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
23 January 1986
Constituency of Newry and Armagh
Turnout76.9% ( 0.9%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
SF
Candidate Seamus Mallon Jim Nicholson Jim McAllister
Party SDLP Ulster Unionist 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
Ulster Unionist

 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.

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