The 1969 Northern Ireland general election was held on Monday 24 February 1969. It was the last election to the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

before its abolition by the

Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 18 July 1973. The act abolished the suspended Parliament of Northern Ireland and the post of Governor and mad ...

. This was the first (and only) election since the 1929 general election to see changes to the constituencies. The

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

seat was abolished and four new constituencies were created in the suburbs of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

to compensate for population growth there.

Overview

Unlike previous elections that produced a large unambiguous majority for the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

, this one gave more complex results. The Ulster Unionists were divided over a variety of reforms introduced by Prime Minister

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

and this division spilled over into the election with official Ulster Unionist candidates standing either in support of or opposition to O'Neill and a number of Unofficial Unionists, who were independent pro O'Neill candidates standing against unsupportive Official Unionist candidates. The results left O'Neill without a clear majority for his reforms and he resigned not long afterwards.

Nationalist Realignment

The Nationalist Party that had for a long time represented the bulk of the Catholic minority faced strong challenges and two of its leading figures were defeated. The leader

Eddie McAteer Edward Gerard McAteer (25 June 1914 – 25 March 1986) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. He was born in Coatbridge, Scotland, to Hugh McAteer and Brigid McAteer (née O'Doherty). McAteer's family moved to Derry in Nor ...

lost Foyle to the independent

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...

and Paddy Gormley lost Mid Londonderry to the independent Ivan Cooper. Both Hume and Cooper would go on to form the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

which would take over the Nationalist mantle.

Protestant Unionist Party

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...

's Protestant Unionist Party that was broadly opposed to O'Neill's agenda on civil rights, put up a number of candidates. Although none of them were returned O'Neill was almost defeated by Paisley in Bannside a seat that had not been contested since 1949. Paisley gained the seat at a 1970 by-election.

Unofficial Unionists

Due to the local selection rules a number of anti-O'Neill candidates managed to get reselected or selected for seats. Many of them were opposed by 17 unofficial Unionist candidates supporting O'Neill, often backed by the New Ulster Movement. They won three seats - Belfast Clifton (where the sitting Unionist MP for was forbidden by a court order from referring to himself as the official Unionist candidate because of a violation of the rules at his selection meeting); Bangor and Belfast Willowfield.

Results

''Electorate: 912,087 (778,031 in contested seats); Turnout: 71.9% (559,087).''

Votes summary

Seats summary

Notes

References

Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results
{{Northern Ireland elections Northern Ireland general election

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

Northern Ireland general election 1969 elections in Northern Ireland