1952 Belfast South by-election

UK parliamentary by-election April 2025 April 2025 The 1952 Belfast South by-election was held following the resignation of Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament, Conolly Gage.South Belfast 1950-1970, Northern Ireland Elections History Belfast South had consistently elected UUP members since its recreation in 1922, and no Irish nationalist had even stood in the seat in that period. The opposition came from the labour movement. Gage had first won the seat at the 1945 general election, but he faced opponents from both the Commonwealth Labour Party (CWLP) and the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP), who, between them, had taken 48% of the vote. The CWLP had merged with the UUP in 1947, so by the 1950 general election, Gage was able to take three-quarters of the vote, the rest going to a NILP opponent. The vote shares barely changed at the 1951 general election. Candidates The UUP selected David Campbell, while the NILP opted to stand their party secretary, Sam Napier. Napier had stood for the Northern Ireland House of Commons twice, for North Down in 1949 and for the Queen's University of Belfast in 1953. Result The by-election was held on 4 November 1952. Campbell easily won the seat, taking more than three-quarters of the votes, in a near repeat of the result of the two previous general elections. He held the seat until his death in 1963. 1952 Belfast South by-electionhttp://www.by-elections.co.uk/52.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141840/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/52.html 1952 By Election Results 2012-02-25 dead 2015-08-13 Ulster Unionist Party David Campbell 23,067 75.1 -0.7 Northern Ireland Labour Party Samuel Napier 7,655 24.9 +0.7 15,412 50.2 -1.4 30,722 46.4 -27.4 65,196 Ulster Unionist Party References External links A Vision Of Britain Through Time Category:1952 elections in the United Kingdom South Category:20th century in Belfast Category:1952 elections in Northern Ireland Category:November 1952 in the United Kingdom