1986 Newry and Armagh by-election

The 1986 by-election in Newry and Armagh was caused by the resignation of incumbent Member of Parliament Jim Nicholson.

1986 Newry and Armagh by-election

← 1983 23 January 1986 1987 →
Constituency of Newry and Armagh
Turnout	76.9% ( 0.9%)
First party Second party Third party   SF Candidate Seamus Mallon Jim Nicholson Jim McAllister Party SDLP UUP Sinn Féin Popular vote 22,694 20,111 6,609 Percentage 45.5% 40.3% 13.2% Swing 8.7% 0.3% 7.7%
MP before election Jim Nicholson UUP Subsequent MP Seamus Mallon SDLP

Nicholson, along with all sitting Unionist MPs, resigned their Westminster seats in December 1985, to highlight their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement and to use the resultant by-elections to campaign on the issue.

The poll was held on 23 January 1986, and was unusual for a by-election in the turnout being higher than for the preceding general election, however Nicholson was not re-elected, (despite gaining an increase in his own vote) losing his seat to the nationalist SDLP candidate Seamus Mallon. Nicholson also failed to recapture the seat at the following general election.

Result

1986 Newry and Armagh by-election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon	22,694	45.5	+8.7
	UUP	Jim Nicholson	20,111	40.3	+0.3
	Sinn Féin	Jim McAllister	6,609	13.2	−7.7
	Workers' Party	Patrick McCusker	515	1.0	−1.3
Majority			2,583	5.2	N/A
Turnout			49,929	76.9	+0.9
Registered electors			65,142
	SDLP gain from UUP		Swing	+4.2