1983 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
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17 seats in Northern Ireland of the 650 seats in the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1983 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 9 June with 17 MPs elected in single-seat constituencies using first-past-the-post as part of the wider general election in the United Kingdom. This was an increase of five seats, after the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1979 had come into effect to account for the reduced representation after direct rule had been imposed since 1972. New constituencies were drawn up in 1982.[1]
Results
The Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher as prime minister won another term in government.
The main beneficiaries of the increase of seats was the Ulster Unionist Party, now led by James Molyneaux. The SDLP lost a seat held by former leader Gerry Fitt to Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, but the new SDLP leader John Hume gained a seat.
Party | MPs | Votes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Change | No. | % | Change | ||
UUP | 11 | 6 | 259,952 | 34.0% | 2.6 | |
DUP | 3 | 152,749 | 20.0% | 9.8 | ||
SDLP | 1 | 137,012 | 17.9% | 0.3 | ||
Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 102,701 | 13.4% | 13.4 | |
UPUP | 1 | New | 22,681 | 3.0% | 3.0 | |
Alliance | 0 | 61,275 | 8.0% | 3.9 | ||
Workers' Party | 0 | 14,650 | 1.9% | 0.2 | ||
Independent Socialist | 0 | 10,326 | 1.3% | 1.3 | ||
Independent DUP | 0 | 1,134 | 0.1% | 1.3 | ||
Independent | 0 | 2,265 | 0.3% | 0.1 | ||
Total | 17 | 5 | 801734 | 100 |
MPs elected
Constituency | Party | MP | |
---|---|---|---|
Antrim East | UUP | Roy Beggs | |
Antrim North | DUP | Ian Paisley | |
Antrim South | UUP | Clifford Forsythe | |
Belfast East | DUP | Peter Robinson | |
Belfast North | UUP | Cecil Walker | |
Belfast South | UUP | Martin Smyth | |
Belfast West | Sinn Féin | Gerry Adams | |
Down North | UPUP | Jim Kilfedder | |
Down South | UUP | Enoch Powell | |
Fermanagh and South Tyrone | UUP | Ken Maginnis | |
Foyle | SDLP | John Hume | |
Lagan Valley | UUP | James Molyneaux | |
Londonderry East | UUP | William Ross | |
Mid Ulster | DUP | William McCrea | |
Newry and Armagh | UUP | Jim Nicholson | |
Strangford | UUP | John Taylor | |
Upper Bann | UUP | Harold McCusker |
By-elections
In December 1985, all Unionist MPs resigned their seats in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement and sought re-election in by-elections. These resulted in a loss of one seat to the SDLP
Constituency | Date | Incumbent | Party | Winner | Party | Cause | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antrim North | 23 January 1986 | Ian Paisley | DUP | Ian Paisley | DUP | Resignation | ||
Antrim East | 23 January 1986 | Roy Beggs | UUP | Roy Beggs | UUP | Resignation | ||
Antrim South | 23 January 1986 | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | Clifford Forsythe | UUP | Resignation | ||
Belfast East | 23 January 1986 | Peter Robinson | DUP | Peter Robinson | DUP | Resignation | ||
Belfast North | 23 January 1986 | Cecil Walker | UUP | Cecil Walker | UUP | Resignation | ||
Belfast South | 23 January 1986 | Martin Smyth | UUP | Martin Smyth | UUP | Resignation | ||
Down North | 23 January 1986 | James Kilfedder | UPUP | James Kilfedder | UPUP | Resignation | ||
Down South | 23 January 1986 | Enoch Powell | UUP | Enoch Powell | UUP | Resignation | ||
Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 23 January 1986 | Ken Maginnis | UUP | Ken Maginnis | UUP | Resignation | ||
Lagan Valley | 23 January 1986 | James Molyneaux | UUP | James Molyneaux | UUP | Resignation | ||
East Londonderry | 23 January 1986 | William Ross | UUP | William Ross | UUP | Resignation | ||
Mid Ulster | 23 January 1986 | William McCrea | DUP | William McCrea | DUP | Resignation | ||
Strangford | 23 January 1986 | John Taylor | UUP | John Taylor | UUP | Resignation | ||
Newry and Armagh | 23 January 1986 | James Nicholson | UUP | Seamus Mallon | SDLP | Resignation | ||
Upper Bann | 23 January 1986 | Harold McCusker | UUP | Harold McCusker | UUP | Resignation |
References
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 (No. 1838)" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 22 December 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Walker, Brian Mercer (1992). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1918–1992 (New History of Ireland). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 33–37. ISBN 0901714968.
- ^ "Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament held in Northern Ireland: General Election 9 June 1983". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ^ "Westminster election, 9 June 1983". ARK: Northern Ireland Elections. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
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- MPs elected
- Scotland
- Wales
- Opinion polling
- Results
- Incumbent prime minister: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
- Appointed prime minister: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
the House of Commons
- Conservative (Margaret Thatcher)
- Labour (Michael Foot)
- SDP–Liberal Alliance
- David Steel - Liberal
- Roy Jenkins - SDP
- Ulster Unionist Party (James Molyneaux )
- Democratic Unionist Party (Ian Paisley)
- Scottish National Party (Gordon Wilson)
- Plaid Cymru (Dafydd Wigley)
- Social Democratic and Labour Party (John Hume)
- Sinn Féin (Ruairí Ó Brádaigh)
- Ulster Popular Unionist Party (James Kilfedder)
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