Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30
Sligo elected 2 MPs at the 1880 general election: Thomas Sexton (Irish Parliamentary Party) and Denis Maurice O'Conor (Irish Parliamentary Party). This page covers every general election in Sligo 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
Edward Joshua Cooper (Conservative); Alexander Perceval (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1835
Edward Joshua Cooper (Conservative); Alexander Perceval (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1837
Edward Joshua Cooper (Conservative); Alexander Perceval (Conservative)
443
38.5% (top seat)
Daniel Jones (Liberal)
75 (5.7 pts)
64.0%
1841
William Richard Ormsby-Gore (Conservative); Alexander Perceval (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1847
William Richard Ormsby-Gore (Conservative); John Ffolliott (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1852
Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative); Richard Swift (Independent Irish)
870
35.9% (top seat)
William Richard Ormsby-Gore (Conservative)
96 (3.7 pts)
62.4%
1857
Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative); Edward Joshua Cooper (Conservative)
1,471
45.2% (top seat)
John Ball (Liberal)
1,166 (35.9 pts)
68.1%
1859
Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative); Charles William Cooper (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1865
Edward Henry Cooper (Conservative); Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1868
Denis Maurice O'Conor (Liberal); Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative)
1,208
41.7% (top seat)
Edward Henry Cooper (Conservative)
79 (2.0 pts)
62.0%
1874
Denis Maurice O'Conor (Irish Parliamentary Party); Robert Gore-Booth (Conservative)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1880
Thomas Sexton (Irish Parliamentary Party); Denis Maurice O'Conor (Irish Parliamentary Party)
1,551
36.1% (top seat)
Edward Robert King-Harman (Irish Parliamentary Party)
284 (6.4 pts)
67.7%
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1832 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edward Joshua Cooper
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Alexander Perceval
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1835 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edward Joshua Cooper
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Alexander Perceval
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1837 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edward Joshua Cooper
Conservative
511
38.5%
Yes
Alexander Perceval
Conservative
443
33.4%
Yes
Daniel Jones
Liberal
368
27.7%
No
Charles Joseph McDermott
Liberal
5
0.4%
No
1841 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Richard Ormsby-Gore
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Alexander Perceval
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1847 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Richard Ormsby-Gore
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
John Ffolliott
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1852 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
943
35.9%
Yes
Richard Swift
Independent Irish
870
33.1%
Yes
William Richard Ormsby-Gore
Conservative
774
29.5%
No
John Taaffe
Liberal
39
1.5%
No
1857 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
1,471
45.2%
Yes
Edward Joshua Cooper
Conservative
1,471
45.2%
Yes
John Ball
Liberal
305
9.4%
No
Richard Swift
Independent Irish
5
0.2%
No
1859 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Charles William Cooper
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1865 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Edward Henry Cooper
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1868 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Denis Maurice O'Conor
Liberal
1,671
41.7%
Yes
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
1,208
30.1%
Yes
Edward Henry Cooper
Conservative
1,129
28.2%
No
Cornelius Alexander Keogh
Liberal
2
0.0%
No
1874 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Denis Maurice O'Conor
Irish Parliamentary Party
Unopposed
Yes
Robert Gore-Booth
Conservative
Unopposed
Yes
1880 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Thomas Sexton
Irish Parliamentary Party
1,591
36.1%
Yes
Denis Maurice O'Conor
Irish Parliamentary Party
1,551
35.2%
Yes
Edward Robert King-Harman
Irish Parliamentary Party
1,267
28.7%
No
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.
Trend
Sligo has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Conservative, Independent Irish, Liberal, Irish Parliamentary Party.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Sligo in the 1880 general election?
Thomas Sexton (Irish Parliamentary Party), Denis Maurice O'Conor (Irish Parliamentary Party) won Sligo in 1880.
Which parties have won Sligo since 1832?
Since 1832, Sligo has been won by: Conservative, Independent Irish, Irish Parliamentary Party, Liberal.
What was the closest result in Sligo?
The closest result on record for Sligo was 1868, when Liberal beat Conservative by just 79 votes (2.0 percentage points).
Did Sligo ever elect more than one MP at a time?
Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Sligo 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.