The by-election held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 9 April 1981 is considered by many to be the most significant by-election held in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It saw the first electoral victory for militant Irish republicanism, which the following year entered electoral politics in full force as Sinn Féin. The successful candidate was the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, who died twenty-six days later. The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting MP, Frank Maguire. Background of the constituency The constituency, based on the districts of Fermanagh and Dungannon, was created in 1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between unionist and Irish nationalist candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. Nationalists of various hues had won the constituency in the 1950, 1951 and 1955 general elections, while the Ulster Unionist Party had won in 1959, 1964 and 1966. As the Troubles gathered pace, nationalists agreed the Unity pact to run agreed candidates in border seats, with Frank McManus capturing Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 1970 general election. The February 1974 general election was the first to take place after several major political realignments in Northern Ireland. Opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement led to an alliance of unionist parties under the label of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition running agreed candidates in all constituencies, here putting forward the new leader of the Ulster Unionists, Harry West. Although unionist supporters of Sunningdale ran Hubert Brown, West garnered 26,858 votes (43.8%) to Brown's 3,157 (5.1%). The nationalist vote was evenly split with McManus gaining 16,229 votes (26.3%) and Denis Haughey, standing for the new Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), winning 15,410 votes (25.0%). Many believed that an agreed single nationalist candidate could have won the seat. When a second general election was held in October Frank Maguire stood as an Independent Republican with backing from all nationalists, while West was the sole unionist. Maguire gained 32,795 votes (51.8%) to West's 30,285 (47.9%) and 185 (0.3%) for Alan Evans, standing for the Communist Party of Ireland (Marxist–Leninist). The fine balance of the seat continued in the 1975 elections to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention when UUC gained 52% of the vote (with the small Unionist Party of Northern Ireland gaining an additional 2.3%). In the 1979 general election neither side fielded