# 1985 Magherafelt District Council election

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.

## 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 |
| UUP | 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 |
| Ward | SDLP | SDLP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 | | | |
| | UUP | 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 |
| | UUP | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | SDLP | Henry McErlean* | 15.23% | 904 | 1,200 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Davey | 15.97% | 948 | 965 | 1,030 | | |
| | UUP | 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 |
| | UUP | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 |
| | UUP | 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%) |||||||||