Everything about Fermanagh And South Tyrone Uk Parliament Constituency totally explained
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a
Parliamentary Constituency in the
British House of Commons.
Boundaries
The seat was created in
1950 when the old
Fermanagh & Tyrone two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. As the name implies, the seat includes all of
County Fermanagh and the southern part of
County Tyrone. Of the post
1973 districts, it initially contained all of
Fermanagh and
Dungannon and South Tyrone.
In boundary changes proposed by a review in
1995, a portion of
Dungannon and South Tyrone (then simply called Dungannon) district was transferred to the
Mid Ulster constituency.
The most recent review of boundaries, passed through Parliament by means of the
2008 Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituency Order
sees little change to the boundaries of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The electoral areas to make up this seat at the next UK general election are;
- The entire district of Fermanagh
- The wards of Augher, Aughnacloy, Ballygawley, Ballysaggart, Benburb, Caledon, Castlecaulfield, Clogher, Coolhill, Drumglass, Fivemiletown, Killyman, Killymeal, Moy, Moygashel, and Mullaghmore from Dungannon and South Tyrone district.
History
For the history of the constituency prior to
1950, see
Fermanagh and Tyrone.
Throughout its history, Fermanagh and South Tyrone has seen a precarious balance between
unionists and
nationalist voters, though in recent years the nationalists have advanced significantly to be in a clear majority. Many elections have seen a candidate from one community triumph due to multiple candidates from the other community splitting the vote.
Perhaps because of this, Fermanagh and South Tyrone has repeatedly had the highest turnout of any constituency in Northern Ireland.
The seat was initially won by the
Irish Nationalist Party in
1950 and
1951, the closely contested 1951 election seeing a 93.4% turnout - a UK record for any election.
In
1955, the constituency was won by
Philip Clarke of
Sinn Féin in, however he was unseated on petition on the basis that his convictions for
IRA activity made him ineligible, and it was granted to the
Ulster Unionist candidate.
In
1970 the seat was won by
Frank McManus standing on the "
Unity" ticket which sought to unite nationalist voters behind a single candidate. However in the
February 1974 general election the
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) contested the seat, dividing the nationalist vote and allowing
Harry West of the
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to win with the support of the
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and the
Democratic Unionist Party.
In the
October 1974 general election a nationalist pact was agreed and
Frank Maguire won, standing as an
Independent Republican. He retained his seat in the
1979 general election, when both the Unionist and Nationalist votes were split, the former by the intervention of
Ernest Baird, leader of the short-lived
United Ulster Unionist Party, and the latter by
Austin Currie, who defied the official SDLP decision to not contest the seat. Maguire died in early
1981.
The
ensuing by-election took place amidst the
1981 Irish Hunger Strike and is widely considered to be the single most important and prominent by-election in modern Ireland. In order to test public opinion, the
Provisional Irish Republican Army Officer Commanding in
Long Kesh,
Bobby Sands was nominated as an
Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner.
Harry West also stood for the
Ulster Unionist Party but no other candidates contested the by-election. On
April 9,
1981, Sands won with 30,492 votes against 29,046 for West. 26 days later Sands died of starvation.
Speedy legislation barred "convicted felons" from standing for Parliament and so in the new by-election Sands' agent
Owen Carron stood as a "Proxy Political Prisoner". The UUP nominated
Ken Maginnis. The
second by-election in August was also contested by the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, the
Workers' Party Republican Clubs, a candidate standing on a label of
General Amnesty and another as
The Peace Lover. The turnout was even higher, with most of the additional votes going to the additional parties standing, and Carron was elected.
These victories had the effect of pushing Republicans towards the
Armalite and ballot box strategy. In the
1982 elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly Carron headed up the
Sinn Féin slate for the constituency and was elected.
Republicans suffered a reversal in the
1983 general election when the SDLP contested the seat. Maginnis won and held the seat for the UUP for the next eighteen years until he retired. By this point boundary changes had resulted in a broad 50:50 balance between Unionists and Nationalists and it was expected that a single Unionist candidate would hold the seat in the
2001 general election.
James Cooper was nominated by the UUP.
However on this occasion it was the unionist vote that was to be split. Initially
Maurice Morrow of the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was nominated to stand, with the DUP fiercely opposing the UUP's support for the
Good Friday Agreement. However Morrow then withdrew in favour of
Jim Dixon, a survivor of the
Enniskillen bombing who stood as an Independent Unionist opposed to the Agreement. Dixon polled 6,843 votes, far in excess of the mere 53 vote lead that
Sinn Féin's
Michelle Gildernew had over Cooper. Subsequently the result was challenged amid allegations that a polling station had been kept open for longer than the deadline, allowing more people to vote, but the courts didn't uphold the challenge.
Ahead of the
2005 general election there was much speculation that a single Unionist candidate could retake the seat. However the UUP and DUP ran opposing candidates and in the event Gildernew held her seat with an increased majority.
Members of Parliament
The
Member of Parliament since the
2001 general election is
Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin. Between
1983 and
2001 the MP was
Ken Maginnis of the UUP who retired at that election.
Elections
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Boundary changes took effect from the
1997 general election. The projections of what the 1992 result would have been if fought on 1997 boundaries are shown below.
Elections in the 1980s
1983 general election.
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
After the election, Philip Clarke was found ineligible by an
election court, and
Lord Robert Grosvenor was declared elected in his place.
Sources
Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/bfst.htm (Northern Ireland election results 1983 - 1992)
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page (Complete list of MPs)
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 - 1949
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950 - 1970Further Information
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