1970 Bannside by-election

The Bannside by-election of 1970 resulted was the first election won by Ian Paisley.

On 16 April 1970, in a by-election to the Northern Ireland Parliament, Paisley, standing on behalf of the Protestant Unionist Party, won the Bannside seat formerly held by Prime Minister Terence O'Neill.

This followed a close showing by Paisley where he had come 1,500 votes behind O'Neil in the 1969 general election. The seat that had not been contested since 1949, and the close result was seen as a bellweather for opposition to O'Neill.

In the 1970 UK general election, Paisley won the North Antrim seat in the UK Parliament, of which Bannside formed a part.

1970 Bannside by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Protestant Unionist	Ian Paisley	7,981	43.68	+5.04
	UUP	Bolton Minford	6,778	37.09	-10.18
	NI Labour	Patrick McHugh	3,514	19.23	New
Majority			1,203	6.59	N/A
Turnout			22,954	79.61	+0.20
	Protestant Unionist gain from UUP		Swing	N/A