1986 Belfast South by-election

The 1986 Belfast South 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.

1986 Belfast South by-election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Martin Smyth	21,771	71.3	+21.3
	Alliance	David Cook	7,635	25.0	+1.1
	Workers' Party	Gerry Carr	1,109	3.6	+1.3
Majority			14,136	46.3	+20.3
Turnout			30,515	56.9	−12.7
Registered electors			53,944
	UUP hold		Swing

1986 Belfast South by-election

← 1983 23 Jan 1986 1987 →
Constituency of Belfast South
Turnout	56.9% ( 12.7%)
First party Second party   Candidate Martin Smyth David Cook Party UUP Alliance Popular vote 21,771 7,635 Percentage 71.3% 25.0% Swing 21.3% 1.1%
MP before election Martin Smyth UUP Subsequent MP Martin Smyth UUP