Belfast Pottinger (UK Parliament constituency)

Pottinger, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It returned one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This constituency comprised the south-western half of East Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, based on the then Pottinger and Dock wards of Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

.

Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1918

United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 the area was part of the Belfast East

Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)

Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...

constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a strongly unionist area, with some Labour support. Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

demonstrated republican weakness in the seat by receiving only 659 votes, in the 1918 election.

The First Dáil

Sinn Féin

contested the general election of 1918

Irish (UK) general election, 1918

The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. It is seen as a key moment in modern Irish history...

on the platform that instead of taking up any seats they won in the United Kingdom Parliament, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. In republican theory every MP elected in Ireland was a potential Deputy to this assembly. In practice only the Sinn Féin members accepted the offer.

The revolutionary First Dáil

First Dáil

The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...

assembled on 21 January 1919 and last met on 10 May 1921. The First Dáil, according to a resolution passed on 10 May 1921, was formally dissolved on the assembling of the Second Dáil

Second Dáil

The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...

. This took place on 16 August 1921.

In 1921 Sinn Féin decided to use the UK authorised elections for the Northern Ireland House of Commons and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as a poll for the Irish Republic

Irish Republic

The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...

's Second Dáil

Second Dáil

. This constituency, in republican theory, was incorporated in a four-member Dáil constituency of Belfast East

Belfast East (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast East was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned four MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.- Boundaries :...

Members of Parliament

Key to parties: U Irish Unionist 1918 – April 1921 and Ulster Unionist May 1921–1922.

From	To	Name (Party)	Born	Died
1918	1922	Herbert Dixon Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran Herbert Dixon, 1st Baron Glentoran OBE PC was a Northern Ireland Unionist politician.He was born in Belfast, the fourth son of Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baronet, and educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, being commissioned into the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, with which regiment he served in the Second... (U)	23 January 1880	20 July 1950

Elections

The 1918 election in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

External links

The Irish General Election of 1918
http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0
http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/en.toc.dail.html