1920 Irish local elections

Local authority elections in Ireland November 2021 November 2021 Parliamentary no yes 1914 Irish local elections 1914 1924 (Northern Ireland) 1925 (Irish Free State) All 1806 councillors across Ireland January & June 1920 Councils Councils +/– Councillors Councillors +/– Éamon de Valera.jpg 130 113 150 0 10 Éamon de Valera Sinn Féin 550 Tomjohnson.jpg 180 113 150 0 30 Thomas Johnson Labour Party (Ireland) 394 Sir Edward Carson, bw photo portrait seated.jpg 180 113 150 0 20 Edward Carson Irish Unionist Alliance 355 300px Map showing control by council Elections were held in January and June 1920 for the various county and district councils of Ireland. The elections were organised by the Dublin Castle administration under the law of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK), and held while the Irish War of Independence was pitting UK forces against those of the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1919 by the Dáil Éireann. Elections were held in two stages: borough and urban district councils in January; and county and rural district councils in June. Sinn Féin, which had established the First Dáil, won control of many of the councils, which subsequently broke contact with Dublin Castle's Local Government Board for Ireland and instead recognised the republican Department of Local Government. The election results provide historians with a barometer of public opinion in what would be the last elections administered on an all-island basis: the Government of Ireland Act 1920 passed at the end of the year effected the partition of Ireland from 1921, though the elections for the two home rule Parliaments envisaged by it were held on the same day; no further elections would be held simultaneously across the island of Ireland until 1979, when representatives of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to the European Parliament were elected. The next local elections were held in 1924 in Northern Ireland and in 1925 in the Irish Free State. Background In the 1918 general elections the newly reformed Sinn Féin party had secured a large majority of Irish seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Many of the seats won by Sinn Féin were uncontested and thus were secured by acclamation. Where the seats were contested, the elections used the first-past-the-post voting system. Those two reasons explain how the Sinn Féin took a majority of seats in the chamber even though in the districts where the seat was contested the party received less than half the vote.Whyte Nicholas The Irish elections of 1918 http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/h1918.htm ARK 31 March 2017 19 December 2000 24 August 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060824020254/http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/h1918.htm live Sinn Féin's electoral success was a propaganda coup for the party, so the British Government introduced the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, which allowed for municipal elections by proportional representation in all of Ireland for the first time, by the system of the single transferable vote in multi-member districts. The Bill's second reading debate and vote were on 24 March. The government hoped that the new system would reveal less-than-monolithic support for Sinn Féin, and it was first tested in the 1920 local elections.Sinnott Richard Irish voters decide: Voting behaviour in elections and referendums since 1918 1995 Manchester University Press 9780719040375 27–28 Richard Sinnotthttps://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1919/mar/24/local-government-ireland-bill#S5CV0114P0_19190324_HOC_327 Hansard report of the debate on the Bill's second reading, March 1919 1 March 2011 23 May 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120523130301/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1919/mar/24/local-government-ireland-bill#S5CV0114P0_19190324_HOC_327 Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) 24 March 1919 live Some Sinn Féin members including Arthur Griffith had also helped to form the Proportional Representation Society of Ireland in the different circumstances of 1911. By 1920 the party was in a far stronger electoral position, and had no reason to oppose proportional representation, and it treated these elections as internal Irish elections for local authorities that were expected to swear allegiance to the new Irish Republic. STV, the electoral system introduced by the 1919 Act, is still used today in elections in the Republic of Ireland and most elections in Northern Ireland. January 1920 The 1919 act mandated elections for all urban councils except Sligo Corporation, which had been reconstituted and elected in 1919.Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 §9; Sligo Corporation Act 1918 The cumulative first preference votes in the 1920 urban elections were: Party% votesSinn Féin27UnionistsCandidates from the Ulster Unionist Party and the smaller Irish Unionist Alliance27Labour Party18Other Irish nationalistsIncluding candidates from parties such as the Irish Parliamentary Party15IndependentsSinnott 1995 p. 28: "... most ... were unionist with a small "u". 14 Excluding the more unionist province of Ulster, the urban results were:Martin, H. "Ireland in insurrection" (O'Connor, London 1921), pp. 212–218 Party% votesSinn Féin41Independents21Labour Party17Other nationalists14Unionists7 The 15 January elections saw Sinn Féin, Labour, and other nationalists winning control of 172 of Ireland's 206 borough and urban district councils. The subsequent mayoral elections on 30 January saw a Unionist elected for Belfast, a Nationalist in Derry, Labour in Wexford, and Sinn Féin in eight boroughs. +Turnout and uncontested areasCmd.1432 p.x Countyboroughs Otherboroughs Urbandistricts Towncommissioners Total Electorate 293,410 13,367 154,632 13,583 474,992 Votes 198,487 9,968 112,844 10,204 331,503 Turnout % 67.7 74.6 73.0 75.1 69.8 Spoilt % 2.57 2.82 3.03 4.51 2.79 Electoral areas 40 12 204 39 295 Candidates 637 150 2,023 315 3,125 Seats 308 84 1,148 195 1,735 Uncontested areas 1 2 21 12 36 In Westport, only 4 candidates were nominated for the 18 seats on the urban district council, and only 2 of those accepted office. Since 5 councillors was a quorum, Mayo County Council mandated a special election for 15 March, but only one extra candidate was nominated.Cmd. 1432 p.xi June 1920 The rural elections showed a much greater level of support for Sinn Féin in its core support area. It took control of 338 out of 393 local government bodies, county councils, boards of guardians and rural district councils across the whole island. The county and rural district elections saw virtually no contests outside of Ulster.Philpin Charles H. E. Nationalism and Popular Protest in Ireland https://books.google.com/books?id=IsmKeGHrO1IC&q=irish+rural+district+election&pg=PA415 Cambridge University Press 2002 415 9780521525015 29 October 2020 15 October 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221015132416/https://books.google.com/books?id=IsmKeGHrO1IC&q=irish+rural+district+election&pg=PA415 live Sinn Féin's success gave them dominance in virtually every county council and rural district council outside of Ulster. The Green and the Red: Revolutionary Republicanism and Socialism in Irish History, 1848-1923 https://books.google.com/books?id=h-quZsxWho0C&q=ulster+rural+district+councils+1920&pg=PA485 485 9780595190157 Delany William 2001 iUniverse 29 October 2020 15 October 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221015132417/https://books.google.com/books?id=h-quZsxWho0C&q=ulster+rural+district+councils+1920&pg=PA485 live Sinn Féin success in 12 June rural and county elections extended even to Ulster, with the party winning control of 36 of Ulsters 55 rural districts.O'Day Alan Fleming N. C. Longman Handbook of Modern Irish History Since 1800 https://books.google.com/books?id=1HTJAwAAQBAJ&q=irish+rural+district+election&pg=PA69 Routledge 2014 69 9781317897118 29 October 2020 15 October 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221015132419/https://books.google.com/books?id=1HTJAwAAQBAJ&q=irish+rural+district+election&pg=PA69 live Results thumb|400px|Map of Ireland's various county, urban, and rural district councils. PartyCouncillors±First Pref. votesFPv%±% Sinn Féin550 Labour Party (Ireland)394 Irish Unionist Alliance355Old Nationalist238 Independent politician (Ireland)161Municipal Reform108Totals1806100%—Source: Michael LaffanLaffan Michael The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923 https://books.google.com/books?id=zbz6p-O39aoC&q=labour+ireland+1920+394+seats&pg=PA327 Cambridge University Press 327 1999 9781139426299 29 October 2020 15 October 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221015132417/https://books.google.com/books?id=zbz6p-O39aoC&q=labour+ireland+1920+394+seats&pg=PA327 live Detailed results by council type County councils AuthoritySinn FéinLabour Party (Ireland)Irish Unionist AllianceIndependent politicianNationalist Party (Ireland)Total ResultDetailsAntrim10171221 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsArmagh50141323 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsCarlow13700020 Sinn FéinDetailsCavan20000121 Sinn FéinDetailsClare20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsCork32000032 Sinn FéinDetailsDonegal14020420 Sinn FéinDetailsDown42130120 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsDublin12232019 Sinn FéinDetailsFermanagh6090520Democracy and Change - The 1920 Local Elections in Ireland https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/8e35f-democracy-and-change-the-1920-local-elections-in-ireland/ www.gov.ie 22 May 2024 en 2 October 2020 Nationalist Party (Ireland)DetailsGalway20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsKerry20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsKildare15501021 Sinn FéinDetailsKilkenny16201019 Sinn FéinDetailsQueen's Co.18310022 Sinn FéinDetailsLeitrim19000019 Sinn FéinDetailsLimerick20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsLondonderry40110419 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsLongford20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsLouth17203628 Sinn FéinDetailsMayo24000024 Sinn FéinDetailsMeath20001021 Sinn FéinDetailsMonaghan16040020 Sinn FéinDetailsKing's Co.19200021 Sinn FéinDetailsRoscommon20000020 Sinn FéinDetailsSligo19100020 Sinn FéinDetailsNorth Tipperary19100020 Sinn FéinDetailsSouth Tipperary23000023 Sinn FéinDetailsTyrone80110726 Nationalist Party (Ireland)DetailsWaterford17300020 Sinn FéinDetailsWestmeath15500323 Sinn FéinDetailsWexford16200119 Sinn FéinDetailsWicklow14302120 Sinn FéinDetailsTotals52640851237701 County Borough councils AuthoritySinn FéinLabour Party (Ireland)Irish Unionist AllianceIndependent politicianNationalist Party (Ireland)Total ResultDetailsBelfast51235560 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsCork3056 Sinn FéinDetailsDublin421411480 Sinn FéinDetailsLimerick26604040 Sinn FéinDetailsWaterford2231040 Sinn FéinDetails Urban district councils AuthoritySinn FéinLabour Party (Ireland)Irish Unionist AllianceIndependent politicianNationalist Party (Ireland)OtherTotal ResultDetailsArmagh58518 No overall controlDetailsBlackrockDetailsDalkeyDetailsGalwayDetailsKilliney and BallybrackDetailsKilrush5712 Nationalist Party (Ireland)DetailsKingstown548421 No overall controlDetailsLondonderry101911040 No overall controlDetailsPembroke66315 No overall controlDetailsRathmines and Rathgar911121 Irish Unionist AllianceDetailsOmagh Nationalist Party (Ireland)DetailsStrabane Nationalist Party (Ireland)DetailsTotals References Sources Fitzgerald Desmond Desmond FitzGerald (politician) Local government elections, January 1920: analysis for propaganda purposes https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/gh93wj66r Digital Repository of Ireland 10 September 2020 en May 1920 Local Government Archivists and Records Managers Democracy and Change: The 1920 Local Elections in Ireland September 2020 Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government Dublin ((978-0-95084-702-7)) https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/attachments/localelections1920_english_web.pdf 5 October 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201006235013/https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/attachments/localelections1920_english_web.pdf 2020-10-06 Local Government Board for Ireland Annual report for the year ended 31st March 1920 https://archive.org/stream/op1256891-1001#page/n3/mode/2up Command papers Cmd.1432 1921 HMSO Dublin Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1919: Elections i–xi, Appendix 1–49 Citations Category:Council elections in the Republic of Ireland by year Local elections Local elections Irish local elections Irish local elections Local