# Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Dáire Hughes of Sinn Féin who was first elected at the 2024 election.

## Boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Armagh, and the District of Newry and Mourne wards of Ballybot, Belleek, Bessbrook, Camlough, Creggan, Crossmaglen, Daisy Hill, Derrymore, Drumalane, Drumgullion, Fathom, Forkhill, Newtownhamilton, St Mary's, St Patrick's, Tullyhappy, and Windsor Hill.
1997–present: The District of Armagh, and the District of Newry and Mourne wards of Ballybot, Bessbrook, Camlough, Creggan, Crossmaglen, Daisy Hill, Derrymore, Drumgullion, Drumalane, Fathom, Forkhill, Newtownhamilton, Silver Bridge, St Mary's, St Patrick's, Tullyhappy, and Windsor Hill.
The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from the old Armagh constituency with the addition of Newry town from the old South Down constituency. In 1995, the Boundary Commission originally proposed to abolish the seat with the Armagh district joining most of Dungannon in a new 'Blackwater' constituency with the rest becoming part of a new Newry and Mourne constituency. This was strongly opposed during the local enquiries and the eventual boundary review did not implement it. The constituency contains the entirety of the former Armagh district and the Newry half of the former Newry and Mourne district.

## History

For the history of the equivalent constituency prior to 1983, please see Armagh.
The constituency is majority nationalist, though initially on its creation in 1983 Jim Nicholson of the Ulster Unionist Party won the seat due to the nationalist vote being divided between the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin. In 1986 Nicholson, along with all the other unionist MPs, resigned his seat in protest over the Anglo-Irish Agreement and stood in a by-election to provide voters the opportunity to decide on it. However the nationalist parties contested the seat and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP gained sufficient votes to outpoll Nicholson and win the seat. Mallon held it until his retirement in 2005.
The main attention has been upon the rise of the Sinn Féin vote. In the 2001 election they surged forward, cutting Mallon's majority drastically, as well as heavily outpolling the SDLP in the equivalent area local elections held on the same day. Then in the 2003 Assembly election Sinn Féin won three seats to the SDLP's one. Mallon stood down at the 2005 general election fearing the loss of his seat as was widely predicted among political pundits, the seat subsequently fell to Sinn Féin with Murphy out polling the SDLP by almost 8000 votes.
Newry is overwhelmingly nationalist, and was one of two districts in Northern Ireland to return a numerical majority of people identifying themselves as "Irish" at the 2011 census at 52.1% Irish. Armagh is more unionist, though it does have a larger proportion of people identifying as "Irish" in comparison to the Northern Ireland average at 44.4% "British" 32.4% "Irish".

## Members of Parliament

The Member of Parliament since the 2024 general election is Dáire Hughes of Sinn Féin.
| Election | Member | Party | Notes |
| 1983 | Jim Nicholson | Ulster Unionist | Resigned December 1985 in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement; defeated at subsequent by-election |
| 1986 by-election | Seamus Mallon | SDLP | Deputy Leader of the SDLP 1979–2001; Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland 1998–2001 |
| 2005 | Conor Murphy | Sinn Féin |
| 2015 | Mickey Brady | Sinn Féin |
| 2024 | Dáire Hughes | Sinn Féin |

## Election results
### Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Dáire Hughes | 22,299 | 48.5 | +7.5 |
| | SDLP | Pete Byrne | 6,806 | 14.8 | −4.6 |
| | DUP | Gareth Wilson | 5,900 | 12.8 | −7.4 |
| | TUV | Keith Ratcliffe | 4,099 | 8.9 | New |
| | UUP | Sam Nicholson | 3,175 | 6.9 | −0.8 |
| | Alliance | Helena Young | 2,692 | 5.9 | −2.5 |
| | Aontú | Liam Reichenberg | 888 | 1.9 | −1.4 |
| | NI Conservatives | Samantha Rayner | 83 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,493 | 33.7 | +15.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,942 | 58.7 | −3.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 78,244 | | |
| | Sinn Féin hold | Sinn Féin hold | Swing | 6.1 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Mickey Brady | 20,287 | 40.0 | ―7.9 |
| | DUP | William Irwin | 11,000 | 21.7 | ―2.9 |
| | SDLP | Pete Byrne | 9,449 | 18.6 | +1.7 |
| | Alliance | Jackie Coade | 4,211 | 8.3 | +6.0 |
| | UUP | Sam Nicholson | 4,204 | 8.3 | ±0.0 |
| | Aontú | Martin Kelly | 1,628 | 3.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,287 | 18.3 | ―5.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,779 | 62.5 | ―6.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 81,246 | | |
| | Sinn Féin hold | Sinn Féin hold | Swing | | |
General election 2017: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Mickey Brady | 25,666 | 47.9 | +6.8 |
| | DUP | William Irwin | 13,177 | 24.6 | New |
| | SDLP | Justin McNulty | 9,055 | 16.9 | ―7.2 |
| | UUP | Sam Nicholson | 4,425 | 8.3 | ―24.4 |
| | Alliance | Jackie Coade | 1,256 | 2.3 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,489 | 23.3 | +14.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,579 | 68.5 | +4.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 78,266 | | |
| | Sinn Féin hold | Sinn Féin hold | Swing | | |
General election 2015: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Mickey Brady | 20,488 | 41.1 | ―0.9 |
| | UUP | Danny Kennedy | 16,312 | 32.7 | +13.6 |
| | SDLP | Justin McNulty | 12,026 | 24.1 | +0.7 |
| | Alliance | Kate Nicholl | 841 | 1.7 | +0.5 |
| | NI Conservatives | Robert Rigby | 210 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,176 | 8.4 | ―10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,877 | 64.2 | +3.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 77,633 | | |
| | Sinn Féin hold | Sinn Féin hold | Swing | ―7.2 | |
General election 2010: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Conor Murphy | 18,857 | 42.0 | +0.6 |
| | SDLP | Dominic Bradley | 10,526 | 23.4 | ―1.8 |
| | UCU-NF | Danny Kennedy | 8,558 | 19.1 | +5.2 |
| | DUP | William Irwin | 5,764 | 12.8 | ―5.6 |
| | Independent | Willie Frazer | 656 | 1.5 | New |
| | Alliance | Andrew Muir | 545 | 1.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,331 | 18.6 | +2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,906 | 60.4 | ―9.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 74,308 | | |
| | Sinn Féin hold | Sinn Féin hold | Swing | +1.2 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Sinn Féin | Conor Murphy | 20,965 | 41.4 | +10.5 |
| | SDLP | Dominic Bradley | 12,770 | 25.2 | ―12.2 |
| | DUP | Paul Berry | 9,311 | 18.4 | ―1.0 |
| | UUP | Danny Kennedy | 7,025 | 13.9 | +1.6 |
| | Independent | Gerry Markey | 625 | 1.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,195 | 16.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,696 | 70.0 | ―6.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 71,771 | | |
| | Sinn Féin gain from SDLP | Sinn Féin gain from SDLP | Swing | +11.3 | |
General election 2001: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 20,784 | 37.4 | ―5.6 |
| | Sinn Féin | Conor Murphy | 17,209 | 30.9 | +9.8 |
| | DUP | Paul Berry | 10,795 | 19.4 | New |
| | UUP | Sylvia McRoberts | 6,833 | 12.3 | ―21.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,575 | 6.5 | ―2.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,621 | 76.8 | +1.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 72,466 | | |
| | SDLP hold | SDLP hold | Swing | ―7.8 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 22,904 | 43.0 | ―6.3 |
| | UUP | Danny Kennedy | 18,015 | 33.8 | ―2.5 |
| | Sinn Féin | Patrick McNamee | 11,218 | 21.1 | +8.6 |
| | Alliance | Peter Whitcroft | 1,015 | 1.9 | 0.0 |
| | Natural Law | David Evans | 123 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,889 | 9.2 | ―3.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,275 | 75.4 | ―2.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 70,807 | | |
| | SDLP hold | SDLP hold | Swing | ―1.9 | |
1997 Changes are compared to the 1992 notional results shown below.
Notional 1992 UK General Election Result: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | N/A | 25,740 | 49.3 | N/A |
| | UUP | N/A | 18,930 | 36.3 | N/A |
| | Sinn Féin | N/A | 6,530 | 12.5 | N/A |
| | Alliance | N/A | 972 | 1.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,810 | 13.1 | N/A |
General election 1992: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 26,073 | 49.6 | +1.5 |
| | UUP | Jim Speers | 18,982 | 36.1 | ―1.8 |
| | Sinn Féin | Brendan Curran | 6,547 | 12.5 | +0.7 |
| | Alliance | Eileen Bell | 972 | 1.8 | +0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,091 | 13.5 | +3.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,574 | 77.9 | ―1.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 67,531 | | |
| | SDLP hold | SDLP hold | Swing | +1.7 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 25,137 | 48.1 | +11.3 |
| | UUP | Jim Nicholson | 19,812 | 37.9 | ―2.1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Jim McAllister | 6,173 | 11.8 | ―9.1 |
| | Alliance | William Henry Jeffrey | 664 | 1.3 | New |
| | Workers' Party | Gerard O'Hanlon | 482 | 0.9 | ―1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,325 | 10.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,268 | 79.2 | +3.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 66,027 | | |
| | SDLP gain from UUP | SDLP gain from UUP | Swing | +6.7 | |
By-election 1986: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 22,694 | 45.5 | +8.7 |
| | UUP | Jim Nicholson | 20,111 | 40.3 | +0.3 |
| | Sinn Féin | Jim McAllister | 6,609 | 13.2 | ―7.7 |
| | Workers' Party | Patrick McCusker | 515 | 1.0 | ―1.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,583 | 5.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,929 | 76.9 | +0.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 65,142 | | |
| | SDLP gain from UUP | SDLP gain from UUP | Swing | +4.2 | |
General election 1983: Newry and Armagh :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | UUP | Jim Nicholson | 18,988 | 40.0 | |
| | SDLP | Seamus Mallon | 17,434 | 36.8 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Jim McAllister | 9,928 | 20.9 | |
| | Workers' Party | Thomas Moore | 1,070 | 2.3 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,554 | 3.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,420 | 76.0 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 62,298 | | |
| | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) | UUP win (new seat) |