County Tyrone had five Stormont MPs from 1929 until 1972. The seats in the
North and South of the county were Unionist, the constituency covering the
East could be considered marginal, whilst those in the
West and centre of the county were nationalist.
South Tyrone was contested by the Nationalist Party once, in
1949. All other contests were triggered by either an independent unionist or member of the
Northern Ireland Labour Party standing against the Ulster Unionist Party, which consistently held the seat.
MPs for the area included Stormont's last Minister of State for Home Affairs,
John Taylor, and William Frederick McCoy who served briefly as Speaker to the
House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 25 January 1956 until 23 April 1956.[2]