1986 North Antrim by-election
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Constituency of North Antrim | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 53.5% ( 16.3%) | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 1986 North Antrim 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.
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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DUP | Ian Paisley | 33,937 | 97.4 | +43.2 | |
| "For the Anglo-Irish Agreement" | "Peter Barry" (Wesley Williamson)[2] | 515 | 2.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 33,024 | 94.8 | +65.0 | ||
| Turnout | 34,452 | 53.5 | -16.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 65,157 | ||||
| DUP hold | Swing | N/A | |||
References[edit]
- ^ Results of Byelections in the 1983-87 Parliament Archived 5 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine in the United Kingdom Election Results website Archived 7 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine maintained by David Boothroyd
- ^ Nicholas Whyte (13 May 2003). "Westminster by-elections, 23 January 1986". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
Other References[edit]
- British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-elections
- CAIN: Westminster By-Elections (NI) - Thursday 23 January 1986
- Northern Ireland Elections: Westminster by-elections 1986
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