Despite pressure from the British government to introduce local government franchise, there was still division among Unionist MPs at Stormont.
On the first day of discussion, the Unionist Parliamentary Party could not come to any agreement. The following day, the proposal to introduce ‘one man, one vote’ was passed by 28 votes to 22. Major Chichester-Clark, the Minister for Agriculture, resigned, unable to accept the government's decision.
Although the vote was passed, it highlighted the divisions within Unionism and increased the pressure once more on Prime Minister Terence O'Neill. For nationalists and the civil rights movement, ‘one man, one vote’ was now too little too late.
