# Sligo Borough (UK Parliament constituency)

Sligo Borough is a former borough constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801, and returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the first past the post system of election.
Numerous elections were overturned on petition by the losing candidate; after the 1868 election was overturned, a Royal Commission examined the matter and reported that "at the last three elections of members to serve in Parliament for the Borough of Sligo, corrupt practices have extensively prevailed." Parliament therefore passed the Sligo and Cashel Disfranchisement Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c.38) which came into force on 1 August 1870. The act disfranchised Sligo Borough as well as Cashel, another Irish borough. The area of Sligo borough became part of the County Sligo constituency. In 1881 the county's MP, Thomas Sexton, introduced a private member's bill to re-enfranchise the borough, which was defeated on second reading.

## Boundaries

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Sligo in County Sligo.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party | Note |
| | 1801, January 1 | Owen Wynne | Tory | Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster) |
| | 1806, July 16 | Col. George Canning | Tory | A cousin of his successor Rt Hon George Canning |
| | 1812, November 5 | Rt Hon George Canning | Tory | 1812: Also returned by and elected to sit for Liverpool. Subsequently, Prime Minister 1827. |
| | 1813, April 5 | Joshua Spencer | | Resigned (appointed Escheator of Munster) |
| | 1815, March 27 | Sir Brent Spencer | | |
| | 1818, June 29 | John Bent | Tory | |
| | 1820, March 21 | Owen Wynne | Tory | |
| | 1830, August 4 | John Arthur Wynne | Tory | |
| | 1832, December 21 | John Martin | Whig | |
| | 1837, August 5 | John Patrick Somers | Whig | Re-elected as a Repeal Association candidate. There were many disturbances in the election campaign. |
| | 1841, July 9 | John Patrick Somers | Repeal Association | Unseated on petition - new writ issued |
| | 1848, April 11 | Charles Towneley | Whig | Unseated on petition - new writ issued. |
| | 1848, July 15 | John Patrick Somers | Repeal Association | |
| | 1852, July 15 | Charles Towneley | Ind. Irish | Unseated on petition - new writ issued. Henry Stonor, convicted of electoral bribery, was later appointed a judge in Victoria, Australia, The Stonor scandal inspired the character of Mr Romer in Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne. |
| | 1853, July 8 | John Sadleir | Whig | Died. |
| | 1856, March 8 | Rt Hon. John Arthur Wynne | Conservative | Election upheld after petitions were rejected. |
| | 1857, April 2 | John Patrick Somers | Whig | Unseated on petition. |
| | 1857, July 31 | Rt Hon. John Arthur Wynne | Conservative | Declared duly elected on petition. Resigned |
| | 1860, August 9 | Francis Macdonogh | Conservative | |
| | 1865, July 15 | Richard Armstrong | Liberal | |
| | 1868, November 20 | Lawrence Edward Knox | Conservative | Last MP for the constituency. Election declared void on petition. |
| 1870, 1 August | 1870, 1 August | constituency disenfranchised | constituency disenfranchised | constituency disenfranchised |
Supplemental Note:-
* $^1$ Walker (like F. W. S. Craig in his compilations of election results for Great Britain) classifies Whig, Radical and similar candidates as Liberals from 1832. The name Liberal was gradually adopted as a description for the Whigs and politicians allied with them, before the formal creation of the Liberal Party shortly after the 1859 general election.

## Elections
### Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Tory | John Arthur Wynne | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13 | |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |
General election 1831: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Tory | John Arthur Wynne | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13 | |
| | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold | Tory hold |
General election 1832: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | John Martin (Irish politician) | 213 | 53.7 |
| | Tory | John Arthur Wynne | 159 | 40.1 |
| | Whig | Gregory Cuffe Martin | 20 | 5.0 |
| | Whig | Robert Jones | 5 | 1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 54 | 13.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 397 | 95.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 418 | |
| | Whig gain from Tory | Whig gain from Tory | Whig gain from Tory | Whig gain from Tory |
General election 1835: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | John Martin (Irish politician) | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 694 | |
| | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold |
General election 1837: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Whig | John Patrick Somers | 262 | 55.7 |
| | Whig | John Martin (Irish politician) | 208 | 44.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 54 | 11.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 470 | 56.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 837 | |
| | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold | Whig hold |

### Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Repeal | John Patrick Somers | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 821 | | |
| | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Irish Repeal gain from Whig |
General election 1847: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Repeal | John Patrick Somers | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 910 | | |
| | Irish Repeal hold | Irish Repeal hold | Irish Repeal hold | Irish Repeal hold | Irish Repeal hold |
On petition, Somers was unseated, causing a by-election.
By-election, 11 April 1848: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Whig | Charles Towneley | 130 | 52.6 | New |
| | Irish Repeal | John Patrick Somers | 117 | 47.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13 | 5.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 247 | 29.5 (est) | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 837 (1847 figure) | | |
| | Whig gain from Irish Repeal | Whig gain from Irish Repeal | Swing | N/A | |
On petition, Towneley was unseated, causing a further by-election.
By-election, 15 July 1848: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Irish Repeal | John Patrick Somers | 102 | 36.6 | −10.8 |
| | Conservative | James Hartley | 90 | 32.3 | New |
| | Whig | John Ball | 87 | 31.2 | −21.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12 | 4.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 279 | 30.7 | +1.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 910 | | |
| | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Irish Repeal gain from Whig | Swing | +5.3 | |

### Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Irish | Charles Towneley | 147 | 57.6 | New |
| | Whig | John Patrick Somers | 108 | 42.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 39 | 15.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 255 | 75.9 | N/A |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 336 | | |
| | Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal | Independent Irish gain from Irish Repeal | Swing | N/A | |
On petition, Towneley was unseated on 6 June 1853 due to bribery by his agents, causing a by-election.
By-election, 8 July 1853: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Whig | John Sadleir | 150 | 51.4 | N/A |
| | Whig | John Patrick Somers | 142 | 48.6 | +6.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8 | 2.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 292 | 83.2 | +7.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 351 | | |
| | Whig gain from Independent Irish | Whig gain from Independent Irish | Swing | N/A | |
Sadleir's death caused a by-election.
By-election, 8 March 1856: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Arthur Wynne | 148 | 55.8 | New |
| | Whig | John Patrick Somers | 117 | 44.2 | +1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 31 | 11.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 265 | 76.8 | +0.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 345 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Independent Irish | Conservative gain from Independent Irish | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1857: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Whig | John Patrick Somers | 150 | 51.0 | +8.6 |
| | Conservative | John Arthur Wynne | 144 | 49.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6 | 2.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 294 | 85.2 | +9.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 345 | | |
| | Whig gain from Independent Irish | Whig gain from Independent Irish | Swing | N/A | |
On petition, the poll was amended due to improperly recorded votes, leaving Wynne with 148 votes and Somers with 147 votes. Wynne was then declared elected on 31 July 1857.
General election 1859: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Arthur Wynne | 177 | 70.0 | +21.0 |
| | Liberal | John Patrick Somers | 73 | 28.9 | −22.1 |
| | Liberal | Lucas Alexander Treston | 3 | 1.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 104 | 41.1 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 253 | 70.1 | −15.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 361 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +21.6 | |

### Elections in the 1860s

Wynne's resignation caused a by-election.
By-election, 9 August 1860: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Francis Macdonogh | 160 | 95.8 | +25.8 |
| | Liberal | John Reilly | 5 | 3.0 | +1.8 |
| | Liberal | John Patrick Somers | 2 | 1.2 | −27.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 155 | 92.8 | +41.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 167 | 46.3 | −23.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 361 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +26.8 | |
General election 1865: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Richard Armstrong | 166 | 51.7 | +21.6 |
| | Conservative | Francis Macdonogh | 155 | 48.3 | −21.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11 | 3.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 321 | 84.7 | +14.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 379 | | |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +21.7 | |
General election 1868: Sligo Borough :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Lawrence E. Knox | 241 | 51.3 | +3.0 |
| | Liberal | John Woulfe Flanagan | 229 | 48.7 | −3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12 | 2.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 470 | 90.4 | +5.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 520 | | |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +3.0 | |
Knox's election was declared void on 2 March 1869, and no writ was issued to find a replacement MP. The seat was then disenfranchised on 1 August 1870, and absorbed into County Sligo.