Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1986

The 1986 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 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.

The Unionist candidates was able to survive with less than 50% of the vote due to a split Nationalist vote and both seats were gained by Sinn Féin in later elections once Unionist pacts had broken down.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UUP	Ken Maginnis	27,857	49.7	+2.1
	Sinn Féin	Owen Carron	15,278	27.2	-7.6
	SDLP	Austin Currie	12,081	21.5	+5.0
	Workers' Party	David Kettyles	864	1.5	-0.4
Majority			12,579
Turnout
	UUP hold		Swing

Other References

• British Parliamentary By Elections: Campaign literature from the by-elections
• CAIN: Westminster By-Elections (NI) - Thursday 23 January 1986
• Northern Ireland Elections: Westminster by-elections 1986