Central Armagh was a constituency of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

Boundaries

Central Armagh was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

comprising the north central part of

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

. It was created when the

House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 The House of Commons (Method of Voting and Redistribution of Seats) Act (Northern Ireland) 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont which changed the usual voting system used for the House of Commons of Northern Ireland f ...

introduced

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

elections throughout

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 ...

. Central Armagh was created by the division of Armagh into four new constituencies. The constituency survived unchanged, returning one member of Parliament, until the Parliament of Northern Ireland was temporarily suspended in 1972, and then formally abolished in 1973. The seat was centred on the towns of

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

and

Tandragee Tandragee () is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Cusher River, in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower. It had a population of 3,486 people in the 2011 Cen ...

and included parts of the rural districts of Armagh,

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

and Tandragee.

Politics

The seat was always won by

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 ...

candidates. It was twice contested by labour movement candidates, who took around one third of the votes cast.

Members of Parliament

Election results

At the 1929, 1933 and 1938 Northern Ireland general elections,

David Shillington David Shillington (born 24 June 1983 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian in ...

was elected unopposed. At the 1941 by-election,

George Dougan George Dougan (1891-1955) was a dispensary doctor and MP for Central Armagh in the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Dougan was elected to Stormont on 15 March 1941, replacing David Shillington. Dougan practiced in Church Street, Portadown Po ...

was elected unopposed. At the 1949, and 1953 Northern Ireland general elections,

was elected unopposed. At the 1955 by-election and the 1958 Northern Ireland general election,

Isaac Hawthorne Isaac George Hawthorne (12 November 1912 – December 1992) was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Hawthorne was schooled in Portadown and Sheffield before becoming a farmer. He was elected to Armagh County Council in 1947 as an Ulster ...

was elected unopposed. At 1965 Northern Ireland general election,

was elected unopposed. At 1969 Northern Ireland general election,

Herbert Whitten Herbert Whitten (1909–1981) was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Portadown, Whitten became the managing director of T. A. Shillington, a builders' merchants. He was elected to Portadown District Council as an Ulster Unioni ...

was elected unopposed.

References

{{County Armagh constituencies Historic constituencies in County Armagh Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies established in 1929 Constituencies of the Northern Ireland Parliament Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies disestablished in 1973