1990 Upper Bann by-election
17 May 1990
Constituency of Upper Bann
Turnout53.4% (Decrease 12.6%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
SF
Candidate David Trimble Bríd Rodgers Sheena Campbell
Party Ulster Unionist SDLP Sinn Féin
Popular vote 20,547 6,698 2,033
Percentage 58.0% 18.9% 5.7%
Swing Decrease 3.5% Decrease 1.6% Decrease 1.7%
MP before election

Harold McCusker
Ulster Unionist

 Subsequent MP

David Trimble
Ulster Unionist

The 1990 by-election in Upper Bann was caused by the death of the sitting Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament Harold McCusker on 2 February 1990.

The by-election was especially notable for three reasons. Firstly, the Sinn Féin candidate in the election, Sheena Campbell, was murdered by the UVF in Belfast on 16 October 1992.

Eleven candidates stood in the by-election, which to date is the record for a parliamentary election in Northern Ireland. Secondly, amongst the eleven were candidates for the Conservative Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), both contesting parliamentary elections in Northern Ireland for the first time since the "Equal Citizenship" campaign had sought to get the major UK parties to organise in the province. Finally the successful Ulster Unionist candidate was David Trimble, who five years later would become the leader of the party.

The SDP candidate took only 154 votes, and finished in eleventh and last place – the worst performance in a by-election by any party with MPs sitting in the House of Commons since the English National Party in the 1976 Rotherham by-election.

Results

1990 Upper Bann by-election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Ulster Unionist David Trimble 20,547 58.0 −3.5
SDLP Bríd Rodgers 6,698 18.9 −1.6
Sinn Féin Sheena Campbell 2,033 5.7 −1.7
Ulster Independence Hugh Ross 1,534 4.3 N/A
Workers' Party Tom French 1,083 3.1 −1.6
NI Conservatives Colette Jones 1,038 3.0 N/A
Alliance William Ramsay 948 2.7 −3.2
Ulster Democratic Gary McMichael 600 1.7 N/A
Green Peter Doran 576 1.6 N/A
Independent Labour Erskine Holmes 235 0.6 N/A
SDP Alistair Dunn 154 0.4 N/A
Majority 13,849 39.1 -1.9
Turnout 35,446 53.4 −12.6
Registered electors 66,377
Ulster Unionist hold Swing

General Election result, 1987

General election 1987: Upper Bann[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Ulster Unionist Harold McCusker 25,137 61.5 +4.6
SDLP Bríd Rodgers 8,676 20.5 +3.7
Sinn Féin Brendan Curran 3,126 7.4 −2.0
Alliance Mary Cook 2,487 5.9 N/A
Workers' Party Tom French 2,004 4.7 −0.8
Majority 17,361 41.0 -20.4
Turnout 41,430 66.0 −6.0
Registered electors 64,540
Ulster Unionist hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987–92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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