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 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 the British Empire such as India.

At present there are four instances in two countries of university constituencies: two in 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.

Summary

Constituency	Parliament	Years	No. of representatives
Cambridge University	England	1603–1707	2
	Great Britain	1707–1800	2
	United Kingdom	1801–1950	2
Oxford University	England	1603–1707	2
	Great Britain	1707–1800	2
	United Kingdom	1801–1950	2
Dublin University	Ireland	1613–1800	2
	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	1801–1922	1 (1801–1832) 2 (1832–1922)
	Irish Republic	1918–1922	2 (1918–1921) 4 (1921–1922)
	Southern Ireland (UK)	1921–1922	4
	Irish Free State	1922–1937	3
	Republic of Ireland (Seanad Éireann)	1938–present	3
Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities	United Kingdom	1868–1918	1 between
Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities	United Kingdom	1868–1918	1 between
London University	United Kingdom	1868–1950	1
Combined English Universities	United Kingdom	1918–1950	2 between
Combined Scottish Universities	United Kingdom	1918–1950	3 between
National University of Ireland	United Kingdom	1918–1922	1
	Irish Republic	1918–1922	1 (1918–1921) 4 (1921–1922)
	Southern Ireland (UK)	1921–1922	4
	Irish Free State	1922–1937	3
	Republic of Ireland (Seanad Éireann)	1938–present	3
Queen's University of Belfast	United Kingdom	1918–1950	1
	Irish Republic	1918–1921	1
University of Wales	United Kingdom	1918–1950	1
Queen's University of Belfast (NI)	Northern Ireland (UK)	1921–1969	4
	Irish Republic	1921–1922	4

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 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 the Taoiseach.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

United Kingdom

King James VI of Scotland, on ascending 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 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;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> they could vote for the university seats in addition to any other vote that they might haveTemplate:Citation needed.

After the Act of Union 1800 with Ireland, the University of Dublin (Trinity College), which had elected two MPs to 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 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 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Abolition

The Labour government in 1930 attempted to abolish 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Queen's University, Belfast constituency survived in 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.)).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

Notable members

The members for 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 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

List of members

Only members after 1885 are shown.

Election	Members
	Cambridge Uni.				Oxford Uni.				London Uni.										Edinburgh & St Andrews Uni.		Glasgow & Aberdeen Uni.						Dublin Uni.
1885	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Raikes Template:Small	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Hope Template:Small	rowspan="15" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Talbot Template:Small	rowspan="10" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Mowbray Template:Small	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Lubbock Template:Small									rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	J. Macdonald Template:Small	rowspan="14" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Campbell Template:Small					rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Holmes Template:Small	rowspan="6" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Plunket Template:Small
1886	rowspan="10" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |
1887 (b)	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Stokes Template:Small	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Madden Template:Small
1888 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |			Darling Template:Small
1890 (b)	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |			Pearson Template:Small
1891 (b)	rowspan="9" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Jebb Template:Small
1892	rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Gorst Template:Small		rowspan="16" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |		Carson Template:Small		rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |
1895
1895 (b)	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |				Lecky Template:Small
1896 (b)	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |			Priestley Template:Small
1899 (b)	rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |							Anson Template:Small
1900 (b)	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |			Foster Template:Small					rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Tuke Template:Small
1900
1903 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |				rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |				Campbell Template:Small
1906	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Butcher Template:Small	rowspan="15" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Rawlinson Template:Small	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |														Magnus Template:Small	rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Craik Template:Small
Jan 1910	rowspan="22" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Cecil Template:Small		rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Finlay Template:Small
Dec 1910
1911 (b)	rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Larmor Template:Small
1912 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				rowspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|					rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|
1914 (b)	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				Prothero Template:Small
1916 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |					Johnston Template:Small
1917 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |					Cheyne Template:Small		rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Samuels Template:Small
	Combined English Uni.					Uni. of Wales		Combined Scottish Uni.						Queen's Uni. of Belfast		National Uni. of Ireland		rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Woods Template:Small
1918	rowspan="9" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Conway Template:Small	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Fisher Template:Small		rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	J. Lewis Template:Small	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Cowan Template:Small	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Cheyne Template:Small	rowspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Craik Template:Small	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Whitla Template:Small	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	MacNeill Template:Small
1919 (b)	rowspan="11" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Oman Template:Small		style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Jellett Template:Small
1922	style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				J. Butler Template:Small	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Russell-Wells Template:Small	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |		style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	T. Lewis Template:Small	rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |		rowspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Berry Template:Small	Abolished
1923	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				G. Butler Template:Small	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |				Davies Template:Small	rowspan="13" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Sinclair Template:Small
1924 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|
1924	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|					Graham-Little Template:Small	rowspan="12" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Evans Template:Small
1926 (b)	rowspan="10" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|			Withers Template:Small			rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |			Hopkinson Template:Small
1927 (b)	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |						Buchan Template:Small
1929	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				Wilson Template:Small					rowspan="12" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Rathbone Template:Small
1931	rowspan="12" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |								Craddock Template:Small			rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|							Skelton Template:Small
1934 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Morrison Template:Small
1935 (b)	rowspan="10" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				Pickthorn Template:Small		rowspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |		rowspan="10" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|				Kerr Template:Small
1935	rowspan="9" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Herbert Template:Small
1936 (b)	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |						R. MacDonald Template:Small
1937 (b)	rowspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|								Salter Template:Small	rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|										Harvey Template:Small
1938 (b)	rowspan="6" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |						Anderson Template:Small
1940 (b)	rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|			Hill Template:Small						rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|		Savory Template:Small
1943 (b)	rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |							Gruffydd Template:Small
1945 (b)	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Boyd-Orr Template:Small
1945	rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|			Harris Template:Small						rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |										Lindsay Template:Small
1946 (b)	style="background-color:Template:Party color;" |	Strauss Template:Small								style="background-color:Template:Party color;"|	Elliot Template:Small
1950	Abolished

Ireland

Template:Anchor 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 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.<ref>Template:Cite ISB</ref>

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 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Some politicians have called for university representation to be abolished, on 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

List of members

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.

Dáil Éireann

Constituency	1918	19	1921	1922	1923	23	Jun 1927	Sep 1927	1932	1933	33	36
Queen's University of Belfast	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Whitla	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Campbell	Not represented in Irish Free State Dáils
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Robb	Not represented in Irish Free State Dáils
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Johnstone	Not represented in Irish Free State Dáils
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Morrison	Not represented in Irish Free State Dáils
Dublin University	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Woods	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Alton	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→
	style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Samuels	style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Jellett	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Craig	colspan="7" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Rowlette
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Thrift	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Fitzgibbon	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→
National University of Ireland	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|MacNeill	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |McGilligan
			colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|English	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Magennis	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Clery	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Tierney	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Maguire
			colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Hayes	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Concannon
			colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation"|Stockley

Seanad Éireann

Constituency	1938	1943	1944	47	1948	1951	52	53	1954	1957	60	1961	1965	1969	70	1973	1977	79	1981	1982	1983	1987	1989	1993	1997	2002	2007	09	2011	2016	18	2020
Dublin University	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Alton	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Kingsmill Moore	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Bigger	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Budd	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Jessop	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Sheehy-Skeffington	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |J. Ross	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Sheehy-Skeffington	colspan="4" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |West	colspan="10" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |S. Ross	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Barrett	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Ruane
	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Rowlette	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Johnston	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Stanford	colspan="8" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Robinson	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Hederman	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Henry	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Bacik	colspan="5" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→
	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Johnston	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Fearon	colspan="5" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Jessop	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Browne	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |C. C. O'Brien	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |McGuinness	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |West	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |McGuinness	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Norris
National University of Ireland	colspan="11" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Barniville	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Ó Conalláin	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Horgan	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Hussey	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Dooge	colspan="7" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |O'Toole	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Crown	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |McDowell
	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Tierney	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |M.J. Ryan	colspan="9" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |G. O'Brien	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Alton	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Martin	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |L. Ryan	colspan="4" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |B. Ryan	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Lee	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |B. Ryan	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→	colspan="4" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Mullen	colspan="2" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |→
	colspan="7" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Concannon	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Cunningham	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |McHugh	colspan="7" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Quinlan	colspan="4" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Murphy	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |M. D. Higgins	colspan="1" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Murphy	colspan="7" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |Quinn	colspan="3" style="Template:Constituency affiliation" |A. M. Higgins

Other countries

• Australia: the electoral district of University of Sydney returned one member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1876 and 1880. It was abolished one year after the second member elected, Edmund Barton, took his seat. Graduates of the University of Sydney wore academic gowns while voting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• India: India had university constituencies before independence, but these were abolished with 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 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.Template:Citation needed
• Rwanda: Two members of the Senate of Rwanda are elected by the staff of universities.Template:Citation needed
• Thirteen Colonies: The College of William & Mary held a seat in the House of Burgesses of the Virginia Colony in 1693, and was supported by taxes on tobacco and furs. This seat was revoked after the House of Burgesses became the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia within the newly independent United States of America.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Bavaria: From 1946 to 1999, the Bavarian upper house, the Bavarian Senate had reserved three seats to universities and colleges.

See also

• Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)
• Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)
• London University (UK Parliament constituency)
• Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
• Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
• Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
• Combined Scottish Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
• Category: Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for university constituencies