1946 Londonderry Borough Council election

1946 Londonderry Borough Council election 1946 Londonderry COA.svg Legislative Popular no 1949 Londonderry Borough Council election 1949 Sir Basil McFarland Ulster Unionist Party 12 Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) 4 Patrick Fox Derry Labour Party 4 1946 Londonderry Borough Council election (Ward results).svg Results by ward. Mayor Basil McFarland Ulster Unionist Party Basil McFarland Ulster Unionist Party Local govt election in Northern Ireland November 2019 Elections to Londonderry Borough Council were held on 16 October 1946. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) retained their majority with Sir Basil McFarland continuing as Mayor of Londonderry. The elections were postponed from the original February date due to an unusually large number of objections to the list of electors.Local elections in Derry postponed Irish Times 10 August 1946 Background The election was held following the passage of the 1946 Elections and Franchise Act (Northern Ireland) by the Parliament of Northern Ireland which limited the voting franchise to only ratepayers and their wives and granted business owners the rights to cast up to six business votes (depending on the size of their business.)John Ranelagh A Short History of Ireland 305 Cambridge University Press 2012 978-1139789264 The boundaries for the election had also been reviewed by the Londonderry Corporation and drawn by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Campaigns Controversy arose during the calling of the election. On 20 January 1946, the Londonderry Corporation called the election to be held on 10 February and only gave candidates 11 days to file for candidacy. No reason was given for this by Sir Basil though it was speculated in the United States House of Representatives by the Montana 1st representative Mike Mansfield that it was only called so that the old electoral register with its unionist majority would be used rather than a new one that was due to come into effect six weeks later. This would have had the effect of disenfranchising younger nationalist voters which would have given nationalists a majority. Éamon de Valera, the Taoiseach of the Irish Free State, held a meeting at Mansion House, Dublin with nationalist party leaders from Northern Ireland as well as Irish Free State parties. Collectively, they released a statement condemning the move calling it "electoral manipulation" and encouraged nationalists in the Londonderry Borough Council area to legally object.Congressional Record: Proceedings of the 81st Congress 95, part 1 810–811 U.S. Government Printing Office 1949 Owing to the controversies and challenges to the electors' eligibility, the election was delayed until 16 October. During pre-election hustings, William Henry McLaughlin, who was standing for election for the UUP in Waterside, declared that he had only ever employed one Roman Catholic in forty-eight years and that was only due to a case of mistaken identity.Tom Gallagher Contemporary Irish Studies 18 Manchester University Press 1983 0719009197 Four parties ultimately contested the election: the Ulster Unionist Party Nationalist candidates running on an Anti-Partition platform the 'Derry Labour Party' - a local independent anti-partition left-wing party led by Patrick "Paddy" Fox, separate from the Northern Ireland Labour Party the 'Londonderry Labour Party' - a local affiliate of the Northern Ireland Labour Party Council results The election was won by the UUP with a majority of 12 seats. The Nationalist Party and the Derry Labour Party won 4 seats each. The UUP won 3 aldermen with the Nationalists and Derry Labour Party winning 1 each. In the North Ward, the UUP won all 6 available seats while in the South Ward, the Nationalists and Derry Labour Party won 3 seats each. In Waterside, 3 UUP members were returned in an uncontested election for the ward.https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001480/19461019/048/0004 Londonderry Sentinel - Saturday 19 October 1946 4 Londonderry Sentinel British Newspaper Archive 2020-08-05 Results by ward Elections were held in every ward for both alderman and councillors. No aldermen elections were contested, resulting in all candidates being returned: UUP candidates Captain Thomas Fitzpatrick Cooke and Samuel Wallace Kennedy OBE were returned from North Ward Derry Labour Party candidate Patrick Fox and Nationalist Party candidate Francis Edward McCarroll were returned from South Ward UUP candidate William James Little was returned from Waterside Ward North Ward North Wardhttps://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001480/19461017/047/0003 Official Labour beaten in two Derry wards - Thursday 17 October 1946 3 Londonderry Sentinel British Newspaper Archive 2020-11-116 CouncillorsElectorate: 5,622 Ulster Unionist Party James C. Hamilton 3,203 71.21 Ulster Unionist Party Gerald Stanley Glover 3,200 71.14 Ulster Unionist Party S. Dowds 3,195 71.03 Ulster Unionist Party J. J. Hill 3,188 70.88 Ulster Unionist Party Sir Basil McFarland 3,180 70.70 Ulster Unionist Party A. McGowan 3,148 69.99 Northern Ireland Labour Party A. H. Halliday 1,247 27.72 Northern Ireland Labour Party J. Campbell 1,220 27.12 Northern Ireland Labour Party F. Moorehead 1,159 25.77 Northern Ireland Labour Party M. T. Mulhearn 1,132 25.17 4,498a 80.01 South Ward South Ward6 CouncillorsElectorate: 7,468 Derry Labour Party W. Barr 3,751 73.23 Nationalist / Anti-Partition T. Doherty 3,730 72.82 Derry Labour Party James Deeney 3,727 72.76 Nationalist / Anti-Partition Daniel Barr 3,727 72.76 Nationalist / Anti-Partition Patrick J. Downey 3,675 71.75 Derry Labour Party W. Mullan 3,538 69.07 Northern Ireland Labour Party Stephen McGonagle 1,236 24.13 Northern Ireland Labour Party G. Hamill 1,233 24.08 Northern Ireland Labour Party J. Sharkey 1,099 21.46 Northern Ireland Labour Party W. McLeery 1,093 21.34 5,122a 68.59 Waterside Ward Only the UUP put up candidates in Waterside ward, resulting in all three being elected unopposed: Robert Graham William Henry MacLoughlin Samuel Orr References Notes 1.a Voters in North and South wards could each vote for up to 6 candidates. As a result vote totals do not equal turnout. Category:Derry City Council elections Londonderry Category:20th century in Derry (city)