1946 Londonderry Borough Council election
Elections to Londonderry Borough Council were held on 16 October 1946. Sir Basil McFarland continued as Mayor of Londonderry. The elections were postponed from the original February date due to an unusually large number of objections to the list of electors.[1]
Background
The election was held following the passage of the 1946 Elections and Franchise Act (Northern Ireland) by the Parliament of Northern Ireland which limited the voting franchise to only ratepayers and their wives and granted business owners the rights to cast up to six business votes (depending on the size of their business) under the Act.[2] The boundaries for the election had also been reviewed by the Londonderry Corporation and drawn by the Parliament of Northern Ireland.[2]
Campaigns
Controversy arose during the calling of the election. On 20 January 1946, the Londonderry Corporation called the election to be held on 10 February and only gave candidates 11 days to file for candidacy. No reason was given for this by Sir Basil though it was speculated in the United States House of Representatives by the Montana 1st representative Mike Mansfield that it was only called so that the old electoral register with its unionist majority would be used rather than a new one that was due to come into effect six weeks later. This would have had the effect of disenfranchising younger nationalist voters which would have given nationalists a majority.[3]
The Taoiseach of the Irish Free State held a meeting at Mansion House, Dublin, with nationalist party leaders from Northern Ireland as well as Irish Free State parties. Collectively, they released a statement condemning the move calling it "electoral manipulation" and encouraged nationalists in the Londonderry Borough Council area to legally object.[3] Owing to the controversies and challenges to the electors' eligibility, the election was delayed until 16 October.[1] During pre-election hustings, William Henry McLaughlin, who was standing for election for the Ulster Unionist Party in Waterside, declared that he had only ever employed one Roman Catholic in forty-eight years and that was only due to a case of mistaken identity.[4]
Council results
Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | 12 | ||||||||
Nationalist | 6 | ||||||||
NI Labour | 2 | ||||||||
Derry Labour Party | 0 |
Ward results
Aldermen
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Captain Thomas Fitzpatrick Cooke North Ward |
||||
UUP | Samuel Wallace Kennedy North Ward |
||||
NI Labour | Patrick Fox South Ward |
||||
Nationalist | Francis Edward McCarroll South Ward |
||||
UUP | William James Little Waterside Ward |
North Ward
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | James C. Hamilton | 3,203 | |||
UUP | Gerald Stanley Glover | 3,200 | |||
UUP | S. Dowds | 3,195 | |||
UUP | J. J. Hill | 3,188 | |||
UUP | Sir Basil McFarland | 3,180 | |||
UUP | A. McGowan | 3,148 | |||
NI Labour | A. H. Halliday | 1,247 | |||
NI Labour | J. Campbell | 1,220 | |||
NI Labour | F. Moorehead | 1,159 | |||
Independent | M. T. Mulhearn | 1,132 | |||
Turnout | 4,498 | 80.01 |
South Ward
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationalist & Labour | W. Barr | 3,751 | |||
Nationalist | T. Doherty | 3,730 | |||
Nationalist | James Deeney | 3,727 | |||
Nationalist | Daniel Barr | 3,727 | |||
Nationalist | Patrick J. Downey | 3,675 | |||
NI Labour | W. Mullan | 3,538 | |||
NI Labour | Stephen McGonagle | 1,236 | |||
NI Labour | G. Hamill | 1,233 | |||
NI Labour | J. Sharkey | 1,099 | |||
NI Labour | W. McLeery | 1,093 | |||
Turnout | 5,122 | 68.59 |
Waterside Ward
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UUP | Robert Graham | Unopposed | |||
UUP | William Henry McLoughlin | Unopposed | |||
UUP | Samuel Orr | Unopposed | |||
Turnout | Unopposed |
References
- "Local elections in Derry postponed". Irish Times. 10 August 1946.
- Ranelagh, John (2012). A Short History of Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 305. ISBN 1139789260.
- Congressional Record: Proceedings of the 81st Congress. 95, part 1. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1949. pp. 810–811.
- Gallagher, Tom (1983). Contemporary Irish Studies. Manchester University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0719009197.
- "Londonderry Sentinel - Saturday 19 October 1946". Londonderry Sentinel. p. 4. Retrieved 5 August 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.(subscription required)