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Londonderry City was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the United Kingdom House of Commons, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Boundaries and boundary changes

This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Londonderry (or Derry) in County Londonderry.

It was an original constituency represented in the first UK Parliament when the Acts of Union 1800 took effect on 1 January 1801, inheriting the boundaries and franchise of the Londonderry City constituency of the abolished Irish House of Commons. In 1922 it was combined with North Londonderry and South Londonderry, to form the Londonderry county constituency.

Politics

After the extension of the franchise in 1885, the constituency was one of the most marginal seats in Ireland.

Sinn Féin won in 1918. The MP, Professor Eoin MacNeill, was also returned for National University of Ireland. As MacNeill did not take his seat in the United Kingdom House of Commons he could not choose which constituency he would represent and arrange a by-election in the other. He played an active role in the First Dáil and in the government it set up.

Members of Parliament

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system.

Elections in the 1830s

On petition, Ferguson's election was declared void, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Ferguson's death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Dowse was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland, requiring a by-election.

Dowse resigned after being appointed Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

On petition, Lewis was unseated. McCarthy was named as MP on 25 October.

Elections in the 1890s

Knox resigns, triggering a by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

• Results are compared to the 1895 election, not the by-election.

Hamilton is appointed Treasurer of the Household, prompting a by-election in which he stood unopposed.

Elections in the 1910s

Hamilton becomes Duke of Abercorn, prompting a by-election.

Hogg's death prompts another by-election.

• Results are compared to the December 1910 election, not the later by-elections.
• In common with other Sinn Féin MPs, Eoin MacNeill abstained from Westminster and took his seat as a TD in the First Dáil. He was also elected for the National University.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Footnotes

1. ^ Farrell, Stephen. "Londonderry". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
2. ^ Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 234.
3. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1847). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 15. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 166.
4. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. pp. 90–91.
5. "Irish Members Return". Northern Standard. 7 August 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Lewis was declared elected at the 1886 general election, but the result was overturned on petition, and the seat awarded to McCarthy
7. ^ Walker 1978.
8. Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, Volume 50. 1843.

Notes

1. There is a longstanding Derry/Londonderry name dispute. This article follows the approach that Derry refers to the city and County Londonderry refers to the county (outside of organisations' names, which may follow their own approaches).

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)

Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 227, 295–296, 361–362, 392. ISBN 0901714127.

• Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume I 1832–1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1978). Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume II 1886–1918. The Harvester Press.
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1979). 'Who's Who of British members of parliament: Volume III 1919–1945. The Harvester Press.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4 )

See also

• List of UK Parliament Constituencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland
• List of MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election
• List of Dáil Éireann constituencies in Ireland (historic)

• Dáil constituencies in Northern Ireland (historic)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1801
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1922
• Politics of Derry (city)
• Westminster constituencies in County Londonderry (historic)