1965 Northern Ireland general election

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1965 Northern Ireland general election

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| <- 1962 | 25 November 1965 | 1969 ->

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<- outgoing members

MPs elected ->

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All 52 seats to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland
27 seats were needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|  |  |
Leader  | Terence O'Neill | Eddie McAteer | Tom Boyd
Party  | UUP | Nationalist | NI Labour
Leader since  | 25 March 1963  | 2 June 1964  | 1958
Leader's seat  | Bannside | Foyle | Belfast Pottinger
Last election  | 34 seats, 48.8%  | 9 seats, 15.1%  | 4 seats, 25.4%
Seats won  | 36 | 9  | 2
Seat change  | 2  |  | 2
Popular vote  | 191,896 | 26,748  | 66,323
Percentage  | 59.1% | 8.2%  | 20.4%
Swing  | 10.3%  | 6.9%  | 5.0%

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| Fourth party  | Fifth party  | Sixth party
|  |  |
Leader  | Gerry Fitt | Gerry Quigley | Albert McElroy
Party  | Republican Labour | National Democratic | Ulster Liberal
Leader since  | 1964  | 1965  | 1956
Leader's seat  | Belfast Dock | None | Enniskillen (Lost)
Last election  | Did not stand | Did not stand | 1 seat, 3.6%
Seats won  | 2  | 1  | 1
Seat change  | 2  | 1  |
Popular vote  | 3,326  | 15,206  | 12,618
Percentage  | 1.0%  | 4.7%  | 3.9%
Swing  | New party | New party |  0.3%

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Election results by constituency

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| Prime Minister before election

Terence O'Neill
UUP

| Prime Minister after election

Terence O'Neill
UUP

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(1921–72)

Politics of Northern Ireland

Government

* Governor
* Privy Council
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1921, 1925, 1929, 1933
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Senate

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* Elections in Northern Ireland

1921, 1925, 1929, 1933
1938, 1945, 1949, 1953
1958, 1962, 1965, 1969

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See also

* Fourth Home Rule Bill
* Constitution Act 1973

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

The 1965 Northern Ireland general election was held on 25 November 1965. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. This was the last election in Northern Ireland in which one party won a majority of the vote. The Ulster Unionists increased their vote share largely due to a reduction in the number of uncontested seats, but also picked up two additional seats. Similarly, the Nationalist vote share decreased largely due to more of the seats in which they stood candidates being contested.

## Results

[edit]

↓  36 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 3

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UUP | Nationalist | L | R | Oth
1965 Northern Ireland general election

Party  | Candidates  | Votes
Stood  | Elected  | Gained  | Unseated  | Net  | % of total  | %  | No. | Net %
| UUP | 41  | 36  | 2  | 0  | +2 | 69.2  | 59.1  | 191,896  | +10.3
| NI Labour | 17  | 2  | 0  | 2  | -2 | 3.8  | 20.4  | 66,323  | -5.0
| Nationalist | 9  | 9  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 17.3  | 8.2  | 26,748  | -6.9
| National Democratic | 1  | 1 | 1 | 0  | +1 | 1.9  | 4.7  | 15,206  | N/A
| Ulster Liberal | 4  | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1.9  | 3.9  | 12,618  | +0.3
| Independent Labour | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | 1.4  | 4,371  | -1.7
| Republican Labour | 2  | 2  | 1  | 0  | +1 | 3.8  | 1.0  | 3,326  | N/A
| New Ireland Movement  | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | 1.0  | 3,111  | N/A
| Ind. Republican | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | 0.2  | 682  | N/A
| Communist (NI) | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | —  | 0.1  | 308  | N/A
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1.9  | 0.0  | 0  | -0.4

All parties shown. The only independent candidate was elected unopposed. Electorate: 907,667 (563,252 in contested seats); Turnout: 57.6% (324,589).

### Votes summary

[edit]

| Popular vote

|  |
Ulster Unionist |

| 59.12%
Labour |

| 20.43%
Nationalist |

| 8.24%
National Democratic |

| 4.68%
Ulster Liberal |

| 3.89%
Independent Labour |

| 1.35%
Republican Labour |

| 1.02%
New Ireland Movement |

| 0.96%
Independent Republican |

| 0.21%
Communist |

| 0.09%

### Seats summary

[edit]

| Parliamentary seats

|  |
Ulster Unionist |

| 69.23%
Nationalist |

| 17.31%
Labour |

| 3.85%
Republican Labour |

| 3.85%
National Democratic |

| 1.92%
Independent |

| 1.92%

## See also

[edit]

* List of members of the 11th House of Commons of Northern Ireland

## References

[edit]

* Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results Archived 16 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine

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Elections and referendums in Northern Ireland

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