Upper Bann

map
Map by Conal Kelly

This constituency, most of which had been in the old Armagh and South Down constituencies, included all of Craigavon district and parts of Banbridge. The Upper Bann constituency was almost unchanged in the 1995 revision, so the new constituency is almost directly comparable to the old. The MP elected in 1983 was Harold McCusker (UUP); he died in 1990, and was replaced in a by-election by David Trimble (also UUP).

Election results, 1983-1992

9 April 1992

David Trimble MP (Ulster Unionist Party) 26,824 (59%)
Brid Rodgers(Social Democratic and Labour Party) 10,661 (23.4%)
Brendan Curran (Sinn Féin) 2,777 (6.1%)
William Ramsay (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 2,541 (5.6%)
Colette Jones (Conservative Party) 1,566 (3.4%)
Tom French (Workers' Party) 1,120 (2.5%)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority: 16,163; electorate: 67,460; votes cast: 67.4%

17 May 1990

David Trimble (Ulster Unionist Party) 20,547 (58.0%)
Brid Rodgers (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 6,698 (18.9%)
Sheena Campbell (Sinn Féin) 2,033 (5.7%)
Rev Hugh Ross (Ulster Independence Movement) 1,534 (4.3%)
Tom French (Workers Party) 1,083 (3.1%)
Colette Jones (Conservative) 1,038 (3.0%)
William Ramsay (Alliance) 948 (2.7%)
Gary McMichael (Ulster Democratic Party) 600 (1.7%)
Peter Doran (Green Party) 576 (1.6%)
Erskine Holmes (Independent Labour) 235 (0.6%)
Alistair Dunn (Social Democratic Party) 154 (0.4%)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority: 13,849; electorate: 66,377; spoilt votes: 174 (0.26%); votes cast: 53.4%

This is the largest number of candidates ever to stand for a Westminster election in a Northern Ireland seat - eleven.

11 June 1987

Harold McCusker MP (Ulster Unionist Party) 25,137 (61.5%)
Brid Rodgers (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 8,676 (20.5%)
Brendan Curran (Sinn Féin) 3,126 (7.4%)
Fionnuala Cook (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 2,487 (5.9%)
Tom French (Workers' Party) 2,004 (4.7%)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority: 17,361; electorate: 64,596; votes cast: 66.0%

23 January 1986

@Harold McCusker MP (Ulster Unionist Party) 29,311 (80.8%)
Tom French (Workers' Party) 6,978 (19.2%)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority 22,333; electorate 63,663; votes cast: 57.9%

9 June 1983

@Harold McCusker MP(Ulster Unionist Party) 24,888 (56.9%)
@James McDonald (Social Democratic and Labour Party) 7,807 (17.8%)
@Jim Wells (Democratic Unionist Party) 4,547 (10.4%)
Brendan Curran (Sinn Féin) 4,110 (9.4%)
Tom French (Workers' Party) 2,392 (5.5%)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority: 17,081; electorate: 60,797; votes cast: 72.0%

@ = member of the 1982-86 Assembly at the time of the election (McCusker had been elected from the old Armagh seat, McDonald had been elected from the old South Antrim, and Wells from the old South Down)
MP = outgoing MP

See also:

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.

Nicholas Whyte, 21 October 2000; last updated 3 April 2003 by Tineke Vaes.

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