| Londonderry | |
| Type: | county |
| Region: | Ireland |
| County: | County Londonderry |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1801 |
| Abolished: | 1885 |
| Seats: | 2 |
| Previous: | County Londonderry (IHC) |
| Year2: | 1922 |
| Abolished2: | 1983 |
| Seats2: | 1 |
Londonderry was a parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, as well as a constituency in elections to various regional bodies. It was replaced in boundary changes in 1983. Londonderry returned two MPs (1801–1885) and later one (1922–1983).
The constituency consisted, in 1801–1885, of the whole of County Londonderry, except for the parliamentary boroughs of Coleraine and Londonderry City.
The seat was re-created in 1922. As part of the consequences of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat was focused on County Londonderry. It comprised the administrative county of Londonderry and the County Borough of Londonderry.
In 1951, it was one of the last four seats to be uncontested in a United Kingdom general election.
In 1983 the number of seats for Northern Ireland was increased from 12 to 17 and Londonderry was split in two, forming Foyle and East Londonderry.
| Election | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Hon. Charles Stewart[1] | Tory | Vacant | ||||
| 1801 by-election | Sir George Hill, 2nd Bt | Tory | |||||
| 1802 | Lord George Beresford | ||||||
| 1812 | Hon. William Ponsonby | ||||||
| 1814 by-election | Alexander Stewart | Tory[2] | |||||
| 1815 by-election | George Robert Dawson | Tory[3] | |||||
| 1818 | Alexander Robert Stewart | Tory | |||||
| 1830 | Theobald Jones | Tory[4] | Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt | Tory | |||
| 1834 | Conservative | Conservative | |||||
| 1842 by-election | Robert Bateson | Conservative | |||||
| 1844 by-election | Thomas Bateson | ||||||
| 1857 by-election | James Johnston Clark | ||||||
| 1857 | Samuel MacCurdy Greer | Radical[5] [6] | |||||
| 1859 | Robert Peel Dawson | Conservative | Sir Frederick Heygate, 2nd Bt | ||||
| 1874 | Richard Smyth | Liberal | Hugh Law | Liberal | |||
| 1878 by-election | Sir Thomas McClure, 1st Bt | ||||||
| 1881 by-election | Andrew Porter | ||||||
| 1884 by-election | Samuel Walker | ||||||
| 1885 | constituency abolished: see North Londonderry & South Londonderry | ||||||
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Sir Malcolm Macnaghten | Ulster Unionist | ||
| 1929 by-election | Sir Ronald Ross | |||
| 1951 by-election | William Wellwood | |||
| 1955 | Robin Chichester-Clark | |||
| February 1974 | William Ross | |||
| 1983 | constituency abolished: see Foyle & East Londonderry | |||
In the 1951 Londonderry by-election[7] and the 1951 United Kingdom general election, William Wellwood was elected unopposed.
From its inception Londonderry had a unionist majority, though by the 1970s the nationalist vote was approaching 40% in some elections.
In 1974 the Ulster Unionist Party repudiated the Sunningdale Agreement and so did not reselect Robin Chichester-Clark, who had been a Minister in the government of Edward Heath. Instead they ran William Ross, who held the seat until 1983. He was then elected for the new East Londonderry.
For the history of the area post 1983, please see Foyle (UK Parliament constituency) and East Londonderry.