1938 Northern Ireland general election

The 1938 Northern Ireland general election was held on 9 February 1938. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. The newly-formed Ulster Progressive Unionist Association came second in vote share, but won no seats.

1938 Northern Ireland general election

9 February 1938
All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader James Craig Thomas Campbell Party UUP Nationalist Leader since 7 June 1921 18 January 1934 Leader's seat North Down Belfast Central Last election 36 seats, 43.5% 9 seats, 13.2% Seats won 39 8 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 187,684 16,167 Percentage 56.8% 4.9% Swing 13.3% 8.3%   Third party Fourth party   Leader William Wilton Harry Midgley Party Ind. Unionist Party NI Labour Leader since 1937 1933 Leader's seat Belfast Oldpark (Defeated) Belfast Dock (Defeated) Last election Did not stand 2 seats, 8.5% Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 28,459 18,775 Percentage 8.6% 5.7% Swing New party 2.8%
Election results by constituency
Prime Minister before election James Craig UUP Elected Prime Minister James Craig UUP

Results

↓

39	8	2	3
UUP	Nationalist	IU	Oth

1938 Northern Ireland general election
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	UUP	43	39	3	0	+3	75.0	56.8	187,684	+13.3
	Progressive Unionist	10	0	0	0	0	—	12.4	41,028	N/A
	Ind. Unionist Party	6	1	1	0	+1	1.9	8.6	28,459	N/A
	Independent Unionist	5	2	1	2	-1	3.8	6.8	22,354	-14.5
	NI Labour	7	1	1	2	-1	1.9	5.7	18,775	-2.8
	Nationalist	9	8	0	1	-1	15.4	4.9	16,167	-8.3
	Independent	3	0	0	0	0	—	2.2	7,482	+2.0
	Independent Labour	1	1	1	0	+1	1.9	1.7	5,480	N/A
	Ind. Progressive Unionist	1	0	0	0	0	—	0.9	2,926	N/A

Electorate: 825,101 (464,860 in contested seats); Turnout: 71.1% (330,355).

Seat changes

Constituency	From		To
Belfast Dock		NI Labour		UUP
Belfast Pottinger		NI Labour		Independent Labour
Belfast Shankill		Independent Unionist		Ind. Unionist Party
Mourne		Nationalist		UUP
Queen's University of Belfast		Independent Unionist		UUP
South Armagh		Independent Nationalist		NI Labour
South Down		Fianna Fáil		Independent Unionist

Votes summary

Popular vote Ulster Unionist   56.81% Progressive Unionist   12.42% Ind. Unionist Association   8.61% Ind. Unionist   6.77% Labour   5.68% Nationalist Party   4.89% Independent   2.26% Independent Labour   1.66% Ind. Progressive Unionist   0.89%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Ulster Unionist   75.00% Nationalist Party   15.38% Ind. Unionist   3.85% Labour   1.92% Ind. Unionist Association   1.92% Independent Labour   1.92%

References

• Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results