1973 Northern Ireland local elections

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1973 Northern Ireland local elections
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30 May 1973 1977  

All council seats
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Noimage.png
Leader Brian Faulkner Gerry Fitt Oliver Napier
Party Ulster Unionist SDLP Alliance
Seats won1948263
Popular vote255,18792,60094,474
Percentage37.4%13.4%13.7%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Noimage.png Noimage.png Ian Paisley 1970.png
LeaderN/AN/A Ian Paisley
Party Independent Ind. Unionist DUP
Seats won522621
Popular vote48,94731,86628,811
Percentage7.0%4.4%4.1%

Northern Ireland local elections, 1973 (Council Control).svg
Colours denote the winning party with outright control

Northern Ireland local elections, 1973 (Largest party).svg
Colours denote the party with the most seats

Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The county councils, county borough and municipal borough corporations and urban and rural district councils were replaced by twenty-six local government districts.

Contents

Elections took place for all the seats on the district councils on 30 May 1973. Elections were by proportional representation, using the single transferable vote system. The district councils came into their powers on 1 October. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Results

Overall

Party [5] CouncillorsVotes
Total+/- % shareTotal
Ulster Unionist 194N/A37.4255,187
Alliance 63N/A13.794,474
SDLP 82N/A13.492,600
Independent 52N/A7.048,947
Ind. Unionist 26N/A4.431,866
United Loyalist20N/A4.228,906
DUP 21N/A4.128,811
Republican Clubs 8N/A3.020,680
NI Labour 4N/A2.517,422
Independent Loyalist16N/A1.417,360
Vanguard 10N/A1.613,305
Unity 6N/A1.510,281
Loyalist Coalition3N/A1.07,495
Nationalist 4N/A0.53,784
Independent Community3N/A0.43,036
Republican Labour 0N/A0.42,594
Independent Republican 3N/A0.21,911
Ulster Liberal 0N/A0.1704
Independent Ratepayer1N/A0.1841
Independent Radical1N/A0.1533
Communist 0N/A0.1363
Irish Labour 0N/A0.0290
Independent Nationalist 0N/A0.0147
Independent Labour 0N/A0.091
Total462Steady2.svg100.0%681,628

Results by council

CouncilControl1st party 19732nd party 1973Councillors
Antrim Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist (8) Alliance (2)15
Belfast City No overall control Ulster Unionist (25) Alliance (8)51
Ards Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist (11) Alliance (2)17
Armagh No overall control Ulster Unionist (10) SDLP (4)20
Ballymena No overall control
Ballymoney No overall control
Banbridge Ulster Unionist
Carrickfergus No overall control
Castlereagh No overall control
Coleraine Ulster Unionist
Cookstown No overall control
Craigavon No overall control
Down No overall control
Dungannon Ulster Unionist
Fermanagh No overall control
Larne LoyalistLoyalist (8) Alliance (3)15
Limavady United UnionistUnited Unionist (8) SDLP (4)15
Lisburn Ulster Unionist Ulster Unionist (14) Alliance (3)23
Londonderry No overall control SDLP (10)United Loyalist (9)27
Magherafelt No overall control
Moyle No overall control
Newry and Mourne No overall control
Newtownabbey No overall control
North Down No overall control
Omagh No overall control
Strabane No overall control
All councils Ulster Unionist (194) SDLP (82)517

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References

  1. Local Government Elections 1973 (Ark Social & Political Archive)
  2. Big Roman Catholic turnout in poll despite threats, The Times, 31 May 1973
  3. Party accused over Ulster poll, The Times, 31 May 1973
  4. Unionist supporters elect many hard-line men in Ulster local government poll, The Times, 2 June 1973
  5. Local Government Elections 1973, Northern Ireland Elections