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South Down constituency | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Location of South Down within Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South Down by-election of 1986 was part of a co-ordinated series of by-elections aimed to show opposition to the Anglo Irish agreement. It resulted in the narrow victory of the incumbent Ulster Unionist Party, Enoch Powell, who increased his majority by 1,294 votes despite rising support for Irish Nationalist candidates. His opponent Eddie McGrady would later take the seat in the 1987 general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UUP | Enoch Powell | 24,963 | 48.4 | +8.1 | |
| SDLP | Eddie McGrady | 23,121 | 44.8 | +5.5 | |
| Sinn Féin | Hugh McDowell | 2,963 | 5.7 | −2.2 | |
| Workers' Party | Sean Magee | 522 | 1.0 | −0.7 | |
| Majority | 1,842 | 3.6 | +2.5 | ||
| Turnout | 51,569 | 73.8 | −3.9 | ||
| Registered electors | 69,843 | ||||
| UUP hold | Swing | ||||
- ^ "By-election Result". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.