1953 Northern Ireland general election

The 1953 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 October 1953. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party.

1953 Northern Ireland general election

← 1949 22 October 1953 1958 →
← outgoing members MPs elected →
All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Nat Leader Basil Brooke James McSparran Party UUP Nationalist Leader since 1 May 1943 15 November 1945 Leader's seat Lisnaskea Mourne Last election 37 seats, 62.7% 9 seats, 26.8% Seats won 38 7 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 125,379 27,796 Percentage 48.6% 10.8% Swing 14.1% 16.0%   Third party Fourth party   Ant Leader None William Norton Party Anti-Partition Irish Labour Leader since n/a 19 July 1932 Leader's seat None Sat in Dáil Éireann Last election Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 7,728 13,223 Percentage 3.0% 5.1% Swing New party New party
Election results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Basil Brooke UUP Prime Minister after election Basil Brooke UUP

Results

↓

38	7	2	5
UUP	Nationalist	AP	Oth

1953 Northern Ireland general election
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	UUP	43	38	3	2	+1	73.1	48.6	125,379	-14.1
	Ind. Unionist	8	1	1	2	-1	1.9	12.8	32,998	+12.2
	NI Labour	9	0	0	0	0		12.1	31,360	+5.0
	Nationalist	8	7	0	2	-2	13.5	10.8	27,796	-16.0
	Irish Labour	6	1	1	0	+1	1.9	5.1	13,223	N/A
	Anti-Partition	3	2	2	0	+2	3.8	3.0	7,728	N/A
	Independent Irish Labour	2	0	0	0	0		2.6	6,639	N/A
	Ind. Republican Labour	1	1	1	0	+1	1.9	2.3	5,947	N/A
	Independent Labour	1	1	0	0	0	1.9	1.5	3,902	-0.6
	Independent	2	1	0	1	-1	1.9	0.7	1,745	+0.2
	Communist (NI)	1	0	0	0	0		0.5	1,207	+0.3

All parties shown. Electorate 888,352 (428,216 in contested seats); Turnout 60.2% (257,924).

Votes summary

Popular vote

Ulster Unionist			48.61%
Independent Unionist			12.79%
Labour			12.16%
Nationalist Party			10.78%
Irish Labour			5.13%
Anti-Partition			3.00%
Independent Irish Labour			2.57%
Republican Labour			2.31%
Independent Labour			1.51%
Communist			0.47%
Independent			0.68%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats

Ulster Unionist			73.08%
Nationalist Party			13.46%
Anti-Partition			3.85%
Independent Unionist			1.92%
Irish Labour			1.92%
Republican Labour			1.92%
Independent Labour			1.92%
Independent			1.92%

See also

• MPs elected in the Northern Ireland general election, 1953