Down (UK Parliament constituency)

For other constituencies of the same name, see Down (disambiguation).

Down
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1801–1885
Replaced by	East Down, North Down, South Down and West Down
1922–1950
Replaced by	North Down and South Down
Created from	East Down, Mid Down, North Down, South Down and West Down

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.

1922-1950: The Administrative county of Down, that is the whole of County Down excluding the part in the City of Belfast.

Members of Parliament

1801–1885

Election	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1801	Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory	Francis Savage
1805	Hon. John Meade		Francis Savage
May 1812			Hon. Robert Ward
October 1812			Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory
1817	Lord Arthur Hill	Whig	Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Tory
1821			Mathew Forde	Tory
1826			Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Conservative
1836	Earl of Hillsborough	Conservative
1845	Lord Arthur Hill-Trevor	Conservative
1852			David Stewart Ker	Conservative
1857			William Brownlow Forde	Conservative
1874			James Sharman Crawford	Liberal
1878			Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Conservative
1880	Lord Arthur Hill	Conservative	Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	Conservative
1884	Lord Arthur Hill	Conservative	Richard William Blackwood Ker	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished: see East Down, West Down, South Down and North Down

1922–1950

Election	First member	First party	Second member	Second party
1922	David Reid	Ulster Unionist Party	John Morrow Simms	Ulster Unionist Party
1931	David Reid	Ulster Unionist Party	Viscount Castlereagh	Ulster Unionist Party
1939	James Little	Ulster Unionist Party	Viscount Castlereagh	Ulster Unionist Party
1945	James Little	Independent Unionist	Walter Smiles	Ulster Unionist Party
1946	Charles Heron Mullan	Ulster Unionist Party	Walter Smiles	Ulster Unionist Party

Elections

Elections in the 1940s

Down by-election, 1946
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	Charles Heron Mullan	50,699	51.4	N/A
	NI Labour	Desmond Donnelly	28,846	29.3	N/A
	Independent Unionist	J. Hastings-Little	16,895	17.1	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Brown	2,125	2.2	-16.9
Majority			21,853	22.2
Turnout			98,565
	UUP gain from Independent Unionist		Swing	N/A

General Election 1945: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent Unionist	James Little	46,732	40.4	N/A
	UUP	Walter Smiles	24,148	20.9	N/A
	UUP	John Blakiston Houston	22,730	19.6	N/A
	Independent Unionist	James Brown	22,163	19.1	N/A
Turnout				39.8
	Independent Unionist gain from UUP		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

At the Down by-election, 1939, James Little was elected unopposed as an Ulster Unionist. He subsequently left the party in the run-up to the 1945 general election in a dispute over re-selection.

General Election 1935: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	David Reid	66,324	43.5	N/A
	UUP	Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart	58,777	46.4	N/A
	Independent Republican	Patrick O'Hagan	20,236	13.3	N/A
Turnout				56.7
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the 1931 general election, David Reid and Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart were elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	David Douglas Reid	54,073	36.3	-10.2
	UUP	John Morrow Simms	53,943	36.2	-10.2
	Liberal	Robert Pollock	20,999	14.1	n/a
	Liberal	David Johnston	20,013	13.4	n/a
Turnout				58.5	-7.3
	UUP hold		Swing	n/a
	UUP hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1924: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	David Reid	58,929	46.5	N/A
	UUP	John Morrow Simms	58,777	46.4	N/A
	Sinn Féin	Michael Murney	8,941	7.1	N/A
Turnout				65.8
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A
	UUP hold		Swing	N/A

At the 1922 and 1923 general elections, David Reid and John Morrow Simms were elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1880s

Down by-election, 1885
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Arthur William Hill	5097		N/A
	Liberal	John Shaw Brown	4696		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Down by-election, 1884
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Richard William Blackwood Ker	4387		N/A
	Liberal	Arthur Sharman Crawford	3998		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1880: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Arthur William Hill	5873		N/A
	Conservative	Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	5599		N/A
	Liberal	John Sharman Crawford	5579		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

Down by-election 1878
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	6076		N/A
	Liberal	William Drennan Andrews	4701		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General Election 1874: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Arthur Edwin Hill-Trevor	5029		N/A
	Liberal	James Sharman Crawford	4814		N/A
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	4683		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1860s

At the 1865 and 1868 general elections, Lord Arthur Edwin Hill, later known as Lord Arthur Edwin Hill-Trevor, and William Brownlow Forde were returned unopposed.

Elections in the 1850s

At the 1859 general election, Lord Arthur Edwin Hill, later known as Lord Arthur Edwin Hill-Trevor, and William Brownlow Forde were returned unopposed.

General Election 1857: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Arthur Edwin Hill	5839		N/A
	Conservative	William Brownlow Forde	5341		N/A
	Whig	David Stewart Ker	3735		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

The Poll Books for part of County Down, showing how each elector voted in the 1857 general election are available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland under reference D/671/O/2/7-8.

General Election 1852: Down
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Lord Arthur Edwin Hill	4654		N/A
	Conservative	David Stewart Ker	4117		N/A
	Whig	William Sharman Crawford	3113		N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

The Poll Books for part of County Down, showing how each elector voted in the 1852 general election are available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland under reference D/671/O/2/5-6.

Elections in the 1840s

At the 1847 general election, Lord Arthur Edwin Hill and Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

At the by-election on 3 June 1845 following Arthur Hill, Earl of Hillsborough's succession as Marquess of Downshire, Lord Arthur Edwin Hill was returned unopposed.

At the 1841 general election, Arthur Hill, Earl of Hillsborough and Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1830s

At the 1837 general election, Arthur Hill, Earl of Hillsborough and Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

At the by-election on 30 August 1836 following Lord Arthur Hill's succession as Baron Sandys, Arthur Hill, Earl of Hillsborough was returned unopposed.

At the 1832 and 1835 general elections, Lord Arthur Hill and Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

General Election 1831: Down
	Candidate	Votes	±
Whig	Lord Arthur Hill	1671	N/A
Tory	Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	1067	N/A
Radical	William Sharman Crawford	917	N/A

General Election 1830: Down
	Candidate	Votes	±
Tory	Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	930	N/A
Whig	Lord Arthur Hill	837	N/A
Tory	Mathew Forde	766	N/A

Elections in the 1820s

At the by-election on 15 July 1829 following Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh's appointment as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, he was re-elected unopposed.

General Election 1826: Down
	Candidate	Votes	±
Whig	Lord Arthur Hill	667	N/A
Tory	Frederick Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	665	N/A
Tory	John Stewart	16	N/A

At the by-election on 9 May 1821 following Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh vacating his seat, Mathew Forde was returned unopposed.

Elections in the 1810s

At the 1818 and 1820 general elections, Lord Arthur Hill and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

At the by-election on 26 February 1817 following the Hon. John Meade's appointment as consul general in Spain, Lord Arthur Hill was returned unopposed.

General Election 1812: Down
	Candidate	Votes	±
Tory	Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	55	N/A
Non Partisan	Hon. John Meade	52	N/A
Non Partisan	Eldred Pottinger	13	N/A

At the by-election on 30 May 1812 following Francis Savage's acceptance of the Chiltern Hundreds, Robert Ward was returned unopposed.

Elections in the 1800s

At the 1806 and 1807 general elections, Francis Savage and the Hon. John Meade were elected unopposed.

Down by-election, 1805
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Non Partisan	Hon. John Meade	1973		N/A
	Tory	Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh	c. 1481		N/A

At the 1802 general election Francis Savage and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh were elected unopposed.

At the creation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801, the sitting members of the Parliament of Ireland for County Down, Francis Savage and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, continued as MP's for the county.

References

The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844-50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) - including pre-1832 party allegiances.
Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978) - including post-1832 party allegiances.
ElectionsIreland.org
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)

Parliamentary constituencies in County Down

Parliament of Ireland
to 1800

Bangor (1613–1800)
Down (???–1800)
Downpatrick (1586–1800)
Hillsborough (1662–1800)
Killyleagh (1613–1800)
Newtownards (???–1800)

Westminster 1801–present

Historic	Down (1801–85, 1922–50) East Down (1885–1922) Mid Down (1918–22) North Down (1885–1922, 1950—) South Down (1885–1922, 1950—) West Down (1885–1922) Downpatrick (1801–85) Newry (1801–1918)

Current	Lagan Valley (1983—) Newry & Armagh (1983—) Strangford (1983—)

Dáil Éireann
Revolutionary era 1919–1922

First Dáil
1919–21

Seats taken	(none)

Seats not taken	East Down Mid Down North Down South Down West Down

Second Dáil
1921–22

One or more seats taken	Down

No seats taken	(none)

Parliament of Northern Ireland 1921–72

Ards (1929–72)
Bangor (1969–72)
Down (1921–29)
East Down (1929–72)
Iveagh (1929–72)
Lagan Valley (1969–72)
Larkfield (1969–72)
Mid Down (1929–72)
Mourne (1929–72)
North Down (1929–72)
South Down (1929–72)
West Down (1929–72)

Northern Ireland Assemblies

Assembly 1973–74 Constitutional Convention 1975–76 Assembly 1982–86	North Down South Down

Northern Ireland Forum 1996–98 Assembly (1998–present)	North Down South Down Lagan Valley Newry & Armagh Strangford Upper Bann

European Parliament
1979–present

Northern Ireland (1979—)

Constituencies in Ireland by county

Republic of Ireland	Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Dublin Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow

Northern Ireland	Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

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