Londonderry was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

, as well as a constituency in elections to various regional bodies. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983. Londonderry returned two MPs (1801–1885) and later one (1922–1983).

Boundaries

The constituency consisted, in 1801–1885, of the whole of

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, except for the parliamentary boroughs of Coleraine and Londonderry City. The seat was re-created in 1922. As part of the consequences of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

was drastically cut. The seat was focused on

. It comprised the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Londonderry and the

County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Londonderry. In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a United Kingdom general election. In 1983 the number of seats for Northern Ireland was increased from 12 to 17 and Londonderry was split in two, forming Foyle and East Londonderry.

Members of Parliament

1801–1885

1922–1983

Westminster elections

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

* Caused by Bateson's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds * Caused by Bateson's death

Elections in the 1850s

* Caused by Bateson's appointment as a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

* Caused by Bateson's resignation.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

* Caused by Smyth's death.

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by Law's appointment as

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

* Caused by Law's appointment as Lord Chancellor of Ireland * Caused by Porter's appointment as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales a ...

Elections in the 1920s

*anti-partition

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

:In the

1951 Londonderry by-election The 1951 Londonderry by-election was held on 19 May 1951 when the incumbent Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish U ...

and the

1951 United Kingdom general election The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 ...

, William Wellwood was elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Politics and history of the constituency

From its inception Londonderry had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

vote was approaching 40% in some elections. In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the

Sunningdale Agreement The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The agreement was signed at Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973. Unioni ...

and so did not reselect

Robin Chichester-Clark Sir Robert "Robin" Chichester-Clark (10 January 1928 – 5 August 2016) was Member of Parliament for Londonderry in the British House of Commons from 1955 until February 1974, and to date was the last member representing a seat in Northern Ire ...

, who had been a Minister in the government of

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

. Instead they ran William Ross, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for the new East Londonderry. For the history of the area post 1983, please see Foyle (UK Parliament constituency) and East Londonderry.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Londonderry Westminster constituencies in County Londonderry (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1801 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1922 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983 Politics of Derry (city)