1966 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
.svg.png){kind=small} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 March 1966
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 12 Northern Ireland seat in the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 66.1% ( 5.6 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.png)
On 31 March 1966, the 1966 United Kingdom general election was held in Northern Ireland, to elect all 630 members of the House of Commons, including the 12 Northern Ireland seats.
The Ulster Unionists lost one seat to Gerry Fitt, leader of the new Republican Labour Party.
In the election as a whole, the Labour Party increased their majority and Harold Wilson continued as Prime Minister. The Conservative Party, which included the Ulster Unionists, were now led by Edward Heath.
Candidates
| Affiliation | Candidates | |
|---|---|---|
| Ulster Unionist Party | 12 | |
| Independent Republican (Ireland) | 5 | |
| Northern Ireland Labour Party | 4 | |
| Ulster Liberal Party | 3 | |
| Republican Labour Party | 1 | |
| Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) | 1 | |
| Unity (Northern Ireland) | 1 | |
| Total | 27 | |
Results
| Party[1][2] | Seats | Aggregate Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Gains | Losses | Net | Of all (%) | Total | Of all (%) | Difference | ||
| UUP | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 91.7 | 368,629 | 61.8 | 1.4 | |
| Republican Labour | 1 | 1 | 0 |  1 | 8.3 | 26,292 | 4.4 | 2.1 | |
| NI Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | — | 72,613 | 12.2 | 3.9 | |
| Ind. Republican | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 62,782 | 10.5 | 5.4 | |
| Ulster Liberal | 0 | 0 | 0 | | — | 29,109 | 4.9 | 2.2 | |
| Nationalist | 0 | Did not stand in 1964 | — | 22,167 | 3.7 | N/a | |||
| Unity | 0 | New | — | 14,645 | 2.5 | New | |||
| Total | 12 | 596,237 | 66.1[3] | 5.6 | |||||
MPs elected
By-elections
| By-election | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid Ulster | 17 April 1969 | George Forrest | UUP | Bernadette Devlin | Unity | Death | ||
See also
References
- ↑ "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 1966". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ↑ "The 1966 Westminster Elections in Northern Ireland". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ↑ Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. p. 29. Retrieved 4 August 2026.