Donegal — UK General Election Results
Donegal elected 2 MPs at the 1880 general election: Thomas Lea (Liberal) and John Kinnear (Liberal). This page covers every general election in Donegal from 1832 to 1880.
This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.
Full Election History, 1832–1880
| Election | Elected | Votes | Vote Share | Runner-up | Majority | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative); Edward Michael Conolly (Conservative) | 734 | 38.2% (top seat) | Hamilton Francis Chichester (Liberal) | 182 (8.8 pts) | 71.9% |
| 1835 | Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative); Edward Michael Conolly (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1837 | Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative); Edward Michael Conolly (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1841 | Edward Michael Conolly (Conservative); Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1847 | Edward Michael Conolly (Conservative); Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1852 | Thomas Conolly (Conservative); Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative) | 1,624 | 39.9% (top seat) | Patrick Francis Campbell-Johnston (Liberal) | 481 (10.4 pts) | 61.4% |
| 1857 | Thomas Conolly (Conservative); Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1859 | Thomas Conolly (Conservative); Edmund Samuel Hayes (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1865 | Thomas Conolly (Conservative); James Hamilton (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1868 | Thomas Conolly (Conservative); James Hamilton (Conservative) | Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record | 0.0% | |||
| 1874 | James Hamilton (Conservative); Thomas Conolly (Conservative) | 1,866 | 27.8% (top seat) | Tristram Kennedy (Liberal) | 40 (0.5 pts) | 82.3% |
| 1880 | Thomas Lea (Liberal); John Kinnear (Liberal) | 2,015 | 36.4% (top seat) | James Hamilton (Conservative) | 61 (1.0 pts) | 67.7% |
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1832 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | 795 | 38.2% | Yes |
| Edward Michael Conolly | Conservative | 734 | 35.3% | Yes |
| Hamilton Francis Chichester | Liberal | 552 | 26.5% | No |
1835 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edward Michael Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1837 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edward Michael Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1841 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Michael Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1847 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Michael Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1852 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | 1,839 | 39.9% | Yes |
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | 1,624 | 35.3% | Yes |
| Patrick Francis Campbell-Johnston | Liberal | 1,143 | 24.8% | No |
1857 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1859 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| Edmund Samuel Hayes | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1865 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| James Hamilton | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1868 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
| James Hamilton | Conservative | Unopposed | Yes | |
1874 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Hamilton | Conservative | 2,102 | 27.8% | Yes |
| Thomas Conolly | Conservative | 1,866 | 24.7% | Yes |
| Tristram Kennedy | Liberal | 1,826 | 24.2% | No |
| Evory Kennedy | Liberal | 1,757 | 23.3% | No |
1880 (2 seats)
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Lea | Liberal | 2,274 | 36.4% | Yes |
| John Kinnear | Liberal | 2,015 | 32.3% | Yes |
| James Hamilton | Conservative | 1,954 | 31.3% | No |
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.
Trend
Donegal has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Conservative, Liberal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Donegal in the 1880 general election?
Thomas Lea (Liberal), John Kinnear (Liberal) won Donegal in 1880.
Which parties have won Donegal since 1832?
Since 1832, Donegal has been won by: Conservative, Liberal.
What was the closest result in Donegal?
The closest result on record for Donegal was 1874, when Conservative beat Liberal by just 40 votes (0.5 percentage points).
Did Donegal ever elect more than one MP at a time?
Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Donegal elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.