| | Independent | Irene Calvert | 955 | 18.2 | 3 | 3 |
| | UUP | E. B. Wallace | 620 | 11.8 | | 3 |
| | UUP | William Lyle | 588 | 11.2 | 4 | 3 |
| | UUP | Howard Stevenson | 339 | 6.5 | | 2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,237 | 75.0 | + 15.9 |
1949 Queen's University of Belfast by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | 2,100 | 54.0 | −7.2 |
| | Ind. Unionist | N. S. Dickson | 1,312 | 33.7 | New |
| | Independent | E. Reid | 479 | 12.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 749 | 19.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,891 | 54.2 | – 20.8 |
| | UUP hold | UUP hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1950s

1953 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | UUP | Samuel Irwin | 1,840 | 32.9 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent | Eileen M. Hickey | 1,206 | 21.6 | 2 | 1 |
| | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | 940 | 16.8 | 4 | 2 |
| | UUP | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | 706 | 12.6 | 3 | 2 |
| | Independent | R. Appleton | 539 | 9.6 | | 2 |
| | NI Labour | Sam Napier | 297 | 5.3 | | 2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,586 | 63.7 | – 11.3 |
1958 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | UUP | Samuel Irwin | 1,640 | 28.3 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent | Charles Stewart | 1,218 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 |
| | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | 1,131 | 19.5 | 3 | 2 |
| | Ulster Liberal | Albert McElroy | 759 | 13.1 | | 4 |
| | UUP | Frederick Lloyd-Dodd | 706 | 12.2 | 4 | 4 |
| | NI Labour | S. J. Watt | 345 | 5.9 | | 2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,799 | 52.9 | – 10.8 |

### Elections in the 1960s

1961 Queen's University of Belfast by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Ulster Liberal | Sheelagh Murnaghan | 2,622 | 52.5 | +39.4 |
| | UUP | Samuel Rodgers | 2,370 | 47.5 | −12.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 252 | 5.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,992 | 45.1 | – 7.8 |
| | Ulster Liberal gain from UUP | Ulster Liberal gain from UUP | Swing | N/A | |
1962 General Election: Queen's University of Belfast (4 seats) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| | UUP | Ian McClure | 2,040 | 30.0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Ulster Liberal | Sheelagh Murnaghan | 1,698 | 24.9 | 2 | 1 |
| | UUP | Elizabeth Maconachie | 1,252 | 18.4 | 3 | 2 |
| | Independent | Charles Stewart | 1,220 | 17.9 | 4 | 3 |
| | UUP | H. R. Brown | 597 | 8.8 | | 3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,807 | 53.8 | + 0.9 |
    At the 1965 Northern Ireland general election, Harold McClure, Elizabeth Maconachie, Sheelagh Murnaghan and Charles Stewart were elected unopposed.
1966 Queen's University of Belfast by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Robert Porter | 3,717 | 55.6 | N/A |
| | Ulster Liberal | Albert McElroy | 2,968 | 44.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 749 | 11.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,685 | 48.7 | N/A |
| | UUP gain from Independent | UUP gain from Independent | Swing | N/A | |