1986 Northern Ireland by-elections

Last updated

1986 Northern Ireland by-elections
←  1983 23 January 1986 1987  →
15 of 17 Northern Irish seats
in the United Kingdom Parliament
 First partySecond party
 
Party UUP DUP
Seats won103
Seat changeDecrease2.svg1Steady2.svg
Popular vote302,19885,239
Percentage51.7%23.0%
SwingIncrease2.svg13.1%Decrease2.svg5.5%
 Third partyFourth party
 
Party SDLP UPUP
Seats won11
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Steady2.svg
Popular vote70,91730,793
Percentage12.1%5.3%
SwingDecrease2.svg3.1%Increase2.svg1.9%
Map of the 1986 Northern Ireland by-elections.svg
Left map shows the % of the vote received by resigning unionist anti-agreement candidates.
Right map shows the % of the vote received by pro-agreement candidates.
Bottom map shows the winning party by constituency - in all constituencies but Armagh and Newry, resigning unionist candidates were re-elected.

The 1986 Northern Ireland by-elections were fifteen by-elections held on 23 January 1986, to fill vacancies in the Parliament of the United Kingdom caused by the resignation in December 1985 of all sitting Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs). The MPs, from the Ulster Unionist Party, Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Popular Unionist Party, did this to highlight their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed the month before.

Contents

Each of the Unionist parties agreed not to contest seats previously held by the others, and each outgoing MP stood for re-election. 14 of the 15 were re-elected, often with large margins. The sole exception was in the Newry and Armagh by-election, where Seamus Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party unseated Jim Nicholson (UUP).

Other candidates

Of the two Northern Ireland seats not held by unionists, Foyle was held by the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), while Belfast West was held by the republican party Sinn Féin. These MPs did not resign and their seats were not contested.

The SDLP and Sinn Féin regarded the resignations as a publicity stunt, and were reluctant to take part in the resulting by-elections. In the event, they contested only the seats which they believed to have an anti-unionist majority.

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland instructed its branches to nominate a candidate for each by-election, but many were reluctant, and ultimately, the party stood in only five seats. The small Workers' Party stood in nine seats.

It appeared that the incumbent would be the only candidate in four constituencies. This would have produced the first uncontested elections for the House of Commons since the Armagh by-election of 1954. In order to ensure that there was a contest and that the Unionists would be able to demonstrate their point, Wesley Robert Williamson changed his name by deed poll to "Peter Barry", Peter Barry being Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ireland. "Peter Barry" stood in these four constituencies under the label "For the Anglo-Irish Agreement", allowing a contest, but did not campaign.

The unusual circumstances led this to be the greatest number of UK parliamentary by-elections held on a single day.

Results

Aggregate results

The aggregated results for all constituencies are shown below. Changes are compared to those for the 15 constituencies in the 1983 general election.

Results of the 1986 Northern Ireland by-elections
Political partyLeaderPositionCandidatesMPsVotes
TotalGainedLostNetOf total
(%)		TotalOf total
(%)		Change
(%)
UUP James Molyneaux Anti-agreement111001Decrease2.svg166.7302,19851.7Increase2.svg13.1
DUP Ian Paisley Anti-agreement3300Steady2.svg20.085,23914.6Decrease2.svg5.5
SDLP John Hume Pro-agreement4110Increase2.svg16.770,91712.1Decrease2.svg3.1
Sinn Féin Gerry Adams Anti-agreement4000Steady2.svg0.038,8486.6Decrease2.svg4.7
Alliance John Cushnahan Pro-agreement5000Steady2.svg0.032,0955.5Decrease2.svg3.5
UPUP James Kilfedder Anti-agreement1100Steady2.svg6.730,7935.3Increase2.svg1.3
Workers' Party Tomás Mac Giolla Pro-agreement [1] 9000Steady2.svg0.018,1483.1Increase2.svg1.3
For the Anglo-Irish Agreement Wesley Robert Williamson running as 'Peter Barry'Pro-agreement4000Steady2.svg0.06,3791.1N/A
Blank and invalid votes——
Total41150100584,6171000.0
Registered voters, and turnout951,57161.44
Vote share by party position on Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anti-Agreement Unionists
 
71.6%
Pro-Agreement candidates
 
21.8%
Anti-Agreement Republicans (Sinn Féin)
 
6.6%

All but one of the Unionists were re-elected, many with extremely large majorities. The largest of all went to Ian Paisley in North Antrim. He won 97.4% of the vote, the highest percentage polled by any candidate in a UK by-election since the 1940 Middleton and Prestwich by-election.

The sole exception to this pattern was the Newry and Armagh by-election, where Seamus Mallon of the SDLP was able to take the seat. Former Cabinet Minister Enoch Powell was able to narrowly survive a strong challenge from the SDLP in South Down and was subsequently defeated at the following year's general election. In the western constituencies of Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the Unionist candidates were able to survive with less than 50% of the vote due to a split Nationalist vote. Both seats were gained by Sinn Féin in later elections.

The results of the fifteen by-elections were cited by Unionists as a rejection of the Agreement by the Northern Irish electorate, but did not succeed in repealing it.

Antrim

1986 East Antrim by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Roy Beggs 30,38684.9+47.5
Alliance Seán Neeson 5,40515.1−4.9
Majority24,98169.8+68.9
Turnout 24,98159.2−5.9
UUP hold Swing N/A
1986 North Antrim by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DUP Ian Paisley 33,93797.4+43.2
For the Anglo-Irish Agreement Peter Barry5152.6N/A
Majority33,02494.8
Turnout 34,45254.7
DUP hold Swing N/A
1986 South Antrim by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Clifford Forsythe 30,08794.1+48.4
For the Anglo-Irish Agreement Peter Barry1,8705.9N/A
Majority28,21788.3+70.8
Turnout 31,95753.5−12.0
UUP hold Swing N/A

Belfast

[2]

1986 Belfast East by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DUP Peter Robinson 27,60781.0+35.7
Alliance Oliver Napier 5,91717.4−6.7
Workers' Party Frank Cullen5781.7+0.6
Majority21,69063.6
Turnout 34,10260.2
DUP hold Swing
1986 Belfast North by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Cecil Walker 21,64971.5+35.3
Alliance Paul Maguire 5,07216.7+7.6
Workers' Party Seamus Lynch 3,56311.8+6.1
Majority16,57754.8
Turnout 30,28451.5−17.9
UUP hold Swing
1986 Belfast South by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Martin Smyth 21,77171.3+21.3
Alliance David Cook 7,63525.0+1.1
Workers' Party Gerry Carr1,1093.6
Majority14,13646.3+1.3
Turnout 30,51556.9
UUP hold Swing

Down

1986 North Down by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UPUP James Kilfedder 30,79379.2+23.1
Alliance John Cushnahan 8,06620.8−1.3
Majority22,72758.4+24.4
Turnout 38,85962.8−3.4
UPUP hold Swing
1986 South Down by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Enoch Powell 24,96348.4+8.1
SDLP Eddie McGrady 23,12144.8+5.5
Sinn Féin Hugh McDowell2,9635.7−2.2
Workers' Party Sean Magee5221.0−0.7
Majority1,8423.6
Turnout 51,56973.8−3.9
UUP hold Swing

Newry and Armagh

1986 Newry and Armagh by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SDLP Seamus Mallon 22,69445.5+8.7
UUP Jim Nicholson 20,11140.3+0.2
Sinn Féin Jim McAllister 6,60913.2−7.7
Workers' Party Patrick McCusker5151.0−1.2
Majority2,5835.2N/A
Turnout 49,92976.9+0.9
Registered electors 65,142
SDLP gain from UUP Swing

Other constituencies

1986 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Ken Maginnis 27,85749.7+2.1
Sinn Féin Owen Carron 15,27827.2−7.6
SDLP Austin Currie 12,08121.5+5.0
Workers' Party David Kettyles8641.5−0.4
Majority12,57922.5+9.7
Turnout 56,08080.4−8.2
UUP hold Swing
1986 Lagan Valley by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Jim Molyneaux 32,51490.7+31.5
Workers' Party John Lowry 3,3289.3+7.0
Majority29,18681.4+39.0
Turnout 35,84257.8−9.8
UUP hold Swing
1986 East Londonderry by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP William Ross 30,92293.9+56.0
For the Anglo-Irish Agreement Peter Barry2,0016.1N/A
Majority28,92187.8+73.7
Turnout 32,92346.8–29.5
UUP hold Swing
1986 Mid Ulster by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DUP William McCrea 23,69546.1+16.4
Sinn Féin Danny Morrison 13,99827.2−2.8
SDLP Adrian Colton13,02125.3+2.8
Workers' Party Thomas Owens6911.3±0.0
Majority6,96719.3
Turnout 51,40577.6−6.7
DUP hold Swing
1986 Strangford by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP John David Taylor 32,62794.2+45.4
For the Anglo-Irish Agreement Peter Barry1,9935.8N/A
Majority30,63488.5+69.7
Turnout 34,62055.0−9.9
Registered electors 62,854
UUP hold Swing
1986 Upper Bann by-election [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
UUP Harold McCusker 29,31180.8+23.9
Workers' Party Tom French 6,97819.2+13.7
Majority22,33361.4+20.4
Turnout 36,86157.2−14.8
Registered electors 63,4854
UUP hold Swing

See also

Related Research Articles

The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seamus Mallon</span> Northern Ireland politician (1936–2020)

Seamus Frederick Mallon was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to 2001. He also sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1986 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1918 United Kingdom general election in Ireland</span>

The Irish component of the 1918 United Kingdom general election took place on 14 December 1918. It was the final United Kingdom general election to be held throughout Ireland, as the next election would happen following Irish independence. It is a key moment in modern Irish history, seeing the overwhelming defeat of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), which had dominated the Irish political landscape since the 1880s, and a landslide victory for the radical Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin had never previously stood in a general election, but had won six seats in by-elections in 1917–1918. The party had vowed in its manifesto to establish an independent Irish Republic. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span>

The 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 26 November 2003, after being suspended for just over a year. It was the second election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. Each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constituencies elected six members by single transferable vote, giving a total of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The election was contested by 18 parties and many independent candidates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Nicholson (Northern Ireland politician)</span> British politician (born 1945)

James Frederick Nicholson is a Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland from 1989 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

West Tyrone is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Órfhlaith Begley, a member of Sinn Fein, since the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons. It is currently represented by Pat Cullen of Sinn Féin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1918 and 1922–2024

Belfast South was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Dáire Hughes of Sinn Féin who was first elected at the 2024 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Down (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards

South Down is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Chris Hazzard of Sinn Féin.

The by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 9 April 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant by-election held in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It saw the first electoral victory for militant Irish republicanism, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin. The successful candidate was the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, who died twenty-six days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alasdair McDonnell</span> Northern Irish politician (born 1949)

Alasdair McDonnell is a retired Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland who was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 2011 to 2015, having served as deputy leader between 2004 and 2010. He was the Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 2005 to 2017, and also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 1998 to 2015. He graduated from medical school at University College Dublin in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span>

The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their support, with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Mid Ulster by-election</span> UK Parliamentary by-election

The 1986 Mid Ulster by-election was one of the fifteen 1986 Northern Ireland by-elections held on 23 January 1986, to fill vacancies in the Parliament of the United Kingdom caused by the resignation in December 1985 of all sitting Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs). The MPs, from the Ulster Unionist Party, Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Popular Unionist Party, did this to highlight their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Each of their parties agreed not to contest seats previously held by the others, and each outgoing MP stood for re-election.

James Alexander Speers, known as Jim Speers, is a Northern Irish farmer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, active in County Armagh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,169,184 people were eligible to vote, up 29,191 from the 2005 general election. 57.99% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.5 percentage points from the last general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 18 seats were contested. 1,236,765 people were eligible to vote, up 67,581 from the 2010 general election. 58.45% of eligible voters turned out, an increase of half a percentage point from the last general election. This election saw the return of Ulster Unionists to the House of Commons, after they targeted 4 seats but secured 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Northern Ireland local elections</span> Local elections

Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on Thursday 2 May 2019. The last elections were held in 2014. 819 candidates contested 462 seats across Northern Ireland's 11 local government districts. 1,305,384 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 52.7% of the electorate turned out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span> Result of Northern Ireland element of the UK General Election

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on 12 December 2019 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, including 18 seats in Northern Ireland. 1,293,971 people were eligible to vote, up 51,273 from the 2017 general election. 62.09% of eligible voters turned out, down 3.5 percentage points from the last general election. For the first time in history, nationalist parties won more seats than unionist parties.

References

  1. ↑ "The Socialist Perspective on Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish Agreement". Irish Left Archive. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament in the United Kingdom Election Results website maintained by David Boothroyd
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.