1973 Ards Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1973

1973 Ards Borough Council election

30 May 1973 (1973-05-30)
All 17 seats to Ards Borough Council 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Ulster Unionist Alliance NI Labour Seats won 11 2 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party SDLP Ind. Unionist Loyalist Coalition Seats won 1 1 1

Elections to Ards Borough Council were held on 30 May 1973 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 17 councillors.

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

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Ulster Unionist	11		11,499	54.5
	Alliance	2		3,133	14.8
	Loyalist Coalition	1		1,608	8.0
	SDLP	1		1,180	5.6
	NI Labour	1		1,114	5.3
	Ind. Unionist	1		895	4.2
	Vanguard	0		1,510	7.2
	Ulster Liberal	0		167	0.8
Totals		17		21,106	100.0	—

Districts summary

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1973
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		Alliance		NILP		SDLP		Others
Area A	67.4	6	10.8	0	0.7	0	14.7	1	6.4	0	7
Area B	48.6	3	15.4	1	13.1	1	1.0	0	22.9	1	6
Area C	45.5	2	19.5	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	35.0	1	4
Total	54.5	11	14.8	2	5.3	1	5.6	1	19.8	2	17

Districts results

Area A

1973: 6 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

Ards Area A - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SDLP	J. B. McPolin	14.68%	1,101
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Cosbey	12.81%	961
	Ulster Unionist	John Scott	11.27%	845	845	847.17	854.17	879.51	1,029.51
	Ulster Unionist	J. Donnan	12.07%	905	906.87	910.55	925.55	937.89	1,020.89
	Ulster Unionist	T. G. H. Pollock	11.64%	873	873.17	873.51	891.51	904.51	990.51
	Ulster Unionist	Oliver Johnston	9.59%	719	719.17	722.17	730.34	742.34	814.34	870.58	915.58	944.83
	Ulster Unionist	G. McMordie	10.05%	754	755.02	757.02	760.19	778.7	836.7	871.48	891.48	914.73
	Alliance	C. McNamara	4.20%	315	416.49	451.74	510.8	817.24	823.92	823.92	824.92	824.92
	Vanguard	R. H. Willis	6.37%	478	478.68	484.19	940.36	492.36
	Alliance	M. Leroux	3.52%	264	268.25	278.25	403.35
	Alliance	William Sheldon	3.07%	230	234.59	249.67
	NI Labour	J. M. Paden	0.73%	55	100.22
Electorate: 13,393   Valid: 7,500 (56.00%)   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 938   Turnout: 7,592 (56.69%)

Area B

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x NILP, 1 x Loyalist Coalition

Ards Area B - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	Ulster Unionist	John Algie	19.38%	1,568
	Ulster Unionist	Cecilia Cooke	11.79%	954	1,120.14	1,120.14	1,130.14	1,146.92	1,228.92
	Alliance	Owen Dorrian	8.26%	668	671.9	719.9	755.9	830.42	835.68	836.59	1,207.59
	Ulster Unionist	William Spratt	8.80%	712	777.26	777.26	791.26	793.26	949.34	986.65	1,005.69	1,016.89	1,039.62	1,328.62
	Loyalist Coalition	Robert Brown	6.90%	558	573.86	573.86	580.86	581.38	587.9	589.72	593.72	593.88	961.9	1,009.53	1,044.53	1,605.53
	NI Labour	Robert Gaw	7.00%	566	584.46	591.46	630.46	648.72	652.72	652.72	687.93	702.33	712.43	789.12	815.12	858.26	934.26
	NI Labour	William Allen	6.09%	493	515.62	522.62	550.88	556.88	562.88	562.88	583.79	593.55	608.75	670.86	699.86	729.73	784.73
	Loyalist Coalition	William Hannigan	6.64%	537	541.94	542.2	543.2	546.2	550.72	552.54	554.54	555.98	642.28	674.99	697.99
	Ulster Unionist	Georgina Foulis	4.59%	371	430.54	430.54	443.8	449.06	512.7	539.09	560.39	570.31	607.3
	DUP	Irene Brown	6.34%	513	533.54	534.54	537.54	540.54	545.54	547.36	550.88	552.64
	Alliance	W. H. Forsythe	4.19%	339	343.68	344.68	354.68	477.68	481.68	484.41
	Ulster Unionist	H. McGimpsey	4.02%	325	344.76	344.76	349.28	351.28
	Alliance	G. Hirst	2.97%	240	242.34	242.34	254.34
	Ulster Liberal	Albert McElroy	2.06%	167	168.04	182.04
	SDLP	D. G. C. Devaney	0.98%	79	79.26
Electorate: 13,801   Valid: 8,090 (58.62%)   Spoilt: 127   Quota: 1,156   Turnout: 8,217 (59.54%)

Area C

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

Ards Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Ulster Unionist	D. Hamilton	11.69%	645	653	669	973	1,249
	Ulster Unionist	Hamilton McKeag	13.18%	727	740	777	881	1,201
	Alliance	Jim McBriar	12.36%	682	1,003	1,011	1,037	1,068	1,105.4
	Ind. Unionist	James Caughey	16.23%	895	920	939	969	1,004	1,065.2	1,123.85
	Vanguard	W. Crawford	10.75%	593	594	936	953	977	1,022.9	1,060.64
	Ulster Unionist	Harold Porter	10.55%	582	595	605	692
	Ulster Unionist	J. H. Cromie	10.12%	558	561	572
	Vanguard	D. McCreery	7.96%	439	445
	Alliance	Alice Rudnitzky	7.16%	395
Electorate: 8,762   Valid: 5,516 (62.95%)   Spoilt: 83   Quota: 1,104   Turnout: 5,599 (63.90%)