Irish elections, 1921

Irish general election, 1921

24 May 1921
128 seats in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and 52 seats in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland which combined potentially up to 180 seats in 2nd Dáil Éireann compared with up to 105 in 1st Dáil
First party Second party   Leader Éamon de Valera James Craig Party Sinn Féin UUP Leader since 1917 1921 Leader's seat Clare East Mid Down Last election 73 22 Seats won 130 (124 unopposed) 40 Seat change 47 18 Popular vote 104,917 343,347 Percentage 20.5% 66.9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Joseph Devlin — Party Nationalist Independent Unionist Leader since 1917 Leader's seat Belfast Falls University of Dublin Last election n/a 1 Seats won 6 4 (unopposed) Seat change 6 3 Popular vote 60,577 N/A Percentage 11.8% N/A
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party. Sinn Féin candidates in Southern Ireland were returned unopposed (dark green). The Nationalist Party and Ulster Unionist Party ran only in Ulster, along with Sinn Féin.

Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil. Where contested, the elections used single transferable vote.

Southern Ireland result

No actual polling took place in Southern Ireland as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed. Of these, 124 were won by Sinn Féin and four by independent Unionists representing the University of Dublin (Trinity College). When the date of the elections was announded in the House of Commons, the Conservative MP Sir William Davison, who had been born in Broughshane, County Antrim, had asked "What is the object of holding elections in Southern Ireland when any candidates who do not support Sinn Fein would be shot?" Other members had replied "How do you know?"

Southern Ireland general election, 1921
Party		Leader	No. of seats	% of seats
	Sinn Féin	Éamon de Valera	124 (unopposed)	96.9
	Independent Unionist		4 (unopposed)	3.1
Totals			128	100

Only Sinn Féin candidates recognised the Dáil and five of these had been elected in two constituencies (Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith, Seán Milroy and Eoin MacNeill) one in each part of Ireland. The total number of members who assembled in the Second Dáil was 125: 119 elected solely in Southern Ireland, 1 solely in Northern Ireland (Seán O'Mahony), and 5 in both.

In Southern Ireland, there were fresh elections in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Northern Ireland result

Main article: Northern Ireland general election, 1921

The general election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons occurred on 24 May. Of 52 seats, including Queen's University of Belfast, 40 were won by Unionists, 6 by moderate nationalists and 6 by Sinn Féin.

Northern Ireland general election, 1921
Party		Leader	Seats	% of seats	Votes	% of votes
	Ulster Unionist Party	James Craig	40	76.9	343,347	66.9
	Sinn Féin	Éamon de Valera	6	11.5	104,917	20.5
	Nationalist Party (NI)	Joe Devlin	6	11.5	60,577	11.8
	Belfast Labour Party		0	0	3,075	0.6
	Independent		0	0	926	0.2
Totals			52	100	512,842	100

See also

• Members of the 2nd Dáil
• Government of the 2nd Dáil
• Irish general election, 1918