View source for House of Commons of Northern Ireland

{{Short description|Lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2008}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name               = House of Commons of Northern Ireland
| native_name        =
| transcription_name =
| coa_pic            = Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland.svg
| coa_res            = 220px
| coa_caption        = Arms of Northern Ireland, 1924–1972
| house_type         = Lower House
| body               = Parliament of Northern Ireland
| legislature        = Devolved Parliament
| established        = 7 June 1921
| disbanded          = 30 March 1972
| leader1_type       = [[Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons|Speaker]]
| leader1            = Various
| leader2_type       = [[Leader of the Opposition (Northern Ireland)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| leader2           = Various
| election2          =
| voting_system1     = {{ubli|[[Single transferable vote]] (1921–1929)|[[First-past-the-post]] (1929–1972)}}
| session_room       = Stormont Parliamentary Building 01.JPG
| session_res        = 220px
| meeting_place      = Commons Chamber <br /> [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]], [[Stormont Estate|Stormont]], [[Belfast]]
| footnotes          =
}}
{{Politics of Northern Ireland 1921-72}}

The '''House of Commons of Northern Ireland''' was the [[lower house]] of the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] created under the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]]. The upper house in the [[bicameral]] parliament was called the [[Senate of Northern Ireland|Senate]]. It was abolished with the passing of the [[Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973]].

==Membership==
The House of Commons had a membership of 52. Until 1969, 48 were from territorial constituencies and 4 were for graduates of [[The Queen's University of Belfast]]; in that year the QUB seats were abolished and four extra territorial constituencies created on the outskirts of [[Belfast]], where the population had grown. For the electoral constituencies used, see [[Northern Ireland Parliament constituencies]].

==Functions==
The House of Commons fulfilled the normal lower house functions to be found in the [[Westminster System]] of Government. Its roles were

* to grant [[confidence and supply|Supply]] to the Government;
* to grant to or withdraw confidence from the Government;
* to provide a talent bank from which members of the Government could be chosen. The [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]] was chosen from its ranks by the [[Governor of Northern Ireland]].

==Electoral system==
The Government of Ireland Act required that elections to the House of Commons be by the [[single transferable vote]] (STV) electoral system first introduced in [[Ireland]] by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919. Its inclusion in the 1920 Government of Ireland Act was deliberate. It was intended to provide electoral opportunities for non-Unionists. (A similar legal requirement had been set for Northern Ireland's sister state, the non-operative [[Southern Ireland (1921–22)|Southern Ireland]], and also existed in the [[Irish Free State]].)

Under the Act the Parliament of Northern Ireland was given the legislative power to alter the electoral system from three years after its first meeting. The use of STV was criticised strongly among the grassroots of the governing [[Ulster Unionist Party]], who viewed it as "un-British"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VLGIAAAAMAAJ&q=Un+-+British ''Adversary Politics and Electoral Reform''], Samuel Edward Finer
Anthony Wigram, 1975, page 158</ref> (apart from four [[university constituency|university constituencies]], the rest of the United Kingdom used [[first past the post]]). The loss of eight seats by the UUP in the second parliamentary election caused a major row within the party. Rather than deal with questions as to why it faced declining popularity the party replaced STV by the non-proportional (and so less helpful to minorities) first past the post. However STV was retained for the election of the four MPs from Queens University.

==The Opposition==
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2025}}
The creation of [[Northern Ireland]] had been opposed both by many Unionists and all Nationalists, all of whom, like Unionist leader [[Sir Edward Carson]], were opposed to the [[Partition of Ireland]]. While Unionists within Northern Ireland became reconciled to their form of [[home rule]], Nationalists remained alienated from the structures of the state and pursued an [[Abstentionism|abstentionist]] policy. The [[Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)|Nationalist Party]], the main Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, which claimed descent from the pre-partition [[Irish Parliamentary Party]], boycotted the Parliament entirely until 1925, and individual members boycotted at points thereafter. Other parties, notably the [[Northern Ireland Labour Party]], did however take their seats. The absence of the main opposition party from parliament led to accusations of in effect "one party rule".

For many years the most effective opposition came from various independent Unionists, most notably [[Tommy Henderson]] (served 1925–1953) who was famous for his near ten hour speech on the Appropriation Bill in May 1936.

==Procedure==
In most of its activities the House of Commons deliberately used the same procedure as the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] at Westminster. Each Parliament opened with a King's (or Queen's) Speech, though only King [[George V]] in 1921 gave it in person. From 1922 the [[Speech from the Throne]] was delivered by the [[Governor of Northern Ireland]]. The Governor was [[the Crown]]'s representative who formally summoned and prorogued Parliament. The Parliament emulated some of the more bizarre traditions, such as giving a first reading to the [[Outlawries Bill]] immediately after the Speech from the Throne as a token gesture of defiance of royal authority. The same sessional orders were then agreed relating to members returned for two constituencies.

Ministers spoke from a [[dispatch box]] in a chamber modelled on the British House of Commons chamber, though notably the benches and fixtures of the chamber were blue, rather than green. As at Westminster, members referred to each other in debate as "the honourable Member for the (X) division". Bills, introduced either in the Senate or the House of Commons, had to pass through first reading, second reading, committee stage, and third reading in both Houses to become law. With a very strict [[divorce]] law, the Parliament was often asked to deal with [[private bill]]s promoted by divorcing couples. Because of the much smaller size of the House, only one member was required to act as a teller for each side during a division and they were counted among those voting in the division. The Parliament established virtually the same parliamentary and committee structure as Westminster.

However, the minimal workload of Parliament, and the small number of bills that required passage, meant that Parliament could hold short sessions and meet for short working hours. The workload was so small that future Prime Minister [[Terence O'Neill]] later revealed that then Prime Minister [[Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough|Lord Brookeborough]] did not even have a desk in his ''de facto'' residence, [[Stormont House]]. (Stormont House was nominally the residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons, but as speakers chose to live elsewhere, Prime Ministers used it as their residence, and turned their official residence, [[Stormont Castle]], into an office for their senior civil servants.)

==Venue==
[[File:Parliament of Northern Ireland 1921.jpg|thumb|Chamber of the House of Commons when at Assembly's College, in 1921]]
The first assembly of the House of Commons occurred in [[Belfast City Hall]] in June 1921.
King [[George V]] gave a famed address where he called for reconciliation between Irish people and for Northern Ireland to be free of discrimination against the minority.

For its first decade, [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Parliament]] met in the [[Union Theological College|Presbyterian College]], close to the City Hall, while new [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]] was built in East Belfast at a place called [[Stormont, Belfast|Stormont]]. The foundation stone at Stormont was laid by [[James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn]], 1st [[Governor of Northern Ireland]], in the late 1920s. However, the [[Wall Street crash]] undermined the financial viability of the building project. Plans were scaled back, with plans for a ministerial building and a court building on site being abandoned. The main building was also changed, with plans for a [[United States Capitol]]-style dome being abandoned, leaving a plainer neoclassical structure. The new Parliament Buildings was officially opened by [[Edward VIII|the Prince of Wales]] in 1932.

The House of Commons and Senate chambers were located across the Central Hall (nowadays usually known as the Great Hall) from each other, replicating the link between the House of Commons and British [[House of Lords]] in [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]]. Between them hung a large chandelier from [[Windsor Castle]] which had been given to the King by his cousin, Emperor [[Wilhelm II of Germany]], but had been put in storage during the [[First World War]] and remained so until given to Stormont.

==General elections and composition==

{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1921 Northern Ireland general election|1921]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 40
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 6
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Sinn Féin}}
|party3       = 6
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1925 Northern Ireland general election|1925]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 32
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 4
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 2
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Republican (Ireland, 1923)}}
|party4       = 10
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party5       = 3
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = #bb00bb<!--{{party color|Unbought Tenants' Association}}-->
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1929 Northern Ireland general election|1929]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 37
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 3
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 11
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 1
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1933 Northern Ireland general election|1933]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 36
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 3
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 9
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 2
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party5       = 1
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Independent Republican (Ireland)}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Fianna Fáil}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1938 Northern Ireland general election|1938]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 39
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 2
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 1
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Independent Unionist Association}}
|party4       = 8
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party5       = 1
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Independent Labour}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1945 Northern Ireland general election|1945]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 33
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 2
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 10
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 1
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Socialist Republican Party (Ireland)}}
|party5       = 2
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Commonwealth Labour Party}}
|party7       = 1
|partycolor7  = {{party color|Independent Labour}}
|party8       = 2
|partycolor8  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1949 Northern Ireland general election|1949]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 37
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 2
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 9
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 1
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Socialist Republican Party (Ireland)}}
|party5       = 1
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Independent Labour}}
|party6       = 2
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1953 Northern Ireland general election|1953]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 38
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 1
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 7
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 2
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Anti-Partition of Ireland League}}
|party5       = 1
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party7       = 1
|partycolor7  = {{party color|Independent Labour}}
|party8       = 1
|partycolor8  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1958 Northern Ireland general election|1958]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 37
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 7
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party5       = 4
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Independent Labour Group}}
|party3       = 1
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|party4       = 1
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Independent Nationalist}}
|party7       = 1
|partycolor7  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1962 Northern Ireland general election|1962]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 34
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 1
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Ulster Liberal Party}}
|party3       = 9
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 1
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|party5       = 4
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 1
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Irish Labour Party}}
|party7       = 1
|partycolor7  = {{party color|Independent Labour Group}}
|party8       = 1
|partycolor8  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1965 Northern Ireland general election|1965]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 36
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 1
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Ulster Liberal Party}}
|party3       = 9
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 2
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|party5       = 1
|partycolor5  = {{party color|National Democratic Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party6       = 2
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party7       = 1
|partycolor7  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}
{{Composition_bar/advanced
|divisionname = [[1969 Northern Ireland general election|1969]]
|total        = 52
|boxwidth     = 700
|party1       = 36
|partycolor1  = {{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|party2       = 3
|partycolor2  = {{party color|Independent Unionist}}
|party3       = 6
|partycolor3  = {{party color|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|party4       = 2
|partycolor4  = {{party color|Republican Labour Party}}
|party5       = 2
|partycolor5  = {{party color|Northern Ireland Labour Party}}
|party6       = 3
|partycolor6  = {{party color|Independent (politician)}}
}}

===Key===
{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|
*{{legend2|#DDFFDD|}} – Anti-Partition of Ireland League
*{{legend2|#b22222|}} – Commonwealth Labour Party
*{{legend2|#66BB66|}} – Fianna Fáil
*{{legend2|#DDDDDD|}} – Independent
*{{legend2|#FFBBBB|}} – Independent Labour
*{{legend2|#FFE8E8|}} – Independent Labour Group
*{{legend2|#cdffab|}} – Independent Nationalist
*{{legend2|#aadfff|}} – Independent Unionist
*{{legend2|blue|}} – Independent Unionist Association
*{{legend2|#CC0000|}} – Irish Labour Party
*{{legend2|#DDFFDD|}} – National Democratic Party
*{{legend2|#32cd32|}} – Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)
*{{legend2|#DC241f|}} – Northern Ireland Labour Party
*{{legend2|#008800|}} – Republican (1923)
*{{legend2|#85de59|}} – Republican Labour Party
*{{legend2|#326760|}} – Sinn Féin
*{{legend2|#228B22|}} – Socialist Republican Party
*{{legend2|#DAA520|}} – Ulster Liberal Party
*{{legend2|#48A5EE|}} – Ulster Unionist Party
*{{legend2|#bb00bb|}} – Unbought Tenants Association
}}

==Fathers of the House==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Entered House
!Became Father
!Left House
!colspan=2|Party
|-
|[[J. M. Andrews]]||1921||1929||1953
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|-
|[[Cahir Healy]]||1925||1953||1965
| {{Party name with colour|Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)}}
|-
|[[Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough|Lord Brookeborough]]||1929||1965||1968
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|-
|[[Norman Stronge|Sir Norman Stronge]]||1938||1968||1969
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|-
|[[Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine|Terence O'Neill]]||1946||1969||1970
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|-
|[[Brian Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick|Brian Faulkner]]||1949||1970||1972
| {{Party name with colour|Ulster Unionist Party}}
|}

The [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]], including the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, was [[legislative session#Procedure in Commonwealth realms|prorogue]]d in 1972 and abolished completely in 1973 leaving the title of [[Father of the House]] defunct.

==The end==
{{NIPMs}}
Northern Ireland was dogged by allegations of Unionist misrule, and political [[gerrymandering]] at local government level, during the 1960s. At this time there was increasing demand for civil rights, voiced primarily by the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]], allegations of police misbehaviour by the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] and ultimately the outbreak of [[the Troubles]]. In 1972, using its legal powers under the Government of Ireland Act the British government prorogued (suspended) the Northern Ireland Parliament and Government initially for a year, before in 1973 abolishing it entirely with the passing of the [[Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973]]. The Parliament last sat on 28 March 1972.<ref>{{Stormont|date=28 March 1972|vol=84|page=1586|accessdate=7 August 2012}}</ref>

[[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings]] are now the seat of the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], a successor legislature.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* ''Hansard'' of House of Commons of Northern Ireland, 84 volumes 1921–1972:
** Digitized at [[HathiTrust]]:
*** [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007913224 all vols '''excluding''' 8 13 33 34 35 38 57 59 63 and 71]
*** [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858029298571&seq=7 vol 8]
*** [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006227051 some vols '''including''' 33 34 and 35]
*** [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006227052 some vols '''including''' 57 59 63 and 71]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120516083736/http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/index.html Stormont Papers] – partial [[Internet Archive]] record of a defunct site digitizing all 84 volumes

{{clear}}

{{NIgov 22-72}}
{{Irish legislatures}}
{{Northern Ireland elections}}

[[Category:House of Commons of Northern Ireland| ]]
[[Category:Defunct lower houses]]
[[Category:Parliament of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1921]]
[[Category:1972 disestablishments in Northern Ireland]]