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<!DOCTYPE html><html> <HEAD>  <script async src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-90RP5FMTSY'></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-90RP5FMTSY'); </script> <TITLE>CAIN: Politics: Elections: Westminster By-Elections (NI) Thursday 23 January 1986 </TITLE> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="Author" content="Dr Martin Melaugh"> <META name="Description" content="CAIN: Politics: Elections: Westminster By-Elections (NI) Thursday 23 January 1986 "> <META name="KeyWords" content="conflict, troubles, ireland, northern ireland, ulster, irish, ira, uda"> <script language="JavaScript" src="/aajs/functions.js"></script> </head> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"><center><table width=600><tr><td><A NAME="top"></A> <HR NOSHADE SIZE="1"><img src="/images/cainlogo.gif" border="0" align="left"> <CENTER>CAIN Web Service</CENTER> <h3 align=center>Westminster By-Elections (NI) Thursday 23 January 1986 </h3> <HR NOSHADE SIZE="1"> <CENTER> <a href="/index.html">[CAIN_Home]</a> <a href="/events/index.html">[Key_Events]</a> <A href="/issues/index.html">[KEY_ISSUES]</A> <A href="/othelem/index.html">[Conflict_Background]</A> POLITICS: <a href="/issues/politics/index.html">[Menu]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/read.htm">[Reading]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/politics.htm#articles">[Articles]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/government.htm">[Government]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/polit.htm">[Political_Initiatives]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/polsol.htm">[Political_Solutions]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/politics.htm#parties">[Parties]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/election/index.html">[ELECTIONS]</a> <a href="/issues/politics/source.htm">[Sources]</a> <a href="/events/peace/peace.htm">[Peace_Process]</a> </CENTER> <HR NOSHADE SIZE="1"> <CENTER>Text and Research: Fionnuala McKenna Material is added to this site on a regular basis - information on this page may change</CENTER> <HR noshade size=4>  <H3>Westminster By-Elections (NI) Thursday 23 January 1986 </H3> This is a first draft (v1) of the results of the 1986 Westminster by-elections in Northern Ireland. <H3>Introduction</H3> The following provides the results of the 1986 Westminster by-elections which were contested on Thursday 23 January 1986 by 15 constituencies in Northern Ireland. These elections were forced by the 15 sitting Unionist MPs as a means of expressing their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Belfast West and Foyle constituencies did not take part. These seats were held by Sinn Fein and SDLP respectively. <H3>Summary of Results</H3> Electorate: Valid votes cast: Spoiled votes: Percentage poll: <TABLE BORDERCOLOR=#808080 BORDER=1> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Party</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>Number of seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>Vote</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>% Valid Vote</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>10 seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>302,198</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>51.7%</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>3 seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>85,239</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>14.6%</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)</TD> <TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>1 seat</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>70,917</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>12.1%</CENTER></TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Sinn Féin (SF)</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>0 seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>38,821</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>6.6%</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI)</TD> <TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>0 seats</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>32,095</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>5.5% </CENTER></TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Ulster Popular Unionist Party (UPUP)</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>1 seat</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>30,793</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>5.2%</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Workers' Party (WP)</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>0 seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>18,148</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>3.1%</CENTER> </TD></TR> <TR><TD WIDTH=324>Independent Unionist Candidate</TD><TD WIDTH=93><CENTER>0 seats</CENTER> </TD><TD WIDTH=92><CENTER>6,777</CENTER></TD><TD WIDTH=73><CENTER>1.2%</CENTER> </TD></TR> </TABLE> <H3> Constituency Results</H3> The results for each of the 15 constituencies which contested the by-elections, contain the following information: Name of constituency Outcome of vote Name of candidate (Party) Number of votes Size of the majority; size of the Electorate; and Turnout East Antrim Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Roy Beggs (Ulster Unionist Party) 30,386 Sean Neeson (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 5,405 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 24,981; Electorate 60,851; Turnout 59.16% North Antrim Seat retained by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Rev Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party) 21,771 'Peter Barry' (Independent Unionist against AIA) 1,870 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) majority 33,024; Electorate 65,334; Turnout 54.7% South Antrim Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Clifford Forsythe (Ulster Unionist Party) 30,087 'Peter Barry' (Independent Unionist against AIA) 1,870 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 28,217; Electorate 61,296; Turnout 53.5% Belfast East Seat retained by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) 27,607 Sir Oliver Napier (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 5,917 (%) F. Cullen (Workers' Party) 578 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) majority 21,690; Electorate 55,319; Turnout 61.9% Belfast North Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Cecil Walker (Ulster Unionist Party) 21,649 P. Maguire (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 5,072 S. Lynch (Workers' Party) 3,563 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 16,577; Electorate 59,820; Turnout 51.5% Belfast South Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Rev Martin Smyth (Ulster Unionist Party) 21,771 D. Cook (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 7,635 G. Carr (Workers' Party) 1,109 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 14,136; Electorate 53,971; Turnout 56.9% North Down Seat retained by Ulster Progressive Unionist Party (UPUP) Jim Kilfedder (Ulster Progressive Unionist Party) 30,793 J. Cushnahan (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 8,066 Ulster Progressive Unionist Party (UPUP) majority 22,727; Electorate 64,278; Turnout 60.6% South Down Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Enoch Powell (Ulster Unionist Party) 24,963 Edward McGrady (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 23,121 H. F. McDowell (Sinn Féin)2,936 S. D. Magee (Workers' Party) 522 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 1,842; Electorate 70,108; Turnout 74.0% Fermanagh and South Tyrone Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Ken Maginnis (Ulster Unionist Party) 27,857 Owen Carron (Sinn Féin) 15,278 Austin Currie (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 12,081 D. Kettyles, (Workers' Party) 864 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 12,579; Electorate 69,919 Turnout 80.9% Lagan Valley Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) James Molyneaux (Ulster Unionist Party) 32,514 J. T. Lowry (Workers' Party) 203 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 29,186; Electorate 63,369; Turnout 57.8% East Londonderry Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) William Ross (Ulster Unionist Party) 30,922 'Peter Barry' (Independent Unionist against AIA) 2,001 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 28,921; Electorate 70,375; Turnout 48.4% Mid Ulster Seat retained by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Rev William McCrea (Democratic Unionist Party) 23,695 Danny Morrisson (Sinn Féin) 13,998 A. Colton (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 13,021 T. A. Owens (Workers' Party) 691 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) majority 9,697; Electorate 66,830; Turnout 77.6% Newry and Armagh Seat gained by Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Seamus Mallon (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 22,694 Jim Nicholson (Ulster Unionist Party) 20,111 J.McAllister (Sinn Féin) 6,609 P. McCusker (Worker's Party) 515 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) majority 2,583; Electorate 65,482; Turnout 76.9% Strangford Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) John Taylor (Ulster Unionist Party) 32,627 'Peter Barry' (Independent Unionist against AIA) 1,993 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 30,634; Electorate 62,896; Turnout56.1% Upper Bann Seat retained by Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Harold McCusker (Ulster Unionist Party) 29,311 Tom French (Workers' Party) 6,978 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 22,333; Electorate 63,663; Turnout 57.9%  <HR noshade size=4> <CENTER> </td></tr></table>   <table width="600" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td><div align="center">CAIN contains information and source material on the conflict and politics in Northern Ireland. 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