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South Down constituency | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Location of South Down within Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||
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The 1986 Upper Bann 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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster Unionist | Harold McCusker | 29,311 | 80.8 | +23.9 | |
| Workers' Party | Tom French | 6,978 | 19.2 | +13.7 | |
| Majority | 22,333 | 61.4 | +20.4 | ||
| Turnout | 36,861 | 57.2 | −14.8 | ||
| Registered electors | 63,484 | ||||
| Ulster Unionist hold | Swing | ||||