1985 Down District Council election
15 May 1985 (1985-05-15)
All 23 seats to Down District Council
12 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP Ulster Unionist DUP
Seats won 10 7 3
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 2 Steady 0
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Sinn Féin Workers' Party Alliance
Seats won 2 1 0
Seat change Increase 2 Steady 0 Decrease 1
  Seventh party
 
Party Independent Labour
Seats won 0
Seat change Decrease 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

Down District Council Election Result 1985[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SDLP 10 1 0 Increase1 43.5 41.6 9,851 Decrease0.5
  Ulster Unionist 7 2 0 Increase2 30.4 30.3 7,167 Increase3.0
  DUP 3 0 0 Steady0 13.0 12.2 2,886 Decrease0.8
  Sinn Féin 2 2 0 Increase2 0.0 6.5 1,549 New
  Workers' Party 1 0 0 Steady0 4.3 4.2 993 Decrease2.3
  Alliance 0 0 1 Decrease1 0.0 5.2 1,237 Decrease3.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Down District Council election, 1985
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
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

Ballynahinch

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

Ballynahinch - 5 seats[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12345
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

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

    Downpatrick - 7 seats[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456789
    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

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

      Newcastle - 6 seats[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456
      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

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

        Rowallane - 5 seats[2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345
        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

          1. 1 2 "Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. 1 2 3 4 "Local Government Results 1985". EONI. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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