Mid Down (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Down 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,...

(MP) to the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

1918–1922.

Boundaries and Boundary Changes

This county constituency comprised the central northern part of County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, to the south-east of the city of Belfast.

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...

parts of the area were included in East Down

East Down (UK Parliament constituency)

East Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:This county constituency comprised the eastern part of County Down...

, West Down

West Down (UK Parliament constituency)

West Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:This county constituency comprised the western part of County Down...

and North Down

North Down (UK Parliament constituency)

North Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sylvia Hermon, elected as an Independent in the 2010 General Election. -Boundaries:The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the northern part of Down...

constituencies. After the dissolution of Parliament in 1922 Mid Down became part of the Down

Down (UK Parliament constituency)

Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland. It was a two member constituency and existed in two periods, 1801-1885 and 1922-1950.-Boundaries:1801-1885: The whole of County Down, excluding the Boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry....

constituency.

Politics

The constituency was a strongly unionist area, as demonstrated by the small 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...

vote in 1918.

The MP elected in 1918 became the Ulster Unionist leader and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...

in 1921. Having accepted his new office from the Crown on 7 June 1921, Sir James Craig's seat in the United Kingdom House of Commons was automatically vacated. He did not seek re-election and a new Unionist MP was elected unopposed.

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

. Mid Down, in republican theory, was incorporated in an eight-member Dáil constituency of Down

Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Down was a county constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 - 1929. It returned eight MPs, using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.-Boundaries:...

Members of Parliament 1918–1922

Key to party: U Unionist.

From	To	Name (Party)	Born	Died
1918	1921	Sir James Craig James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, PC, PC , was a prominent Irish unionist politician, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland... , Bt (U)	8 January 1871	24 November 1940
1921	1922	Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford Robert Sharman-Crawford Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford PC was a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Sharman-Crawford studied at Trinity College, Dublin before becoming an officer in the British Army and managing the family estates. He was elected for the Ulster Unionist Party at the Belfast East by-election, 1914,... (U)	8 September 1853	20 March 1934

Elections

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

Appointment of Craig as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

External links