Tom Mitchell (politician) - General Election

General Election

While serving his sentence in H.M. Prison Belfast, Mitchell was nominated as a Sinn Féin candidate on an abstentionist platform for the Mid-Ulster constituency in the May 1955 UK general election. Mitchell won 29,737 votes, winning the election with a majority of 260. The 1955 elections were historic for Sinn Féin as it was the first time that the party had contested all constituencies in Northern Ireland since 1921, and the first time since 1918 that any Sinn Féin candidates had been elected for Northern Ireland constituencies in the British House of Commons.

The Forfeiture Act 1870 provided that anyone convicted of treason or felony and sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding twelve months was incapable of being elected to or sitting in the House of Commons. On 18 July 1955 a resolution of the House of Commons, passed by 197 votes to 63, formally declared that Mitchell was covered by this provision, vacated his seat, and ordered that a by-election be held. The ensuing by-election was held on 11 August. Mitchell once again stood as a candidate, facing the same Unionist opponent as in the general election. He won the election with an increased vote and a majority of 806.