Prior to 1885,
County Londonderry returned two
MPs to the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom sitting at the
Palace of Westminster. Under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the
parliamentary county was divided into the divisions of North Derry and
South Derry. The
parliamentary borough of
Coleraine lost its separate representation. North Derry was defined as: It was not affected by the
Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918.
Sinn Féin contested the
1918 general election on an
abstentionist platform that instead of taking up any seats at Westminster, they would establish a revolutionary assembly in Dublin. All MPs elected to Irish seats were invited to participate in the
First Dáil convened in January 1919, but no members outside of Sinn Féin did so. The
Government of Ireland Act 1920 established the
Parliament of Northern Ireland, which came into operation in 1921. The representation of Northern Ireland at Westminster was reduced from 30 MPs to 13 MPs, taking effect at the
1922 United Kingdom general election. At Westminster,
Londonderry City, North Derry and
South Derry were combined to form the single-seat
county constituency of
Londonderry. A five-seat constituency of
Londonderry was created for the
House of Commons of Northern Ireland, which formed the basis in republican theory for representation in the
Second Dáil. ==Members of Parliament==