1973 North Down Borough Council election

Elections to North Down Borough Council were held on 30 May 1973 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 20 councillors.

1973 North Down Borough Council election
30 May 1973 (1973-05-30) 1977 →

All 20 seats to North Down Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party UUP Alliance Loyalist
Seats won 9 7 4

The elections were the first following the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland, brought about by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 & Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, which replaced the previous FPTP ward system with a new system of proportional representation using multi-member district electoral areas.

Election results

edit
Party Seats ± First Pref. votes FPv% ±%
UUP 9 11,977 46.0
Alliance 7 7,691 29.5
Loyalist 4 4,638 17.8
Independent 0 1,282 4.9
Ind. Unionist 0 315 1.2
NI Labour 0 148 0.6
Totals 20 26,393 100.0

[1]

Districts summary

edit
Results of the North Down Borough Council election, 1973
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
UUP Alliance Others
Area A 57.5 3 31.0 2 11.5 0 5
Area B 44.5 2 21.5 1 34.0 2 5
Area C 38.2 2 28.8 2 33.0 1 5
Area D 42.6 2 36.9 2 20.5 1 5
Total 46.0 9 29.5 7 24.5 4 20

Districts results

edit

Area A

edit

1973: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance

North Down Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UUP Robert Topping 25.99% 1,786              
UUP Maurice Butler 14.20% 976 1,180.8            
Alliance Bertie McConnell 15.35% 1,055 1,090.35 1,102.55 1,103.99 1,109.49 1,248.49    
UUP Edmund Mills 8.08% 555 686.95 800.25 804.09 832.96 845.8 848.96 1,279.96
Alliance James Hamilton 10.26% 705 727.05 731.1 731.48 740.58 926.39 1,052 1,166.93
Loyalist Thomas Barkley 6.46% 444 452.4 460.45 460.63 740.92 744.97 744.97 837.39
UUP Robert McCready 7.19% 494 615.1 693.05 698.13 729.98 741.12 743.49  
Alliance Anne Mayne 5.43% 373 377.9 385.35 385.49 388.86      
Loyalist Campbell McCormick 4.17% 344 365.7 372.45 372.69        
UUP James Warden 2.02% 139 232.1            
Electorate: 9,818   Valid: 6,871 (69.99%)   Spoilt: 64   Quota: 1,146   Turnout: 6,935 (70.64%)  

Area B

edit

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Loyalist, 1 x Alliance

North Down Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
UUP John Preston 19.24% 1,276                
Loyalist George Green 14.09% 934 962 969.02 973.28 990.49 1,316.49      
Alliance James Magee 8.16% 541 543 546.64 783.68 804.02 821.41 824.76 1,415.76  
UUP Amy Corry 10.83% 718 722 760.22 765.48 892.35 930.38 941.77 956.42 1,121.22
Loyalist Thomas Braniff 10.33% 685 754 757.9 762.03 771.55 898.37 1,080.61 1,090.06 1,114.86
UUP Arminella McMullan 8.34% 553 553 586.28 591.93 869.78 907.77 919.16 929.81 1,047.41
Alliance Clifford Creighton 8.20% 544 544 545.69 624.21 629.47 635.99 636.66    
Loyalist Bruce Mulligan 7.51% 498 526 532.89 535.89 561.92        
UUP Mary Norman 6.09% 404 407 474.21 483.47          
Alliance Denis Mayne 5.16% 342 344 347.12            
Loyalist Thomas O'Brien 2.05% 136                
Electorate: 10,509   Valid: 6,631 (63.10%)   Spoilt: 112   Quota: 1,106   Turnout: 6,743 (64.16%)  

Area C

edit

1973: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x Loyalist

North Down Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UUP Robert Campbell 21.86% 1,352              
UUP David Belshaw 11.95% 739 853.17 864.23 868.69 879.92 887.84 1,040.65  
Alliance John Calvert 12.76% 789 797.05 808.05 844.05 844.05 975.43 988.58 1,080.58
Loyalist Mary O'Fee 10.32% 638 655.94 672.4 677.63 941.7 943.93 966.46 1,071.46
Alliance Jean Foster 11.06% 684 695.73 726.73 793.96 799.42 974.88 989.41 1,044.82
Independent James Stark 8.18% 506 522.56 546.79 573.79 577.02 588.71 614.7 735.76
Ind. Unionist Henry Garner 5.09% 315 376.64 380.87 383.87 390.56 397.56 534.55  
UUP Henry Patton 4.43% 274 342.08 347.77 347.77 351.23 356.46    
Alliance Thomas Rollins 5.01% 310 313.91 328.91 341.91 341.91      
Loyalist Christopher Millar 4.62% 286 290.14 294.14 296.14        
NI Labour Harold Parkhill 2.39% 148 148.92 170.92          
Independent Brian Wilson 2.31% 143 145.3            
Electorate: 9,067   Valid: 6,184 (68.20%)   Spoilt: 53   Quota: 1,031   Turnout: 6,237 (68.79%)  

Area D

edit

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x Loyalist

North Down Area D - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
UUP John Auld 14.89% 948 959 967 1,022 1,152          
Alliance Keith Jones 16.09% 1,024 1,030 1,031 1,033 1,046 1,261        
Alliance James Shannon 14.49% 922 937 940 953 972 1,122        
UUP Kathleen McClure 12.24% 779 785 792 866 942 951 995 1,049.76 1,066.76  
Loyalist Ian Kerr 7.24% 461 467 652 659 671 677 683 690.4 692.9 894.54
Independent Henry McCourt 8.48% 540 573 575 576 578 599 695 696.48 729.48 881.18
UUP David McCormick 7.53% 479 482 491 549 586 599 627 653.64 661.14  
Alliance John Marks 6.32% 402 405 406 411 416          
UUP Maurice Davison 4.27% 272 272 275 294            
UUP Richard Thompson 3.66% 233 233 235              
Loyalist Arthur Millar 3.33% 212 222                
Independent Francis McKeag 1.46% 93                  
Electorate: 9,077   Valid: 6,365 (70.12%)   Spoilt: 113   Quota: 1,061   Turnout: 6,478 (71.37%)  

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: North Down". Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1973". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.