Northern Ireland by-elections, 1986

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Anglo-Irish Agreement New Ireland Forum Northern Ireland by-elections, 1986 Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973
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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. Each of their parties agreed not to contest seats previously held by the others, and each outgoing MP stood for re-election.

1 Other candidates
2 Results
3 See also
4 References

Other candidates

Of the remaining two seats in Northern Ireland, 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 also stood, in nine seats.

In four constituencies, no political party was willing to contest the by-election. This effectively made these the last uncontested by-elections in British history. However, to ensure that there was a contest and 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 ever held on a single day.

Results

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.

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

East Antrim by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Roy Beggs	30,386	84.9
	Alliance	Sean Neeson	5,405	15.1
Majority			24,981
Turnout				59.2
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

North Antrim by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Ian Paisley	33,937	97.4	+43.2
	For the Anglo-Irish Agreement	Peter Barry	515	2.6	N/A
Majority			33,024	94.8
Turnout				54.7
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

South Antrim by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Clifford Forsythe	30,087	94.1
	For the Anglo-Irish Agreement	Peter Barry	1,870	5.9
Majority			28,217
Turnout				53.5
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Belfast

Belfast East by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	Peter Robinson	27,607	81.0
	Alliance	Oliver Napier	5,917	17.4
	Workers' Party	Frank Cullen	578	1.7
Majority			21,690
Turnout				60.2
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Belfast North by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Walker	21,649	71.5
	Alliance	Paul Maguire	5,072	16.7
	Workers' Party	Seamus Lynch	3,563	11.8
Majority			16,577
Turnout				51.5
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Belfast South by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Martin Smyth	21,771	71.3
	Alliance	David Cook	7,635	25.0
	Workers' Party	Gerry Carr	1,109	3.6
Majority			14,136	46.3
Turnout				56.9
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Down

North Down by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Popular Unionist	James Kilfedder	30,793	79.2
	Alliance	John Cushnahan	8,066	20.8
Majority			22,727
Turnout				62.8
	Ulster Popular Unionist hold		Swing

South Down by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Enoch Powell	24,963	48.4
	SDLP	Eddie McGrady	23,121	44.8
	Sinn Féin	Hugh McDowell	2,963	5.7
	Workers' Party	Sean Magee	522	1.0
Majority			1,842
Turnout
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Newry and Armagh

Main article: Newry and Armagh by-election, 1986

Newry and Armagh by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	22,694	45.5
	Ulster Unionist	Jim Nicholson	20,111	40.3
	Sinn Féin	Jim McAllister	6,609	13.2
	Workers' Party	Patrick McCusker	515	1.0
Majority			2,583
	SDLP gain from Ulster Unionist		Swing

Other constituencies

Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Ken Maginnis	27,857	49.7
	Sinn Féin	Owen Carron	15,278	27.2
	SDLP	Austin Currie	12,081	21.5
	Workers' Party	David Kettyles	864	1.5
Majority			12,579
Turnout
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Lagan Valley by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Jim Molyneaux	32,514	90.7
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	3,328	9.3
Majority			29,186
Turnout				57.8
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

East Londonderry by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	William Ross	30,922	93.9	+56.0
	For the Anglo-Irish Agreement	Peter Barry	2,001	6.1	N/A
Majority			28,921	87.8	+73.7
Turnout			32,923	46.8	–29.5
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Mid Ulster by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic Unionist	William McCrea	23,695	46.1
	Sinn Féin	Danny Morrison	13,998	27.2
	SDLP	Adrian Colton	13,021	25.3
	Workers' Party	Thomas Owens	691	1.3
Majority			6,967
Turnout
	Democratic Unionist hold		Swing

Strangford by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	John Taylor	32,627	94.2
	For the Anglo-Irish Agreement	Peter Barry	1,993	5.8
Majority			30,634	88.5
Turnout			34,620	55.0
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

Upper Bann by-election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	Harold McCusker	29,311	80.8
	Workers' Party	Tom French	6,978	19.2
Majority			22,333
Turnout
	Ulster Unionist hold		Swing

References

« 48th Parliament « By-elections to the 49th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 50th Parliament »

1983	July: Penrith and the Border

1984	March: Chesterfield • May: Cynon Valley • South West Surrey • Stafford • June: Portsmouth South • December: Enfield Southgate

1985	July: Brecon and Radnor • December: Tyne Bridge

1986	January: Belfast East • Belfast North • Belfast South • East Antrim • East Londonderry • Fermanagh & South Tyrone • Lagan Valley • Mid Ulster • Newry & Armagh • North Antrim • North Down • South Antrim • South Down • Strangford • Upper Bann • April: Fulham • May: Ryedale • West Derbyshire • July: Newcastle-under-Lyme • November: Knowsley North

1987	February: Greenwich • March: Truro

Lists of UK by-elections: 1868–1885 • 1885–1900 · 1900–1918 · 1918–1931 · 1931–1950 · 1950–1979 · 1979–present