1983_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Northern_Ireland
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]
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17 seats in Northern Ireland of the 650 seats in the House of Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | ||
| Ulster Unionist | 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 | | |
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
- "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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