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

Londonderry Borough Council election, 1946[5]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UUP	12
	Nationalist	6
	NI Labour	2
	Derry Labour Party	0

Ward results

Aldermen

6 Aldermen[5]

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

North Ward[5]
6 Councillors
Electorate: 5,622

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

South Ward[5]
6 Councillors
Electorate: 7,468

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

Waterside Ward[5]
3 Councillors
Electorate:

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	Robert Graham	Unopposed
	UUP	William Henry McLoughlin	Unopposed
	UUP	Samuel Orr	Unopposed
Turnout			Unopposed

References

1. "Local elections in Derry postponed". Irish Times. 10 August 1946.
2. Ranelagh, John (2012). A Short History of Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 305. ISBN 1139789260.
3. Congressional Record: Proceedings of the 81st Congress. 95, part 1. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1949. pp. 810–811.
4. Gallagher, Tom (1983). Contemporary Irish Studies. Manchester University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0719009197.
5. "Londonderry Sentinel - Saturday 19 October 1946". Londonderry Sentinel. p. 4. Retrieved 5 August 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.(subscription required)