Northern Ireland local elections, 1973
Encyclopedia
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 council
s, county borough
and municipal borough
corporations and urban
and rural district
councils were replaced by twenty-six local government districts
.
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.
Local government in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland local councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom, for example they have no responsibility for education, for road building or for housing...
was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
The Local Government Act 1971 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, passed in 1971 to replace the previous system of local authorities established by the Local Government Act 1898...
and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972
Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 was an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland that constituted district councils to administer the twenty-six local government districts created by the Local Government Act 1971, and abolished the existing local authorities in Northern Ireland.-District...
. The county council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
s, county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
and municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
corporations and urban
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
and rural district
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...
councils were replaced by twenty-six local government districts
Districts of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland local councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom, for example they have no responsibility for education, for road building or for housing...
.
Elections took place for all the seats on the district councils on 30 May 1973. Elections were by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
, using the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
system. The district councils came into their powers on 1 October.
Overall
| Party | Councillors | Votes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | +/- | % share | Total | ||
| 194 | N/A | 17.0 | 255,187 | ||
| 63 | N/A | 13.7 | 94,474 | ||
| 82 | N/A | 13.4 | 92,600 | ||
| 52 | N/A | 7.0 | 48,947 | ||
| 26 | N/A | 4.4 | 31,866 | ||
| United Loyalist | 20 | N/A | 4.2 | 28,906 | |
| 21 | N/A | 4.1 | 28,811 | ||
| 8 | N/A | 3.0 | 20,680 | ||
| 4 | N/A | 2.5 | 17,422 | ||
| 16 | N/A | 1.4 | 17,360 | ||
| 10 | N/A | 1.6 | 13,305 | ||
| 6 | N/A | 1.5 | 10,281 | ||
| Loyalist Coalition | 3 | N/A | 1.0 | 7,495 | |
| 4 | N/A | 0.5 | 3,784 | ||
| 3 | N/A | 0.4 | 3,036 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.4 | 2,594 | ||
| 3 | N/A | 0.2 | 1,911 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 704 | ||
| 1 | N/A | 0.1 | 841 | ||
| 1 | N/A | 0.1 | 533 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.1 | 363 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 290 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 147 | ||
| 0 | N/A | 0.0 | 91 | ||
Belfast
| Belfast A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| Grace Bannister Grace Bannister Grace Bannister, OBE, was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Bannister was elected to Belfast Corporation in 1965, representing the Ulster Unionist Party . She stood as an independent Unionist in Belfast South at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973, after failing to secure an... |
6,328 | ||
| Ben Horan | 2,768 | ||
| T. Gildea | 1,598 | ||
| W. Blair | 1,498 | ||
| Erskine Holmes | 1,337 | ||
| W. H. Elliot | 1,322 | ||
| Cllr Carson | 1,315 | ||
| Ben Caraher | 1,302 | ||
| United Loyalist | Dougherty | 1,198 | |
| Thomas Wright | 1,158 | ||
| John McKeown | 1,021 | ||
| Greene | 874 | ||
| Sam Edgerton | 702 | ||
| Dunbar | 546 | ||
| Keenan | 432 | ||
| Hopkirk | 430 | ||
| Murray | 421 | ||
| Loyalist Coalition | Lindsay Mason | 271 | |
| Maguire | 192 | ||
| Moore | 101 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
25,174 | ||
| Belfast B | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| Joshua Cardwell Joshua Cardwell Joshua Cardwell was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Belfast and educated locally, Cardwell worked as the manager of a coal importing firm. In 1952 he was elected to Belfast City Council for Victoria Ward and later became an Alderman... |
6,708 | ||
| John Allen | 3,910 | ||
| United Loyalist | H. K. Dickey | 3,371 | |
| Michael Brown | 2,549 | ||
| Tommy Patton | 1,833 | ||
| William Corry | 1,488 | ||
| Dorothy Dunlop Dorothy Dunlop Dorothy Dunlop is a former Ulster Unionist and Conservative politician.Dunlop worked in the Arts Council in London and the for BBC Northern Ireland... |
1,428 | ||
| D. Wonnacott | 1,205 | ||
| H. Cranston | 1,085 | ||
| Coulson | 878 | ||
| W. J. Gunning | 631 | ||
| Miller | 534 | ||
| Conway | 507 | ||
| Kirkpatrick | 332 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
26,788 | ||
| Belfast C | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| J. Webster | 2,770 | ||
| John William Kennedy John William Kennedy John William Kennedy was an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. He represented Belfast Cromac from 1962-1973.... |
2,611 | ||
| W. D. Gilmore | 2,522 | ||
| F. J. McGibben | 2,247 | ||
| David Cook David Cook (politician) David Cook is a former politician in Northern Ireland.Cook works as a solicitor, eventually becoming a senior partner at Sheldon and Stewart Solicitors.... |
2,241 | ||
| United Loyalist | McNarry | 1,693 | |
| Preston | 1,404 | ||
| Muriel Pritchard | 1,172 | ||
| M. O. Scott | 948 | ||
| Brian Garrett | 817 | ||
| W. H. Jeffrey | 731 | ||
| McDonough | 681 | ||
| Donaghy | 610 | ||
| Callaghan | 503 | ||
| Copley | 186 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
21,346 | ||
| Belfast D | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| J. Gillespie | 2,306 | ||
| Desmond O'Donnell | 1,332 | ||
| P. D. Corrie | 1,159 | ||
| Wilson | 1,080 | ||
| Shaw | 1,045 | ||
| J. P. McCarron | 871 | ||
| Reginald Donnelly | 822 | ||
| John Brady | 758 | ||
| McAllister | 684 | ||
| Raymond O'Hagan | 649 | ||
| McGrogan | 569 | ||
| McKenna | 530 | ||
| O'Connor | 524 | ||
| Barnes | 360 | ||
| Bernard McDonagh | 340 | ||
| Slavin | 332 | ||
| Hannon | 326 | ||
| McElroy | 276 | ||
| McNamee | 256 | ||
| Flanigan | 241 | ||
| Watson | 169 | ||
| Moyna | 109 | ||
| Lavelle | 90 | ||
| McDermott | 86 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
15,915 | ||
| Belfast E | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| William Christie | 7,875 | ||
| Fred Proctor | 2,156 | ||
| Hugh Smyth Hugh Smyth Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973... |
2,145 | ||
| Billy Boyd Billy Boyd (politician) Billy Boyd was a politician from Northern Ireland.Boyd worked in the shipyards of Belfast and became active in the Northern Ireland Labour Party and stood unsuccessfully in Belfast Woodvale in the Northern Ireland general election, 1953, then again in a 1955 by-election... |
1,758 | ||
| James Robinson | 1,452 | ||
| United Loyalist | D. Smylie | 1,210 | |
| Goan | 1,012 | ||
| Fleming | 842 | ||
| Hoy | 514 | ||
| Tanney | 432 | ||
| G. Chambers | 264 | ||
| Moore | 88 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
20,015 | ||
| Belfast F | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| H. Fletcher | 3,441 | ||
| James Stewart | 3,320 | ||
| Paddy Devlin Paddy Devlin Paddy Devlin was a Northern Irish social democrat and Labour activist, a former Stormont MP, a founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive.-Early life:... |
2,242 | ||
| William Spence | 1,190 | ||
| T. G. Murphy | 1,000 | ||
| John Sullivan | 735 | ||
| S. O'Hare | 700 | ||
| Dornan | 560 | ||
| Sean Flynn | 538 | ||
| Owen Allen | 475 | ||
| Maureen Smyth | 370 | ||
| Magee | 232 | ||
| Desmond Gillespie Desmond Gillespie Desmond Gillespie was an Irish nationalist politician.Born in Kilnaleck, County Cavan, Gillespie worked as a publican in Belfast before joining the Social Democratic and Labour Party . He stood for Belfast City Council at the 1973 local elections, but was not elected... |
230 | ||
| Woods | 230 | ||
| W. Ritchie | 165 | ||
| Clarke | 129 | ||
| Betty Sinclair Betty Sinclair Betty Sinclair was an Irish communist activist.Born to a Protestant family in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, Sinclair became a mill worker and joined the Revolutionary Workers’ Group in 1932. In 1933, she was involved in the Outdoor Relief Strike... |
110 | ||
| McKenna | 72 | ||
| Marron | 29 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
16,390 | ||
| Belfast G | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| M. Laird | 3,632 | ||
| Herbert Ditty Herbert Ditty Herbert Ditty was a lifelong Ulster Unionist politician, representing the Shankill Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland.Ditty was a founding member of the Ulster Protestant Action executive in the 1950s.... |
3,556 | ||
| Gerry Fitt Gerry Fitt Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party , a social democratic and Irish nationalist party.-Early years:... |
2,876 | ||
| H. H. Kidd | 2,651 | ||
| Sammy Millar | 2,291 | ||
| M. J. V. McKeown | 572 | ||
| John McAlea | 376 | ||
| Boyle | 368 | ||
| McGlade | 291 | ||
| Kitty O'Kane | 193 | ||
| Pakenham | 182 | ||
| S. O'Hare | 174 | ||
| Jack Sharkey | 132 | ||
| Saunders | 52 | ||
| Scullion | 19 | ||
| Rigby | 13 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
17,895 | ||
| Belfast H | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | |
| John Carson John Carson (politician) John Carson is a former Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician.A draper who owned a shop in the interface area of the Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast, Carson was elected to Belfast City Council in 1973. The following year he was elected as a member of the United Ulster Unionist... |
5,518 | ||
| Frank Millar Frank Millar Frank Millar was a Northern Irish unionist politician.Millar worked in the shipyards, where he became a shop steward, before becoming a founder member of Ulster Protestant Action in 1956.... |
3,993 | ||
| Thomas Donnelly | 2,667 | ||
| John Ferguson John Ferguson (Northern Ireland politician) John Ferguson was a politician in Northern Ireland.Ferguson was born in Belfast and studied at the Moravian School. He worked as a fruit merchant, becoming chairman of the Retail Fruit Federation of Northern Ireland, and also as a volunteer social workers within Toc H, then joined the Ulster... |
2,271 | ||
| Myles Humphreys Myles Humphreys Sir Myles Humphreys, JP, DL was a Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party politician and activist, and an engineer and businessman.... |
1,935 | ||
| Shannon | 1,263 | ||
| H. E. Smith | 1,245 | ||
| McManus | 974 | ||
| David M. Riddelsdell | 967 | ||
| Mary Creighton | 730 | ||
| Lantin | 700 | ||
| Lavery | 689 | ||
| Barbour | 432 | ||
| Simpson | 407 | ||
| Boyd | 327 | ||
| Loughran | 277 | ||
| R. A. Smith | 172 | ||
| McAuley | 129 | ||
| Daly | 115 | ||
| Turnout Voter turnout Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s... |
25,144 | ||