Armagh by-election, 1948
Encyclopedia
The Armagh by-election was held on 5 March 1948, following the death of Ulster Unionist Party
Member of Parliament
William Allen
.
Allen had held the seat of Armagh
since its recreation for the 1922 UK general election. He had often been elected without a contest; the last election at which he had faced an opponent was in 1935, where he had taken 67.6% of the vote against Charles McGleenan
, an independent
Irish republican candidate.
, a former major
in the British Army
who had acted as senior liaison officer to Montgomery
from early 1944. In 1947, he had left the Army to manage his family estate in County Antrim
.
The Northern Ireland Labour Party
had achieved some strong results in recent years, but had never stood in Armagh, and decided not to put forward a candidate for the by-election.
McGleenan was a founder member of the Irish Anti-Partition League, and the organisation decided to make Armagh its first contest. It stood James O'Reilly
, a farmer and a Nationalist Party
member of Kilkeel
Rural District Council.
Geoffrey Bing
stated in Parliament that impersonation took place at one polling station
on "a really large scale", and that two election agents who arrived to investigate were attacked by a mob of two hundred people. Harden, in response, noted that O'Reilly had agreed with him that, despite some incidents at the close of polling, the election was fair, and that he had seconded his vote of thanks to the returning officer
.
Harden held the seat without facing a further contest. He inherited a further estate in Pwllheli
in 1954 and stood down as an MP, leading to the Armagh by-election, 1954
.
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
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,...
William Allen
William Allen (UK politician)
Sir William James Allen was a Northern Irish unionist politician.He was elected to the British House of Commons at a by-election in 1917, as an Irish Unionist Party Member of Parliament for North Armagh, and retained his seat at the 1918 general election...
.
Allen had held the seat of Armagh
Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
Armagh or County Armagh was a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983.The Act of Union 1800 provided for the Parliament of Ireland to be merged with the Parliament of Great Britain, to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
since its recreation for the 1922 UK general election. He had often been elected without a contest; the last election at which he had faced an opponent was in 1935, where he had taken 67.6% of the vote against Charles McGleenan
Charles McGleenan
Charles McGleenan was a farmer and a Republican politician in Northern Ireland.McGleenan was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. He was interned in Newbridge Prison, but successfully escaped...
, an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Irish republican candidate.
Candidates
The Ulster Unionists selected James HardenJames Harden (politician)
Major James Richard Edwards Harden DSO MC , known as Richard Harden, was a Northern Irish politician...
, a former major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
who had acted as senior liaison officer to Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...
from early 1944. In 1947, he had left the Army to manage his family estate in County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
.
The Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...
had achieved some strong results in recent years, but had never stood in Armagh, and decided not to put forward a candidate for the by-election.
McGleenan was a founder member of the Irish Anti-Partition League, and the organisation decided to make Armagh its first contest. It stood James O'Reilly
James O'Reilly (Irish politician)
James O'Reilly, also known as Seamas O'Reilly, was a nationalist politician in Ireland.O'Reilly was a farmer and an activist in the Nationalist Party and was elected to Kilkeel Rural District Council...
, a farmer and a Nationalist Party
Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....
member of Kilkeel
Kilkeel
Kilkeel is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour houses one of the largest fishing fleets in Ireland. It had a population of 6,338 people according to the 2001 Census...
Rural District Council.
Result
Harden won the by-election, taking 59.7% of the votes cast. O'Reilly took 40.3%, the best result for any opposition candidate in the constituency.Geoffrey Bing
Geoffrey Bing
Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing was a British barrister and politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Hornchurch from 1945 to 1955....
stated in Parliament that impersonation took place at one polling station
Polling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
on "a really large scale", and that two election agents who arrived to investigate were attacked by a mob of two hundred people. Harden, in response, noted that O'Reilly had agreed with him that, despite some incidents at the close of polling, the election was fair, and that he had seconded his vote of thanks to the returning officer
Returning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...
.
Harden held the seat without facing a further contest. He inherited a further estate in Pwllheli
Pwllheli
Pwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a population of 3,861, of which a large proportion, 81 per cent, are Welsh speaking. Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones -...
in 1954 and stood down as an MP, leading to the Armagh by-election, 1954
Armagh by-election, 1954
The Armagh by-election was held on 20 November 1954, following the resignation of Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament James Harden.Harden had held the seat of Armagh since a by-election in 1948, and had not faced a contest since then...
.