List of female members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland facts for kids

Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast, where the House of Commons of Northern Ireland met from 1932 to 1972

The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was an important part of the government in Northern Ireland. It was like the main meeting place for lawmakers, similar to how a parliament works. This parliament was created in 1920 and started meeting after an election in 1921. It had two parts, or "chambers," and the House of Commons was the lower one.

This government body was stopped on March 30, 1972. At that time, the government in London took direct control over Northern Ireland. The House of Commons was officially closed down in 1973.

The House of Commons had 52 members, who were called MPs. In the first two elections (1921 and 1925), MPs were chosen using a system called single transferable vote (STV). This system helps make sure smaller groups get a fair chance. But from 1929 onwards, most MPs were chosen by a different system called first-past-the-post. This means the person with the most votes wins, even if they don't get more than half. However, the Queen's University of Belfast area kept using STV until 1969.

A Look Back: The History of the Commons

Over its 51 years, nine women were elected as MPs to the House of Commons. On average, two women were MPs at any one time. This number sometimes dropped to one, but it reached a peak of four women MPs between 1949 and 1958. This meant about 7.7% of all MPs were women during that time.

How Women Became MPs

Four of the nine women MPs were elected from the Queen's University of Belfast area. This included Sheelagh Murnaghan, a lawyer who served from 1961 to 1969. She was the only woman to win her seat in a special election held between general elections. She was also the only member of the Ulster Liberal Party ever elected to this parliament. Two other women, Irene Calvert and Eileen M. Hickey, were elected from Queen's University as independent politicians, meaning they didn't belong to a major political party.

The other six women MPs were all part of the Ulster Unionist Party. This party held most of the seats throughout the parliament's history. Women had played a big part in supporting Northern Ireland's connection to the United Kingdom. However, after Northern Ireland was formed, men mostly ran the government.

No women who openly supported Irish nationalism (wanting a united Ireland) were elected to Stormont. Eileen Hickey is sometimes seen as a nationalist, but she was an independent. The change in voting rules in 1929 made it harder for nationalists to win seats. Also, nationalist women's groups became weaker in the 1930s and 1940s. Bernadette Devlin McAliskey came close to winning a seat in 1969, getting almost 40% of the votes in her area.

Two of the nine women MPs were Roman Catholic: Sheelagh Murnaghan (Liberal) and Eileen M. Hickey (Independent). Both were elected from Queen's University.

Changes to Voting Rules

The Prime Minister at the time, James Craig, openly said that changing the voting system from STV was meant to stop people from voting based on their social class. He wanted voters to choose clearly between those who supported staying with Great Britain and those who opposed it. This plan mostly worked. The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP), which aimed for non-sectarian politics, struggled to gain many seats. For example, in 1925, under STV, they won three seats with only 4.7% of the votes. But in 1962, even with 26% of the votes, they only won four seats under the new system. No women were elected as NILP MPs.

Impact of Women MPs

Women MPs made important contributions during their time in the House of Commons.

Early Contributions

In the very first parliament, Julia McMordie (1921–1925) from the Unionist party supported having women officers in the police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary. While she didn't push for women to get the same pay as men, she did support equal allowances and benefits for them.

Reforms and Campaigns

In the 1940s and 1950s, Irene Calvert (1945–1953), an independent MP, helped bring about changes to laws about education and child welfare. In the 1950s, Unionist MP Dinah McNabb (1945–1969) campaigned against greyhound racing on Sundays. Later, in the 1960s, McNabb strongly opposed the building of a new town called Craigavon in her area. She also spoke out against the low compensation rates given to farmers whose land was taken for the development.

Human Rights Efforts

Sheelagh Murnaghan's time in parliament was notable because she tried to pass a Human Rights Bill in 1964. This bill would have made it illegal to treat people unfairly because of their religion or gender. It also aimed to create a group to make sure these rules were followed. The bill was not passed, even after she tried three more times in 1965 and 1967. However, her efforts were not forgotten. Years later, in 1999, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement, which helped end The Troubles. The first head of this Commission said that Murnaghan had "planted a seed" for human rights in Northern Ireland.

Longest-Serving Woman MP

By far the most important woman in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland was Dehra Parker. She was a Unionist MP and served for a total of 35 years (1921–1929, 1933–1960), making her the longest-serving woman MP. She and Julia McMordie were the only women elected in the very first parliament in 1921. Dehra Parker left parliament in 1929 when her son-in-law won a seat. But when he passed away in 1933, she was elected back into his place without anyone running against her. She stayed in her seat until 1960, when her grandson, James Chichester-Clark, took over. James later became the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, following another of Dehra's grandsons, Terence O'Neill.

From 1937 to 1944, Parker was a junior minister for education. Someone who worked with her described her as a "clever politician and a strong leader." She was the only woman to serve in Northern Ireland's cabinet (the main group of government ministers) as the Minister of Health and Local Government from 1949 to 1957.

Women MPs in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland

Timeline of Women MPs