1985 Down District Council election

Local govt election in Northern Ireland

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1985

1985 Down District Council election | <- 1981 | 15 May 1985 (1985-05-15) | 1989 ->

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All 23 seats to Down District Council
12 seats needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|  |  |
Party  | SDLP | Ulster Unionist | DUP
Seats won  | 10  | 7  | 3
Seat change  |  1  |  2  |  0

* * *

| Fourth party  | Fifth party  | Sixth party
|  |  |
Party  | Sinn Féin | Workers' Party | Alliance
Seats won  | 2  | 1  | 0
Seat change  |  2  |  0  |  1

* * *

| Seventh party  |
|  |
Party  | Independent Labour |
Seats won  | 0  |
Seat change  |  1  |

Elections to Down District Council were held on 15 May 1985 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

## Election results[edit]

Down District Council Election Result 1985[1] Party  | Seats  | Gains  | Losses  | Net gain/loss  | Seats %  | Votes %  | Votes  | +/−

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| SDLP | 10  | 1  | 0  | 1 | 43.5  | 41.6 | 9,851 | 0.5
| Ulster Unionist | 7  | 2  | 0  | 2 | 30.4  | 30.3  | 7,167  | 3.0
| DUP | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 13.0  | 12.2  | 2,886  | 0.8
| Sinn Féin | 2  | 2  | 0  | 2  | 0.0  | 6.5  | 1,549  | New
| Workers' Party | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 4.3  | 4.2  | 993  | 2.3
| Alliance | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1 | 0.0  | 5.2  | 1,237  | 3.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary[edit]

Results of the Down District Council election, 1985
by district[1] Ward  | %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| Total
Cllrs

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SDLP | UUP | DUP | Sinn Féin | Workers Party | Others
Ballynahinch | 40.5  | 2  | 33.3  | 2  | 18.9  | 1  | 0.0  | 0  | 0.0  | 0  | 7.3  | 0  | 5
Downpatrick | 57.4  | 4  | 16.3  | 1  | 0.0  | 0  | 9.9  | 1  | 9.1  | 1  | 7.3  | 0  | 7
Newcastle | 40.8  | 3  | 22.1  | 1  | 12.0  | 1  | 14.0  | 1  | 5.8  | 0  | 5.3  | 0  | 6
Rowallane  | 22.4  | 1  | 55.7  | 3  | 21.9  | 1  | 0.0  | 0  | 0.0  | 0  | 0.0  | 0  | 5
Total | 41.6  | 10  | 30.3  | 7  | 12.2  | 3  | 6.5  | 1  | 4.2  | 1  | 5.2  | 0  | 23

## District results[edit]

### Ballynahinch[edit]

1985: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP

Ballynahinch \- 5 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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|
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
| SDLP | James Magee*  | 19.00%  | 1,020 |  |  |  |
| Ulster Unionist | William Brown*  | 18.70%  | 1,004 |  |  |  |
| DUP | Thomas Poole*  | 13.82%  | 742  | 742.24  | 971.24 |  |
| Ulster Unionist | James Cochrane | 14.57%  | 782  | 782  | 822  | 928 |
| SDLP | Francis Laverty*  | 10.36%  | 556  | 630.52  | 630.64  | 788.12  | 879.32
| SDLP | Patrick Savage  | 11.10%  | 596  | 635  | 635  | 711.48  | 728.76
| Alliance | Patrick Forde*  | 7.38%  | 396  | 403.44  | 405.44  |  |
| DUP | Stanley Priestley  | 5.08%  | 273  | 273.12  |  |  |
Electorate: 7,947  Valid: 5,369 (67.56%)  Spoilt: 111  Quota: 895  Turnout: 5,480 (68.96%)

### Downpatrick[edit]

1985: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Workers' Party

Downpatrick \- 7 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| SDLP | Eddie McGrady*  | 26.92%  | 1,886 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Ulster Unionist | Samuel McCartney | 16.28%  | 1,141 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| SDLP | Dermot Curran*  | 11.50%  | 806  | 963.68 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| SDLP | Sean Quinn | 8.26%  | 579  | 976.44 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| SDLP | John Ritchie*  | 6.62%  | 464  | 686.48  | 692.72  | 696.34  | 755.7  | 797.94  | 803.1  | 1,008.1 |
| Sinn Féin | Geraldine Ritchie | 9.90%  | 694  | 740.44  | 740.83  | 750.22  | 757.22  | 761.84  | 762.84  | 805.15  | 820.15
| Workers' Party | Raymond Blaney*  | 7.91%  | 554  | 616.1  | 625.85  | 685.18  | 693.86  | 700.46  | 710.85  | 763.26  | 797.26
| Alliance | Michael Healy  | 4.40%  | 308  | 324.74  | 406.64  | 410.89  | 412.71  | 414.69  | 702.8  | 748.39  | 782.39
| SDLP | Madge McAvoy  | 4.08%  | 286  | 375.1  | 377.83  | 382.91  | 403.77  | 434.13  | 443.45  |  |
| Alliance | Margaret Donnelly  | 2.95%  | 207  | 212.94  | 373.23  | 375.31  | 376.43  | 377.09  |  |  |
| Workers' Party | Alan McCullough  | 2.95%  | 82  | 89.56  | 93.07  |  |  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 10,997  Valid: 7,007 (63.72%)  Spoilt: 159  Quota: 876  Turnout: 7,166 (65.16%)

### Newcastle[edit]

1985: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP

Newcastle \- 6 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
| Ulster Unionist | Gerald Douglas*  | 22.06%  | 1,350 |  |  |  |  |
| Sinn Féin | Hugh McDowell | 13.97%  | 855 |  |  |  |  |
| DUP | Ethel Smyth*  | 11.99%  | 734  | 1,117.75 |  |  |  |
| SDLP | Eamon O'Neill*  | 13.51%  | 827  | 829.52  | 832.08  | 924.08 |  |
| SDLP | Michael Boyd | 13.43%  | 822  | 825.24  | 827.16  | 890.16 |  |
| SDLP | James Curry*  | 7.25%  | 444  | 446.16  | 448.4  | 487.4  | 516.51  | 843.1
| Alliance | Anthony Dickinson  | 5.33%  | 326  | 396.92  | 625.36  | 672.04  | 677.01  | 690.15
| SDLP | Peter Fitzpatrick  | 6.62%  | 405  | 405.72  | 406.36  | 426.72  | 441.53  |
| Workers' Party | Edward O'Hagan  | 4.17%  | 255  | 257.52  | 259.76  |  |  |
| Workers' Party | Sean Magee  | 1.67%  | 102  | 103.44  | 103.76  |  |  |
Electorate: 8,978  Valid: 6,120 (68.17%)  Spoilt: 135  Quota: 875  Turnout: 6,255 (69.67%)

### Rowallane[edit]

1985: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

Rowallane \- 5 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
| Ulster Unionist | Dermot Nesbitt*  | 22.75%  | 1,180 |  |  |  |
| Ulster Unionist | Samuel Osborne*  | 20.59%  | 1,068 |  |  |  |
| Ulster Unionist | William Biggerstaff | 12.38%  | 642  | 877.44 |  |  |
| DUP | William Dick | 14.42%  | 748  | 789.58  | 857.98  | 866.82 |
| SDLP | Margaret Ritchie | 12.13%  | 629  | 636.29  | 639.41  | 639.67  | 1,146.67
| DUP | Trevor Lennon  | 7.50%  | 389  | 413.03  | 539.75  | 542.83  | 547.83
| SDLP | Oliver Flanagan  | 10.24%  | 531  | 532.62  | 535.98  | 536.14  |
Electorate: 7,860  Valid: 5,187 (65.99%)  Spoilt: 87  Quota: 865  Turnout: 5,274 (67.10%)

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1985". EONI. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

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*[FPv%]: First preference votes percentage
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