South Down constituency | |||||||||||||||||||
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Location of
South Down within
Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||
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A by-election was held in South Down in 1986, as part of a co-ordinated series of by-elections aimed to show opposition to the Anglo Irish agreement. It resulted in the narrow victory of the incumbent Ulster Unionist Party, Enoch Powell, who increased his majority by 1,294 votes despite rising support for Irish Nationalist candidates. His opponent Eddie McGrady would later take the seat in the 1987 general election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ulster Unionist | Enoch Powell | 24,963 | 48.4 | +8.1 | |
SDLP | Eddie McGrady | 23,121 | 44.8 | +5.5 | |
Sinn Féin | Hugh McDowell | 2,963 | 5.7 | -2.2 | |
Workers' Party | Sean Magee | 522 | 1.0 | -0.7 | |
Majority | 1,842 | 3.6 | +2.5 | ||
Turnout | 51,569 | 73.8 | -3.9 | ||
Registered electors | 69,843 | ||||
Ulster Unionist hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ulster Unionist | Enoch Powell | 20,693 | 40.3 | -9.7 | |
SDLP | Eddie McGrady | 20,145 | 39.3 | +2.0 | |
Sinn Féin | Patrick Fitzsimmons | 4,074 | 7.9 | New | |
DUP | Cecil Harvey | 3,743 | 7.3 | New | |
Alliance | Patrick Forde | 1,823 | 3.6 | -5.2 | |
Workers' Party | Margaret Magee | 851 | 1.7 | New | |
Majority | 548 | 1.0 | -11.8 | ||
Turnout | 51,329 | 77.7 | +5.7 | ||
Registered electors | 66,923 | ||||
Ulster Unionist hold | Swing |