1985 Magherafelt District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1985

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

1985 Magherafelt District Council election

15 May 1985 (1985-05-15)
All 15 seats to Magherafelt District Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP Sinn Féin DUP Seats won 4 4 4 Seat change 1 4 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Ulster Unionist Independent Republican Irish Independence Seats won 3 0 0 Seat change 1 2 1   Seventh party   Party UUUP Seats won 0 Seat change 1

Election results

Magherafelt District Council Election Result 1985

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	4	0	1	1	26.7	28.2	5,186	2.6
	Sinn Féin	4	4	0	4	26.7	26.0	4,783	New
	DUP	4	0	0	0	26.7	24.0	4,405	0.0
	Ulster Unionist	3	0	1	1	20.0	19.3	3,562	9.4
	Workers' Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.3	239	0.2
	Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.2	213	1.3

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Magherafelt District Council election, 1985
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		Sinn Féin		DUP		UUP		Others
Magherafelt Town	23.1	1	20.4	1	34.5	2	18.6	1	3.4	0	5
Moyola	21.0	1	28.4	1	26.3	2	24.3	1	0.0	0	5
Sperrin	40.6	2	29.5	2	10.7	0	15.3	1	3.9	0	5
Total	28.2	4	26.0	4	24.0	4	19.3	3	2.5	0	15

District results

Magherafelt Town

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

Magherafelt Town - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	William McCrea*	32.24%	2,050
	Sinn Féin	Bhrighde Mac Giolla	20.40%	1,297
	SDLP	Patrick Kilpatrick	16.80%	1,068
	Ulster Unionist	Ernest Caldwell	13.38%	851	975.32	976.34	1,367.34
	DUP	Barclay Morrow	2.28%	145	956.68	957.02	1,031.74
	SDLP	Joseph McGlone	6.35%	404	406.4	616.86	687.1
	Ulster Unionist	James Artt	5.21%	331	367.48	367.82
	Alliance	Harold Hutchinson	3.35%	213	218.28	238
Electorate: 8,009   Valid: 6,359 (79.40%)   Spoilt: 81   Quota: 1,060   Turnout: 6,440 (80.41%)

Moyola

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

Moyola - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SDLP	Henry McErlean*	15.23%	904	1,200
	Sinn Féin	John Davey	15.97%	948	965	1,030
	Ulster Unionist	John Junkin*	16.63%	987	987	994
	DUP	Thomas Catherwood	14.10%	837	837	837	1,070
	DUP	Thomas Milligan*	12.15%	721	722	722	900	978.44
	Sinn Féin	Francis McElwee	12.47%	740	752	818	818	818
	Ulster Unionist	Alex Montgomery	7.72%	458	458	460
	SDLP	Francis Madden	5.74%	341
Electorate: 7,604   Valid: 5,936 (78.06%)   Spoilt: 160   Quota: 990   Turnout: 6,096 (80.17%)

Sperrin

1985: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

Sperrin - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Doherty	16.87%	1,028
	SDLP	Patrick Sweeney*	10.59%	645	715	1,037
	SDLP	Mary McSorley*	14.20%	865	886	950	1,427
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Toner	12.64%	770	806	814	860	1,001
	Ulster Unionist	Walter Richardson	15.35%	935	945	946	950	959
	DUP	John Linton*	10.70%	652	654	655	659	663
	SDLP	John Bradley	8.32%	507	524	586
	SDLP	Francis McKendry*	7.42%	452	478
	Workers' Party	Francis Donnelly	3.92%	239
Electorate: 7,558   Valid: 6,093 (80.62%)   Spoilt: 108   Quota: 1,016   Turnout: 6,201 (82.05%)