The Armagh by-election was held on 20 November 1954, following the resignation of

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 Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

. Harden had held the seat of Armagh since a by-election in 1948, and had not faced a contest since then. The seat had been held continually by Ulster Unionists since its recreation for the 1922 general election.

Candidates

The Ulster Unionists stood C. W. Armstrong, the son of former Mid Armagh MP

Henry Bruce Armstrong Henry Bruce Wright Armstrong (27 July 1844 – 4 December 1943) was a Northern Irish barrister and politician, Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Armagh from June 1921 until 1922. Born in Sholden, Henry Bruce Armstrong was the second ...

. He had served in the British Army and been involved in the oil industry in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, serving from 1940 to 1942 in that country's

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The two main opposition groups, the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

and the Nationalist Party, had both fared poorly at the

1953 Northern Ireland general election The 1953 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 October 1953. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. Results ''All parties show ...

, and decided not to contest the by-election.

Result

With only one candidate for the seat, Armstrong was declared elected unopposed. This was the last unopposed election in any Westminster seat. Armstrong held the seat until the 1959 general election, when he stood down.Armagh 1950-1970
Northern Ireland Elections

References

1954 elections in the United Kingdom 20th century in County Armagh November 1954 events in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Armagh constituencies Unopposed by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Northern Irish constituencies 1954 elections in Northern Ireland {{Ireland-UK-Parl-by-election-stub