Belfast East by-election, 1959

The Belfast East by-election of 19 March 1959 was held after the elevation to the Peerage of Ulster Unionist Party MP (MP) Alan McKibbin.

The seat was safe, having been won by Unionists at the United Kingdom general election, 1955 by nearly 14,000 votes^[1]

Result of the previous general election

General Election 1955: Belfast East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	Alan McKibbin	26,938	62.45
	NI Labour	Tom Boyd	13,041	30.23
	Sinn Féin	Liam Mulcahy	3,156	7.32
Majority			13,897	32.22	-

Result of the by-election

By-election 1959: Belfast East^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UUP	Stanley McMaster	19,524	57.78	-4.67
	NI Labour	James Gardner	14,264	42.22	+11.99
Majority			5,260
	UUP hold		Swing

References

1. PoliticsResources.net
2. "1959 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2015-08-15.