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Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)

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66-576: Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950 ). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English universities, except for Cambridge , Oxford and London which were already separately represented. The constituency effectively represented the red brick universities and Durham University with two members of parliament. This university constituency

132-553: A Lord Deputy or viceroy . The post was held by senior nobles such as Thomas Radcliffe . From 1688 the title was usually Lord Lieutenant . In the absence of a Lord Deputy, lords justices ruled. While some Irishmen held the post, most of the lords deputy were English noblemen. While the viceroy controlled the Irish administration as the monarch's representative, in the eighteenth century the political post of Chief Secretary for Ireland became increasingly powerful. The kingdom's legislature

198-760: A 13th-century French roll of arms, the Armorial Wijnbergen , also known as the Wijnbergen Roll, said to be preserved in The Hague, in the Netherlands but currently untraced; a copy is held in the Royal Library of Belgium (Collection Goethals, ms. 2569). This may have been an aspirational depiction for a putative High-King, for it was not related to the Lordship of Ireland at that time by the English king, who only assumed

264-605: A confederation of Irish lords and Spain against the crown, in what later became known as the Nine Years' War . A series of stunning Irish victories brought English power in Ireland to the point of collapse by the beginning of 1600, but a renewed campaign under Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy forced Tyrone to submit in 1603, completing the Tudor conquest of Ireland. In 1603 James VI King of Scots became James I of England and Ireland , uniting

330-566: A different colour background to the preceding cell and denotes an incumbent who defected or won a re-election for another party.     Independent Unionist     Sinn Féin     Ulster Unionist     Cumann na nGaedheal     Independent     Fianna Fáil     Ceann Comhairle     Independent     Fianna Fáil     Labour     Fine Gael     Human Dignity Alliance King James VI of Scotland , on ascending

396-521: A series of laws called the Penal Laws . They were denied voting rights from 1728 until 1793. The Grattan Parliament succeeded in achieving the repeal of Poynings' Law in 1782. This allowed progressive legislation and gradual liberalisation was effected. Catholics and Dissenters were given the right to vote in 1793, but Catholics were still excluded from the Irish Parliament and senior public offices in

462-533: A single constituency with two seats, as Combined English Universities . They were Birmingham , Bristol , Durham , Leeds , Liverpool , Manchester , and Sheffield . Reading was added in August 1928. The University of Wales also received one seat in 1918. 1918 also saw the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote for university constituencies. The Labour government in 1930 attempted to abolish

528-540: A single seat, used the first past the post or relative majority electoral system. 1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s – University constituency A university constituency is a constituency , used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting , in which voters are eligible to vote in or as part of this entity and their home area's geographical constituency. When James VI inherited

594-694: Is a list of people who were elected to represent these English universities in the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1918 and 1950. The elections were not held on the polling dates for general elections in the territorial constituencies. The university constituency elections were held over five days, not on the ordinary polling date, so that plural voting graduates could vote in their place of residence and then visit their university to participate in its election. There were six contested STV elections. The MPs in 1935 were returned unopposed. By-elections, to fill

660-608: Is defined geographically rather than by university; graduates of any approved Indian university may choose to register in the graduates' constituency of their place of residence instead of registering in the ordinary constituency. There are two university constituencies in Seanad Éireann , with graduates of the Dublin University and National University of Ireland entitled to elect three Senators each. Only graduates who are Irish citizens are entitled to vote in these elections. There

726-617: Is no residency requirement so those qualifying who are resident outside the State may vote. Elections are conducted under the single transferable vote and by postal ballot. The Parliament of Ireland that existed until 1801 included the university constituency of Dublin University . This was continued in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom , and in 1918, the National University of Ireland

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792-634: The Acts of Union 1800 . This created, on 1 January 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The papal bull Laudabiliter of Pope Adrian IV was issued in 1155. It authorized the Angevin King Henry II of England to invade Ireland , to bring the country into the European sphere. In return, Henry was required to remit a penny per hearth of

858-620: The British Empire such as India . At present there are four instances in two countries of university constituencies: two in the Seanad Éireann (the upper—and in general less powerful—house of the legislature of the Republic of Ireland ) and two in the Senate of Rwanda . As shown, at Westminster (in the English then successor British parliaments) 4 seats were incepted in 1603 and the final total, 12, were abolished in 1950. The Northern Irish body

924-640: The English throne in 1603, the system was adopted by the Parliament of England . The system was continued in the Parliament of Great Britain (from 1707 to 1800) and the United Kingdom Parliament , until 1950. It was also used in the Parliament of Ireland , in the Kingdom of Ireland , from 1613 to 1800, and in the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1936. Such constituencies have also existed in Japan and in some countries of

990-574: The English throne , brought to the English Parliament a practice which endured in the Scottish Parliament of allowing the universities to elect members. The king believed that the universities were often affected by the decisions of Parliament, and ought therefore to have representation in it. James gave the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford two seats each from 1603. On

1056-653: The Papacy , the bishops had no reason to step down, and in the 1530s nobody knew how long the reformation would last. Unlike Henry VIII, this hierarchy was not excommunicated by the Papacy. They retained control of what became the State Church of the new Kingdom in 1542. As the established church , it retained possession of most Church property (including a great repository of religious architecture and other items, though some were later destroyed). In 1553, Irish Catholics were heartened by

1122-511: The Parliament of Ireland since 1613, was allowed one member from 1801 and two from 1832. In 1868, three new one-member seats were created: University of London ; Glasgow and Aberdeen universities combined; and St Andrews and Edinburgh universities combined. In 1918, the Queen's University of Belfast and the National University of Ireland each received seats. Both these, as well as

1188-468: The Parliament of Northern Ireland until it was abolished in 1968 (with effect from the dissolution of Parliament in 1969) by the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 (c. 20 (N.I.)). This was one of several measures by the then Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill to reform elements of the election franchise and deal with many long-standing civil rights grievances. The members for

1254-985: The Taoiseach . A cell marked → has a different colour background to the preceding cell and denotes an incumbent who defected or won a re-election for another party.     Conservative     Irish Unionist     Liberal     Liberal Unionist Some of these seats were filled through STV.    Christian Pacifist     Coalition Liberal (1918–22) / National Liberal (1922–23)     Conservative     Independent     Independent Conservative     Independent Liberal     Independent Progressive     Independent Unionist     Labour     Liberal     National Government     National Labour     National Liberal (1931–68)     Sinn Féin     Ulster Unionist A cell marked → has

1320-519: The Tudor conquest . This sparked the Desmond Rebellions and the Nine Years' War . The conquest of the island was completed early in the 17th century. It involved the confiscation of land from the native Irish Catholics and its colonisation by Protestant settlers from Britain. Catholic countries at the time did not recognise Protestant monarchs as kings of Ireland. For most of the kingdom's history,

1386-610: The Williamite War (1689–91). The Williamite victory strengthened the Protestant Ascendancy , and the kingdom had only Protestant monarchs thereafter. In the 1780s, the parliament gained some independence , and some anti-Catholic laws were lifted . This sparked sectarian conflict in County Armagh . Following the failed republican Irish Rebellion of 1798 , the parliament of Ireland and parliament of Great Britain passed

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1452-573: The British Union. By the Acts of Union 1800 , voted for by both Irish and British Parliaments, the Kingdom of Ireland merged on 1 January 1801 with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . The Irish Parliament ceased to exist, though the executive, presided over by the Lord Lieutenant, remained in place until 1922. The Kingdom of Ireland was governed by

1518-675: The Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act 1936 and the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act 1936, which took effect on the dissolution of the Dáil in 1937. These two constituencies were recreated in Seanad Éireann under the Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937, with the first Seanad election in 1938. In 1979, the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted a redistribution of

1584-612: The English Pope Adrian IV , after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland . By the 16th century, the Pale , the area of effective English rule, had shrunk greatly; most of Ireland was held by Gaelic nobles as principalities and chiefdoms . By the terms of the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 , Henry VIII of England became "King of Ireland". There followed an expansion of English control during

1650-614: The Holy See and declared himself the head of the Church in England . He had petitioned Rome to procure an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon . Clement VII refused Henry's request and Henry subsequently refused to recognise the Roman Catholic Church 's vestigial sovereignty over Ireland, and was excommunicated again in late 1538 by Pope Paul III . The Treason Act (Ireland) 1537

1716-770: The Irish Catholic majority suffered official discrimination: under the penal laws , Catholicism was suppressed and Catholics were barred from government, parliament, the military, and most public offices. This was one of the main drivers behind the Irish Confederate Wars (1641–53), during which the Irish Catholic Confederates controlled most of Ireland. After the Cromwellian conquest , Ireland suffered harsh conditions under The Protectorate (1653–59). The brief reign of Catholic king James II (1685–89) led to

1782-629: The Kingdom of Ireland was ruled by the reigning monarch of England . This placed the new Kingdom of Ireland in personal union with the Kingdom of England . In line with its expanded role and self-image, the administration established the King's Inns for barristers in 1541, and the Ulster King of Arms to regulate heraldry in 1552. Proposals to establish a university in Dublin were delayed until 1592. In 1593 war broke out, as Hugh O'Neill , Earl of Tyrone, led

1848-633: The Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union . James established the Plantation of Ulster in 1606, the largest of all English and Scottish plantations in Ireland. It had a lasting legacy; into the 20th century, most of Ulster had a Protestant and Pro-Union majority in its population. The political order of the kingdom was interrupted by the Wars of the Three Kingdoms starting in 1639. During

1914-655: The Lordship of Ireland, which was held by the English monarchs prior to the establishment of the kingdom. The new kingdom was not recognised by the Catholic monarchies in Europe. After the death of Edward VI , Henry's son, the papal bull of 1555 recognised the Roman Catholic Mary I as Queen of Ireland. The link of "personal union" of the Crown of Ireland to the Crown of England became enshrined in Catholic canon law . In this fashion,

1980-519: The Parliament of Ireland through the Crown of Ireland Act. This act declared King Henry VIII of England as the King of Ireland, thus creating a separate political entity known as the Kingdom of Ireland. The act marked a significant shift in Ireland's political landscape, as it sought to consolidate English control over the island and bring it under closer royal governance. The Kingdom of Ireland existed alongside

2046-556: The University of Dublin, also received four seats in the devolved Stormont parliament and the Southern Ireland parliament respectively that were established in 1920 and first used in elections in 1921. Also in 1918, the Scottish universities switched to all electing three members jointly (see Combined Scottish Universities ). In 1918, all the other English universities (i.e. except for Cambridge, Oxford and London) were enfranchised as

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2112-593: The adoption of the modern Constitution of India . Nevertheless, today the President of India has the authority to appoint not more than twelve scientists, artists, or other persons who have special knowledge in similar fields, to the Rajya Sabha , the upper house in the Parliament of India . Currently, the upper houses of the state legislatures in the six states that have them have graduates' constituencies, that elect one-twelfth of their members. Each graduates' constituency

2178-518: The control of the executive of the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1788–1789 a Regency crisis arose when King George III became ill. Grattan wanted to appoint the Prince of Wales, later George IV , as Regent of Ireland. The king recovered before this could be enacted. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , and the rebels' alliance with Great Britain's longtime enemy the French, led to a push to bring Ireland formally into

2244-498: The coronation of Queen Mary I . In 1555, she persuaded the Pope to recognise the Kingdom in the papal bull "Ilius". In 1558, a Protestant – Elizabeth I – ascended the throne. With the exception of James II of England , all the following monarchs adhered to Anglicanism . Contrary to the official plan, the substantial majority of the population remained strongly Roman Catholic, despite the political and economic advantages of membership of

2310-666: The country following ending up on the losing side in conflicts (i.e. the Flight of the Earls and the Flight of the Wild Geese ) or in the case of the Cromwellian regime were forced into indentured servitude (although the same happened to English persons involved in the Cromwellian regime) in the Caribbean , following mass land confiscation for the benefit of New English settlers. On the other hand,

2376-411: The device of Ireland, but quartered the harp in this royal achievement for the arms of that kingdom, in the third quarter of the royal achievement upon his Great Seal, as it has continued ever since. The blazon was azure, a harp or string argent, as appears by the great embroidered banner, and at the funeral of Queen Anne, King James' queen, AD 1618, and likewise by the great banner and banner of Ireland at

2442-429: The fact that the kingdom had been a unitary state gave Irish nationalists in 1912–22 a reason to expect that in the process of increasing self-government the island of Ireland would be treated as a single political unit. The arms of the Kingdom of Ireland were blazoned : Azure, a harp Or stringed Argent . These earliest arms of Ireland are described in an entry that reads: Le Roi d'Irlande, D'azur à la harpe d'or , in

2508-449: The feudal sovereignty of the pope, whose vassal the king of England was, as lord of Ireland. However, in a manuscript in the Heralds' College of the time of Henry VII, the arms of Ireland are blazoned azure, a harp or, stringed argent ; and when they were for the first time placed on the royal shield on the accession of James I. they were thus delineated: the crest is on a wreath or and azure,

2574-506: The formal Union (1707), Scottish universities lost their representatives as none were appointed to the Parliament of Great Britain (at Westminster ). The voters were the graduates of the university, whether they were resident or not; they could vote for the university seats in addition to any other vote that they might have . After the Act of Union 1800 with Ireland , the University of Dublin ( Trinity College ), which had elected two MPs to

2640-403: The funeral of King James. The difference between the arms and device of Ireland appears to be on the crown only, which is added to the harp when used as a device. At the funeral of King James was likewise carried the standard of the crest of Ireland, a buck proper (argent in the draught) issuing from a tower triple towered or, which is the only instance of this crest that I have met, and therefore

2706-619: The government at times engaged in and advanced a genocidal policy against the Irish Gaels , while during the Plantations of Ireland (particularly successful in Ulster) the local population were displaced in a project of ethnic cleansing where regions of Ireland became de-Gaelicised. This in turn led to bloody retaliations, which drag on to modern times. Some of the native inhabitants, including their leadership, were permitted to flee into exile from

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2772-507: The ground that it is unacceptable that possession of a degree should confer greater electoral rights than those available to other voters. An example of this view can be found in the Green Party submission on Seanad reform in 2004. The Socialist Party also stands for the abolition of these constituencies. Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( Early Modern Irish : Ríoghacht Éireann ; Modern Irish : Ríocht na hÉireann , pronounced [ənˠ ˌɾˠiːxt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ] )

2838-467: The kingdom. As in Great Britain and the rest of Europe , voting and membership of parliament was restricted to property owners. In the 1720s, the parliament was housed in a new building at College Green, Dublin . When Henry VIII was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1538, all but two of the bishops in the island of Ireland followed the doctrine of the Church of England , although almost no clergy or laity did so. Having paid their Annates to

2904-402: The legislation, it was agreed that London University alone should continue to return one member. The University of Wales was also given its own seat. The other universities, which were still to be combined, had their proposed representation reduced to two members. Combined English Universities was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the universities included in

2970-435: The native majority and its clergy – the Catholic Church – was actively persecuted by the state. A set of Penal Laws favoured those who adhered to the established church – the Church of Ireland . They oppressed those native Irish who refused to abjure their religion. A similar experience happened to English, Scottish and Welsh Catholics during the same period. There is some perception that during Tudor times, elements within

3036-411: The new Anglo-Irish settlers across the island. Their background espoused English culture (law, language, dress, religion, economic relations and definitions of land ownership) in Ireland as it later did across much of what was to become the British Empire. However Gaelic culture and Irish language , was maintained to a significant extent by the majority of the original native population. Sometimes this

3102-417: The seat. The universities represented by this constituency were Birmingham , Bristol , Durham , Leeds , Liverpool , Manchester , Reading (from August 1928) and Sheffield . The constituency returned two members of Parliament, elected at general elections by the single transferable vote method of proportional representation . However, the first past the post system was used in by-elections. This

3168-523: The seats whilst Labour prime minister and many now felt the seats were being used to provide a failed politician with a seat he could not find elsewhere. The humorist and law reform activist A. P. Herbert sat as an independent member for Oxford University from 1935 to 1950. He described the counting of the votes at the 1935 election in a chapter entitled ' P.R.': Or, Standing for Oxford in his 1936 book Mild and Bitter . India had university constituencies before independence, but these were abolished with

3234-401: The six university seats between graduates of these named universities and any other institutes of higher education in the state. This was in anticipation of a possible dissolution of the National University of Ireland , but this did not in fact occur, and no change was made to the electorate of these constituencies. Some politicians have called for university representation to be abolished, on

3300-424: The state church. Despite its numerical minority, however, the Church of Ireland remained the official state church until it was disestablished on 1 January 1871 by the Liberal government under William Ewart Gladstone . The legacy of the Kingdom of Ireland remains a bone of contention in Irish-British relations to this day because of the constant ethnic conflict between the native Irish inhabitants and primarily

3366-412: The subsequent interregnum period, England, Scotland and Ireland were ruled as a republic until 1660. This period saw the rise of the loyalist Irish Catholic Confederation within the kingdom and, from 1653, the creation of the republican Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland . The kingdom's order was restored 1660 with the restoration of Charles II . Without any public dissent, Charles's reign

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3432-415: The tax roll to the Pope. This was reconfirmed by Adrian's successor Pope Alexander III in 1172. Henry then made his son John Dominus Hibernae (Latin for "Lord of Ireland") with the intent on later making John King of Ireland. When Pope Clement VII excommunicated the king of England, Henry VIII , in 1533, the constitutional position of the lordship in Ireland became uncertain. Henry had broken away from

3498-400: The title "King of Ireland" later in the reign of Henry VIII A crown was not part of the arms but use of a crowned harp was apparently common as a badge or as a device. A crowned harp also appeared as a crest although the delineated crest was: a wreath Or and Azure, a tower (sometime triple-towered) Or, from the port, a hart springing Argent . King James not only used the harp crowned as

3564-519: The university constituencies but was defeated in the House of Commons . Although the members for the university constituencies were usually Conservatives , in the later years independent candidates began to win many of the seats. The Labour government finally abolished the university constituencies via the Representation of the People Act 1948 , with effect from the dissolution of Parliament in 1950, along with all other examples of plural voting . The Queen's University, Belfast constituency survived in

3630-477: The university constituencies include many notable statesmen: William Pitt the Younger and Lord Palmerston both served as MPs for Cambridge University, and Robert Peel and William Ewart Gladstone each served as MP for Oxford University for portions of their careers. In his last years Ramsay MacDonald was MP for Combined Scottish Universities after losing his previous seat in the 1935 general election . Many criticised this, as he had previously sought to abolish

3696-451: The whole island was brought under the centralised control of an Anglo-centric system based in Dublin . This phase of Irish history marked the beginning of an officially organised policy of settler colonialism , orchestrated from London and the incorporation of Ireland into the British Empire (indeed Ireland is sometimes called "England's first colony"). The theme is prominently addressed in Irish postcolonial literature. The religion of

3762-463: Was bicameral with a House of Lords and a House of Commons . By the terms of Poynings' Law (1494) and other acts, the parliament's powers were greatly circumscribed. The legislature was content to "rubber stamp" acts or "suggestions" from the English parliament. Roman Catholics and dissenters, mostly Presbyterians , Baptists, and Methodists, were excluded from membership of the Irish parliament from 1693. Furthermore, their rights were restricted by

3828-428: Was a dependent territory of England and then of Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then of Great Britain , and was administered from Dublin Castle by a viceroy appointed by the English king: the Lord Deputy of Ireland . Aside from brief periods, the state was dominated by the Protestant English (or Anglo-Irish ) minority. The Protestant Church of Ireland

3894-416: Was also given representation there. When the Irish Free State seceded from the UK in 1922, its new lower house of parliament, the Free State Dáil , had three seats each for the two university constituencies. However, under the Electoral Act 1923 voters registered in a university constituency were not permitted to also vote in a geographical one. Both university constituencies were ultimately abolished by

3960-406: Was backdated to his father's execution in 1649. Poynings' Law was repealed in 1782 in what came to be known as the Constitution of 1782 , granting Ireland legislative independence. Parliament in this period came to be known as Grattan's Parliament , after the principal Irish leader of the period, Henry Grattan . Although Ireland had legislative independence, executive administration remained under

4026-410: Was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 and abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948 . The original proposal of the Speaker's Conference, which considered electoral reform before the 1918 legislation was prepared, was to combine all the English and Welsh universities except for Oxford and Cambridge into a three-member constituency. However, during consideration of

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4092-411: Was passed to counteract this. Following the failed revolt of Silken Thomas in 1534–35, Grey , the lord deputy, had some military successes against several clans in the late 1530s, and took their submissions . By 1540 most of Ireland seemed at peace and under the control of the king's Dublin administration; a situation that was not to last for long. In 1542, the Kingdom of Ireland was established by

4158-400: Was presented as "barbaric", "savage" which later was perceived by the native population as a mark of undesirability in respect of maintaining and learning the language. While the Lordship of Ireland had existed since the 12th century and nominally owed allegiance to the English monarchy, many kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland continued to exist; this came to an end with the Kingdom of Ireland, where

4224-443: Was probably devised and assigned for the crest of Ireland upon occasion of this funeral, but with what propriety I do not understand. The insignia of Ireland have variously been given by early writers. In the reign of Edward IV, a commission appointed to enquire what were the arms of Ireland found them to be three crowns in pale. It has been supposed that these crowns were abandoned at the Reformation, from an idea that they might denote

4290-459: Was the state church . The Parliament of Ireland was composed of Anglo-Irish nobles. From 1661, the administration controlled an Irish army . Although styled a kingdom, for most of its history it was, de facto , an English dependency . This status was enshrined in Poynings' Law and in the Declaratory Act of 1719 . The territory of the kingdom comprised that of the former Lordship of Ireland , founded in 1177 by King Henry II of England and

4356-470: Was the last in the UK to abolish such seats: it abolished its four for Queens, Belfast in 1969. Six such seats continue in Seanad Éireann , the upper chamber of the Oireachtas (legislature of the Republic of Ireland ). They are the sole directly elected members of the Seanad, with the remainder of the seats being elected by a combination of members of Oireachtas, incoming TDs and outgoing Senators, and local councillors, along with 11 members appointed by

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