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Mid Ulster County constituency
Mid Ulster shown within Northern Ireland
Created:	1950
MP:	Martin McGuinness
Party:	Sinn Féin
Type:	House of Commons
Districts:	Cookstown, Magherafelt, Dungannon and South Tyrone
EP constituency:	Northern Ireland

Mid Ulster is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Elections 4.1 Elections in the 2000s 4.2 Elections in the 1990s 4.3 Elections in the 1980s 4.4 Elections in the 1970s 4.5 Elections in the 1960s 4.6 Elections in the 1950s 5 Sources 6 See also

The seat was created in 1950 when the old Fermanagh and Tyrone two-member constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. Originally the seat primarily consisted of the northern, eastern and western parts of County Tyrone, with the south included in Fermanagh & South Tyrone. Of the post 1973 districts, it contained all of Omagh and Cookstown and part of Strabane and Magherafelt.

In boundary changes proposed by a review in 1995, the seat was split in two, with the name retained by the eastern half, even though it contained only 30% of the old seat. The western half became the nucleus of the new West Tyrone constituency. The new Mid Ulster also gained areas from East Londonderry and Fermanagh and South Tyrone, taking it deeper into County Londonderry.

The seat now contains the entirety of the districts of Magherafelt and Cookstown and part of the district of Dungannon and South Tyrone.

At the time of writing the Boundary Commission has proposed alterations to the Northern Ireland constituencies, however no changes are proposed for Mid Ulster.

For the history of the constituency prior to 1950, see Fermanagh and Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency).

In both its incarnations, Mid Ulster has seen a precarious balance between unionist 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 candidates from the other community splitting the vote.

The seat was initially won by the Irish Nationalist Party in 1950 and 1951 then by Sinn Féin in 1955. However the Sinn Féin Member of Parliament (MP) was unseated on petition on the basis that his Irish Republican Army (IRA) convictions made him ineligible, and in subsequent by-elections the seat was won by the Ulster Unionists.

In a by-election in 1969, the seat was won by Bernadette Devlin standing as an independent socialist nationalist on the "Unity" ticket which sought to unite nationalist voters behind a single candidate. At the age of 21, Devlin was the youngest person ever elected to the House of Commons in the era of universal suffrage. The by-election saw a 91.5% turnout, a record for any UK by-election.

Devlin held her seat in the 1970 but generated controversy when she had a child out of wedlock as well as for her fierce anti-clericalism. This may have contributed to the Social Democratic and Labour Party standing a candidate against her in the February 1974 general election and the nationalist vote was strongly divided, allowing John Dunlop of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party to win with the support of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party.

Dunlop held his seat for the next nine years, though in 1975 he was part of a large section of Vanguard that broke away to form the short lived United Ulster Unionist Party. He held his seat in 1979 only due to a Unionist pact. He polled poorly in the 1982 Assembly election taking a dismal 2.8% of the vote. Consequently, in 1983 he did not stand again and the following year the UUUP was wound up.

The 1983 general election saw fierce contest for the seat, with the Ulster Unionist Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin all polling strongly. The winner was the DUP's William McCrea, albeit by the narrow majority of just 78 over Sinn Féin. In general elections from then to 2005 the Ulster Unionists did not contest the seat.

Following the boundary changes, McCrea contested the new Mid Ulster in 1997 but by now Sinn Féin had established itself as the best party to outpoll a unionist and so drew votes from the SDLP, resulting in Martin McGuinness winning. He has held the seat to date.

The Member of Parliament since the 1997 general election is Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin. Between 1983 and 1997 the MP was William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party.

• Constituency created (1950)
• 1950 — 1951 Anthony Mulvey, Nationalist
• 1951 — 1955 Michael O'Neill, Nationalist
• 1955: Tom Mitchell, Sinn Féin - subsequently unseated on petition
• 1955 (by-election) — 1956: Charles Beattie, Ulster Unionist - election subsequently declared invalid by House of Commons Select Committee
• 1956 (by-election) — 1969: George Forrest, Independent Unionist (on election) then Ulster Unionist
• 1969 (by-election) — 1974: Bernadette Devlin, Independent Socialist & Nationalist on "Unity" ticket
• 1974 — 1983: John Dunlop, Vanguard Progressive Unionist until 1977, then United Ulster Unionist
• 1983 — 1997: William McCrea, Democratic Unionist
• 1997 — present: Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin

General Election 2005: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	21,641	47.6	-3.5
	Democratic Unionist	Ian McCrea	10,665	23.5	-7.6
	Social Democratic and Labour	Patsy McGlone	7,922	17.4	+0.6
	Ulster Unionist	Billy Armstrong	4,853	10.7	+10.7
	Workers' Party	Francis Donnelly	345	0.8	-0.2
Majority			10,976	24.2
Turnout			45,426	72.5	-8.8
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing	+2.1

General Election 2001: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	25,502	51.1	+11.0
	Democratic Unionist	Ian McCrea	15,549	31.1	-5.2
	Social Democratic and Labour	Eilish Haughey	8,376	16.8	-5.3
	Workers' Party	Francie Donnelly	509	1.0	+0.5
Majority			9,953	20.0
Turnout			49,936	81.3	-4.8
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Martin McGuinness	20,294	40.1
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	18,411	36.3
	Social Democratic and Labour	Denis Haughey	11,205	22.1
	Alliance	E. Bogues	460	0.9
	Workers' Party	M. Donnelly	238	0.5
	Natural Law	M. Murray	61	0.1
Majority			1,883
Turnout				86.1
	Sinn Féin gain from Democratic Unionist		Swing

1992 Notional Results: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	19,274	41.0
	Social Democratic and Labour	Denis Haughey	14,360	30.6
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff	11,340	24.4
	Alliance	Ann Gormley	1,229	2.6
	Others		779	1.7
Majority			4,914	10.5
Turnout				7
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Between 1992 and 1996 there were significant boundary changes, creating the new seat of West Tyrone. This had a huge knock on effect on Mid Ulster, which lost all its areas in Omagh and Strabane district councils, and gained the Torrent LGD in Dungannon from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and the parts of Magherafelt District Council previously in East Londonderry. Therefore the implied 1992 election results are very different to the actual ones and are displayed above.

General Election 1992: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	23,181	42.3
	Social Democratic and Labour	Denis Haughey	16,994	31.0
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff	10,248	18.7
	Alliance	Ann Gormley	1,506	2.8
	Labour and Trade Union	H. Hutchinson	389	0.7
	Workers' Party	T. Owens	285	0.5
	Natural Law	J. Anderson	164	0.3
Majority			6,187	11.3
Turnout				79.3
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	23,004	44.2
	Social Democratic and Labour	Denis Haughey	13,644	26.2
	Sinn Féin	S. Begley	12,449	23.9
	Alliance	P. Bogan	1,846	3.5
	Workers' Party	P. J. McLean	1,133	2.2
Majority			9,360	18.0
Turnout				77.4
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	23,695
	Sinn Féin	Danny Morrisson	13,998
	Social Democratic and Labour	Adrian Colton	13,021
	Workers' Party	Thomas Owens	691
Majority			6,967
Turnout
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	16,174	30.0
	Sinn Féin	Danny Morrison	16,096	29.9
	Social Democratic and Labour	Denis Haughey	12,044	22.4
	Ulster Unionist	William Thompson	7,066	13.1
	Alliance	J. A. Logan	1,735	3.2
	Workers' Party	T. A. Owens	766	1.4
Majority			78	0.1
Turnout				84.3
	Democratic Unionist gain from United Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 1979: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Ulster Unionist	John Dunlop	29,249	44.7
	Social Democratic and Labour	Paddy Duffy	19,266	29.4
	Irish Independence	Patrick Fahy	12,055	19.9
	Alliance	A. Lagan	3,481	5.3
	Republican Clubs	F. Donnelly	1,414	2.2
Majority			9,983	15.3
Turnout				80.4
	United Ulster Unionist gain from Vanguard Progressive Unionist		Swing

General Election October 1974: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard Progressive Unionist	John Dunlop	30,552	47.4
	Social Democratic and Labour	Ivan Cooper	25,885	40.1
	Republican Clubs	F. Donnelly	8,091	12.5
Majority			4,667	7.2
Turnout				79.0
	Vanguard Progressive Unionist hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Vanguard Progressive Unionist	John Dunlop	26,004	39.0
	Social Democratic and Labour	Ivan Cooper	19,372	29.1
	Independent Socialist	Bernadette McAliskey	16,672	25.0
	Pro-Assembly Unionist	N. Thornton	4,633	7.0
Majority			6,632	10.0
Turnout				79.3
	Vanguard Progressive Unionist gain from Independent		Swing

General Election 1970: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unity	Bernadette Devlin	37,739	53.5
	Ulster Unionist	N. Thornton	31,810	39.0
	Independent	M. Cunningham	19,372	29.1
	National Socialist	P. P. O'Neill	198	0.3
Majority			5,929	8.4
Turnout				90.9
	Unity gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1969
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unity	Bernadette Devlin	33,648	53.3	N/A
	Ulster Unionist	Anna Forrest	29,437	46.7	- 5.6
Majority			4,211	6.7	+ 2.2
Turnout			63,085	91.5	+ 7.6
	Unity gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

General Election 1966: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Forrest	29,728	52.3
	Independent Republican	Tom Mitchell	27,168	47.8
Majority			2,560	4.5
Turnout				83.9
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Forrest	29,715	51.6
	Independent Republican	Tom Mitchell	22,810	39.6
	Labour (NI)	P. J. McGarvey	5,053	8.8
Majority			6,905	12.0
Turnout				85.1
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	George Forrest	33,093	70.0
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	14,170	30.0
Majority			18,923	40.0
Turnout				71.0
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Unionist	George Forrest	28,605	48.36
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	24,124	40.78
	Anti-Partition	Michael O'Neill	6,421	10.86
Majority			4,481	7.58
Turnout			59,150	88.43
	Independent Unionist gain from Sinn Féin		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1955
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	30,392
	Ulster Unionist	Charles Beattie	29,586
Majority			806
Turnout
	Sinn Féin hold		Swing

The seat was awarded to Beattie on petition on the grounds that Mitchell's conviction as a felon made him ineligible to sit in Parliament. However, Beattie in turn was also found ineligible to sit due to holding an office of profit under the crown, triggering a further by-election.

General Election 1955: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Sinn Féin	Tom Mitchell	29,737	50.2
	Ulster Unionist	Charles Beattie	29,477	49.8
Majority			260	0.4
Turnout				88.6
	Sinn Féin gain from Independent Republican		Swing

Mitchell was subsequently unseated upon petition, on the grounds that his terrorist convictions made him ineligible to sit in Parliament.

General Election 1951: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Republican	Michael O'Neill	33,097	52.7
	Ulster Unionist	J. M. Shearer	29,701	47.3
Majority			3,396	5.4
Turnout				91.8
	Independent Republican hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Mid Ulster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Republican	Anthony Mulvey	33,023	52.6
	Ulster Unionist	J. M. Shearer	29,721	47.4
Majority			3,302	5.2
Turnout				91.6
	Independent Republican hold		Swing

• Guardian Unlimited Politics (Election results from 1992 to the present)
• http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/ (Election results from 1951 to the present)
• 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 - 1970

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland

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