1973 Ballymena Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1973

1973 Ballymena Borough Council election

30 May 1973 (1973-05-30)
All 21 seats to Ballymena Borough Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party UUP DUP Ind. Unionist Seats won 9 5 3   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Independent Alliance Vanguard Seats won 2 1 1

Elections to Ballymena 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 21 councillors.

Election results

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	UUP	9		8,688	37.9%
	DUP	5		5,607	37.9%
	Ind. Unionist	3		2,142	9.3%
	Independent	2		3,324	14.5%
	Alliance	1		1,469	6.4%
	Vanguard	1		1,276	5.6%
	NI Labour	0		438	1.9%
Totals		21		22,944	100.0%	—

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1973
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		DUP		Alliance		Vanguard		Others
Area A	45.3	2	13.6	1	2.3	0	0.0	0	38.8	1	4
Area B	16.0	1	39.1	2	5.3	0	0.0	0	39.6	3	6
Area C	40.9	3	18.4	1	4.5	0	22.4	1	13.8	0	5
Area D	50.8	3	22.8	1	11.7	1	0.0	0	14.7	1	6
Total	37.9	9	24.2	5	6.4	1	5.6	1	25.9	5	21

Districts results

Area A

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

Ballymena Area A - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Thomas Hume	21.74%	934
	Ind. Unionist	Clifford Davison	20.81%	894
	UUP	Thomas McCaughey	14.87%	639	666	1,036
	DUP	William Wilson	13.64%	586	592	612	759.4	818.57	849.95
	Independent	J. J. O'Hagan	17.99%	773	792	794	822.6	835.02	835.46
	UUP	D. McCarthy	8.70%	374	409
	Alliance	S. O. Nesbitt	2.26%	97
Electorate: 6,576   Valid: 4,297 (65.34%)   Spoilt: 57   Quota: 860   Turnout: 4,354 (66.21%)

Area B

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent

Ballymena Area B - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	A. Simpson	22.30%	1,390
	DUP	Sandy Spence	20.07%	1,251
	DUP	Roy Gillespie	19.06%	1,188
	UUP	W. Dickey	11.78%	734	930.8
	Ind. Unionist	Hugh Simpson	7.49%	467	541	648.3	728.34	814.64	894.12
	Ind. Unionist	Thomas Smyth	6.03%	376	431.6	504.1	607.6	693.1	786.54
	UUP	W. O. Given	4.19%	261	305.8	433.98	481.36	569.28	685.18
	Alliance	Maeve Kyle	5.30%	330	398.4	413.48	420.38	435.78
	Independent	W. R. McNeilly	3.77%	235	291	324.64	378
Electorate: 9,474   Valid: 6,232 (65.78%)   Spoilt: 61   Quota: 891   Turnout: 6,293 (66.42%)

Area C

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Vanguard

Ballymena Area C - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Vanguard	David Allen	20.65%	1,169
	DUP	John McAuley	18.35%	1,039
	UUP	George Sloane	17.20%	974
	UUP	A. Hyndman	8.76%	496	514.24	521.17	525.69	551.96	559.58	616.08	621.47	687.04	750.6	823.03
	UUP	W. McWilliams	8.21%	465	477.92	484.58	489.15	513.53	523.58	565.82	570.23	639.26	693.06	744.59
	UUP	F. McNeill	6.73%	381	390.88	394.03	394.22	416.31	421.68	437.53	438.56	491.07	524.02	566.39
	Alliance	M. M. McAleese	4.49%	254	255.33	255.33	259.33	265.33	265.93	272.14	418.23	449.66	453.36
	Vanguard	Elizabeth Roulton	1.89%	107	264.51	329.04	329.23	348.44	349.7	377.8	382.08	400.1
	Ind. Unionist	William Simpson	3.74%	212	216.37	218.62	219.8	241.74	243.9	274.19	298.19
	NI Labour	F. R. Kelly	3.06%	173	174.14	174.5	213.59	226.59	226.71	238.86
	Ind. Unionist	Robert McCosh	3.41%	193	199.84	205.87	206.96	211.15	212.92
	Independent	J. Montgomery	2.54%	144	147.23	148.67	149.67
	NI Labour	B. Galbraith	0.97%	55	57.85	58.21
Electorate: 9,068   Valid: 5,662 (62.44%)   Spoilt: 89   Quota: 944   Turnout: 5,751 (63.42%)

Area D

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

Ballymena Area D - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	UUP	Samuel Henry	34.37%	2,321
	DUP	Maurice Mills	19.81%	1,338
	Independent	Patrick Burke	11.58%	782	823.18	826.54	903.82	907.82	955.46	967.36
	UUP	R. L. D. Pinkerton	2.71%	183	555.94	574.98	579.58	625.38	653.44	912.32	1,065.32
	UUP	David Thompson	5.29%	357	663.24	678.64	688.96	790.46	813.4	890.72	1,063.72
	Alliance	J. O'Mullan	7.48%	505	527.04	528.72	577.58	580.9	770.64	804.86	830.76	????
	DUP	H. S. Roulton	3.04%	205	266.48	574.2	584.22	594.58	597.86	617.8	694.34	????
	UUP	J. D. Walker	4.07%	275	420	427	429.58	517.1	531.26	565.92
	UUP	John Magaughin	1.91%	129	368.54	376.66	388	416.36	428.68
	Alliance	Phyllis Doloughan	4.19%	283	297.5	298.06	339.34	346.36
	UUP	Dorothy Smith	2.44%	165	283.32	287.8	292.68
	NI Labour	S. McQuiston	1.64%	111	126.08	127.2
	NI Labour	J. A. Rooney	1.47%	99	99	100.96
Electorate: 10,323   Valid: 6,753 (65.42%)   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 965   Turnout: 6,844 (66.30%)

• Data missing from stage 9