On 9 June 1983, the 1983 United Kingdom general election was held in Northern Ireland, to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, including the 17 Northern Ireland seats. 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.

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.

Candidates

Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1983 general election in Northern Ireland.

Affiliation Candidates Social Democratic and Labour Party 17 Ulster Unionist Party 16 Democratic Unionist Party 14 Sinn Féin 14 Workers' Party 14 Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 12 Ulster Popular Unionist Party 1 Independent Democratic Unionist 1 Labour and Trade Union Group 1 Ecology Party 1 Independent Socialist 1 Democratic Left 1 Independent Labour 1 Independent 1Total 95

Results

+PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%) 11 6 0 6 64.7 259,952 34.0 2.6 3 0 0 17.6 152,749 20.0 9.8 1 0 0 5.9 137,012 17.9 0.3 1 colspan="2" 1 5.9 102,701 13.4 1 colspan="2" 1 5.9 22,681 3.0 0 0 0 — 61,275 8.0 3.9 0 0 0 — 14,650 1.9 0.2   Independent Socialist 0 colspan="3" — 10,326 1.3   Independent DUP 0 colspan="3" — 1,134 0.1 0 0 0 — 2,265 0.3 0.1 0 colspan="3" — 451 1.9 Total 17 0 100.0 764,925 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 72.9 5.2

MPs elected Constituency Party MPAntrim East Roy BeggsAntrim North Ian PaisleyAntrim South Clifford ForsytheBelfast East Peter RobinsonBelfast North Cecil WalkerBelfast South Martin SmythBelfast West Gerry AdamsDown North Jim KilfedderDown South Enoch PowellFermanagh and South Tyrone Ken MaginnisFoyle John HumeLagan Valley James MolyneauxLondonderry East William RossMid Ulster William McCreaNewry and Armagh Jim NicholsonStrangford John TaylorUpper Bann 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 CauseAntrim North23 January 1986Ian Paisley Ian Paisley ResignationAntrim East23 January 1986Roy Beggs Roy Beggs ResignationAntrim South23 January 1986Clifford Forsythe Clifford Forsythe ResignationBelfast East23 January 1986Peter Robinson Peter Robinson ResignationBelfast North23 January 1986Cecil Walker Cecil Walker ResignationBelfast South23 January 1986Martin Smyth Martin Smyth ResignationDown North23 January 1986James Kilfedder James Kilfedder ResignationDown South23 January 1986Enoch Powell Enoch Powell ResignationFermanagh and South Tyrone23 January 1986Ken Maginnis Ken Maginnis ResignationLagan Valley23 January 1986James Molyneaux James Molyneaux ResignationEast Londonderry23 January 1986William Ross William Ross ResignationMid Ulster23 January 1986William McCrea William McCrea ResignationStrangford23 January 1986John Taylor John Taylor ResignationNewry and Armagh23 January 1986James Nicholson Seamus Mallon ResignationUpper Bann23 January 1986Harold McCusker Harold McCusker Resignation

See also 1983 United Kingdom general election in England 1983 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1983 United Kingdom general election in Wales

References

References