1973 Ballymena Borough Council election

Local government election in Northern Ireland

30 May 1973 (1973-05-30)

1977 →

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%	—

^[1]

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1973
by district^[1]
Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
Ward	UUP		DUP		Alliance		Vanguard		Others		Total Cllrs
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^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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

References

^ ^a ^b "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Ballymena". Retrieved 9 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Local Government Results 1973". EONI. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

Council elections in County Antrim

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council

Belfast City Council

1887
1897
1899
1902
1905
1908
1911
1914
1920
1924
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
2014
2019
2023

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council

Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council

Mid and East Antrim District Council

Antrim Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Ballymena Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Ballymoney Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Carrickfergus Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Larne Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Lisburn City Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Moyle District Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Newtownabbey Borough Council

1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2011
Abolished

Antrim County Council

1899
1902
1905
1908
1911
1914
1920
1924
1927
1930
1933
1937
1946
1949
1952
1955
1958
1961
1964
1967
Abolished

v t e (1972 ←) 1973 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1974)
County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Luton Merseyside Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Salop Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire
County councils (Wales)	Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan
County councils (Scotland)	Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Berwickshire Buteshire Caithness Clackmannanshire Dumfriesshire Dunbartonshire East Lothian Fife Inverness-shire Kincardineshire Kinross-shire Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire Midlothian Moray Nairnshire Orkney Peeblesshire Perthshire Renfrewshire Ross and Cromarty Roxburghshire Selkirkshire Stirlingshire Sutherland West Lothian Wigtownshire Zetland
Unicameral area	Greater London
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
City corporations	Aberdeen Dundee Edinburgh Glasgow
District councils (England)	Adur Allerdale Alnwick Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke Bassetlaw Bath Beaconsfield Bedford Berwick-upon-Tweed Beverley Blaby Blackburn Blackpool Blyth Valley Bolsover Boothferry Boston Bosworth Bournemouth Bracknell Braintree Breckland Brentwood Bridgnorth Brighton Bristol Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Caradon Carlisle Carrick Castle Morpeth Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cheltenham Cherwell Chesterfield Chester-le-Street Chester Chichester Chiltern Chorley Christchurch Cleethorpes Colchester Congleton Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Crewe Dacorum Darlington Dartford Daventry Derby Derwentside Dover Durham Easington East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eastbourne Eastleigh Eden Ellesmere Port Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fareham Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gillingham Glanford Gloucester Gosport Gravesham Great Yarmouth Grimsby Guildford Halton Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hartlepool Hartley Wintney Hastings Havant Hereford Hertsmere High Peak Holderness Horsham Hove Hull Huntingdon Hyndburn Ipswich Kennet Kerrier Kettering Kingswood Lancaster Langbaurgh Leicester Leominster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Maldon Malvern Hills Mansfield Medina Medway Melton Mendip Mid Bedfordshire Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Middlesbrough Milton Keynes Mole Valley New Forest Newark Newbury Newcastle-under-Lyme North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Shropshire North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire North Wiltshire North Wolds Northampton Northavon Norwich Nottingham Nuneaton Oadby and Wigston Oswestry Oxford Pastonacres Pendle Penwith Peterborough Petersfield Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Preston Purbeck Reading Redditch Reigate and Banstead Restormel Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Rutland Ryedale Salisbury Scarborough Scunthorpe Sedgefield Sedgemoor Selby Sevenoaks Shepway Shrewsbury Slough Spelthorne South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Derbyshire South Hams South Herefordshire South Holland South Kesteven South Lakeland South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Ribble South Shropshire South Staffordshire South Wight Southampton Southend-on-Sea St Albans St Edmundsbury Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Suffolk Coastal Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Taunton Deane Teesdale Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thamesdown Thanet Three Rivers Thurrock Tiverton Tonbridge and Malling Torbay Torridge Tunbridge Wells Tynedale Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Vale Royal Wallingford Wansbeck Wansdyke Warrington Warwick Watford Waveney Waverley Wealden Wear Valley Wellingborough Welwyn Hatfield West Derbyshire West Devon West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Norfolk West Oxfordshire West Somerset West Wiltshire Weymouth and Portland Wimborne Windsor and Maidenhead Winchester Woking Wokingham Woodspring Worcester Worthing Wrekin Wychavon Wycombe Wyre Wyre Forest Yeovil York
District councils (Wales)	Aberconwy Afan Alyn and Deeside Anglesey - Ynys Môn Arfon Blaenau Gwent Brecknock Cardiff Carmarthen Ceredigion Colwyn Cynon Valley Delyn Dinefwr Dwyfor Glyndŵr Islwyn Llanelli Lliw Valley Meirionnydd Merthyr Tydfil Monmouth Montgomery Neath Newport Ogwr Preseli Radnor Rhondda Rhuddlan Rhymney Valley South Pembrokeshire Swansea Taff-Ely Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan Wrexham Maelor
District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Londonderry Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Town councils	Airdrie Arbroath Ayr Clydebank Coatbridge Dunfermline Dumfries East Kilbride Falkirk Greenock Hamilton Inverness Kilmarnock Motherwell and Wishaw Paisley Perth Port Glasgow
Sui generis	Isles of Scilly