Everything about Fermanagh And South Tyrone By-election April 1981 totally explained
The
by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on April 9 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant
by-election held in
Northern Ireland since the beginning of the
Troubles. It saw the first victory for the militant
Republican movement, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as
Sinn Féin. The successful candidate was the
IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands who died twenty-six days later.
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting
Member of Parliament Frank Maguire.
Background of the constituency
The constituency, based on the districts of
Fermanagh and
Dungannon, was created in
1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between
Unionist and
Nationalist candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. Nationalists of varioues hues had won the constituency in the
1950,
1951 and
1955 general elections, whilst the
Ulster Unionist Party had won in
1959,
1964 and
1966. Amidst the Troubles, nationalists agreed the
Unity pact to run agreed candidates in border seats, with
Frank McManus capturing Fermanagh & South Tyrone in the
1970 general election.
The
February 1974 general election was the first to take place after several major political realignments in Northern Ireland. Opposition to the
Sunningdale Agreement led to an alliance of Unionist parties under the label of the
United Ulster Unionist Coalition running agreed candidates in all constituencies, here putting forward the new leader of the Ulster Unionists,
Harry West. Although Unionist supporters of Sunningdale ran
Hubert Brown, West garnered 26,858 votes (43.8%) to Brown's 3,157 (5.1%). The Nationalist vote was very evenly split with McManus gaining 16,229 votes (26.3%) and
Denis Haughey, standing for the new
Social Democratic and Labour Party, winning 15,410 votes (25.0%). Many Nationalists believed that the constituency could have been won had there been an agreed single nationalist candidate. When a
second general election was held in October Frank Maguire stood as an
Independent Republican with backing from all Nationalists, whilst West was the sole Unionist. Maguire gained 32,795 votes (51.8%) to West's 30,285 (47.9%) and 185 (0.3%) for
Alan Evans, standing for the
Communist Party of Ireland.
The fine balance of the seat continued in the
1975 elections to the
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention when UUC gained 52% of the vote (with the small
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland gaining an additional 2.3%). In the
1979 general election neither side fielded sole candidates. Maguire was challenged by
Austin Currie, a local SDLP activist (and later official candidate) who disagreed with the party's decision to give Maguire a clear run, whilst the new Ulster Unionist candidate,
Raymond Ferguson, was challenged by
Ernest Baird, leader of the
United Ulster Unionist Party, who sought to cement his new party's electoral position. Additionally the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland ran
Peter Acheson. The results were: Maguire 22,398 (36.0%), Ferguson 17,411 (28.0%), Currie 10,785 (17.3%), Baird 10,607 (17.0%) and Acheson 1,070 (1.7%).
Candidates in the 1981 by-election
Maguire's death led to a by-election in early
1981, when the
1981 Irish Hunger Strike was underway. The by-election was seized on by supporters of the hunger strike as a way to register a protest and the leader of the hunger strikers,
Bobby Sands, was nominated on the label "
Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner".
Owen Carron served as his agent and
Danny Morrison organised the campaign.
The
Ulster Unionist Party nominated
Harry West, who had by now stood down as leader.
No other candidates contested the seat, making it one of the last occasions when a Westminster constituency had only two candidates. Currie railed against the SDLP's decision not to stand, but the result was a highly polarised contest between unionism and militant republicanism.
Results
The turnout was 86.9%. There were 3,280 spoilt ballot papers, presumably this high number was due to the limited choice of candidates. The second by-election saw far fewer spoilt papers, with most of these votes going to either the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland or the
Republican Clubs.
Consequences
Sands died only twenty-six days later, precipitating a
second by-election. New legislation was passed by Parliament to bar "convicted felons" from standing for election; as a result another hunger-striker couldn't be nominated and so
Owen Carron stood as "
Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner". The following year saw
Sinn Féin begin to contest elections in both Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland.
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