1973 Northern Ireland local elections

Northern Ireland local elections, 1973
All council seats
	Colours denote the winning party with outright control
	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.

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

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D46A4C;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unionist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #EE0000;" data-sort-value="Republican Clubs" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Northern Ireland Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: darkorange;" data-sort-value="Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: olive;" data-sort-value="Unity (Northern Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #32cd32;" data-sort-value="Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #85de59;" data-sort-value="Republican Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #d1ffb2;" data-sort-value="Independent Republican (Ireland)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DAA520;" data-sort-value="Ulster Liberal Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #DCDCDC;" data-sort-value="Independent (politician)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E3170D;" data-sort-value="Communist Party of Ireland" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Irish Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #cdffab;" data-sort-value="Independent Nationalist" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FFBBBB;" data-sort-value="Independent Labour" |

Party^[5]		Councillors		Votes
Party^[5]		Total	+/-	% share	Total
UUP	194	K.A.	17.0	255,187
Alliance	63	K.A.	13.7	94,474
SDLP	82	K.A.	13.4	92,600
Independent	52	K.A.	7.0	48,947
Ind. Unionist	26	K.A.	4.4	31,866
	United Loyalist	20	K.A.	4.2	28,906
DUP	21	K.A.	4.1	28,811
Republican Clubs	8	K.A.	3.0	20,680
NI Labour	4	K.A.	2.5	17,422
Independent Loyalist	16	K.A.	1.4	17,360
Vanguard	10	K.A.	1.6	13,305
Unity	6	K.A.	1.5	10,281
	Loyalist Coalition	3	K.A.	1.0	7,495
Nationalist	4	K.A.	0.5	3,784
Independent Community	3	K.A.	0.4	3,036
Republican Labour	0	K.A.	0.4	2,594
Ind. Republican	3	K.A.	0.2	1,911
Ulster Liberal	0	K.A.	0.1	704
Independent Ratepayer	1	K.A.	0.1	841
Independent Radical	1	K.A.	0.1	533
Communist	0	K.A.	0.1	363
Irish Labour	0	K.A.	0.0	290
Ind. Nationalist	0	K.A.	0.0	147
Independent Labour	0	K.A.	0.0	91

By council

Results by council

Council	Control		1st party 1973		2nd party 1973
Antrim style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP (8) style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance (2)	15
Belfast City style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: black;" data-sort-value="No overall control" \|	No overall control style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP (25) style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance (8)	51
Ards style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP (11) style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F6CB2F;" data-sort-value="Alliance Party of Northern Ireland" \|	Alliance (2)	17
Armagh
Ballymena
Ballymoney
Banbridge
Carrickfergus
Castlereagh
Coleraine
Cookstown
Craigavon
Down
Dungannon
Fermanagh
Larne
Limavady
Lisburn
Londonderry style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: black;" data-sort-value="No overall control" \|	No overall control style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" \|	SDLP (10)		United Loyalist (9)	27
Magherafelt
Moyle
Newry and Mourne
Newtownabbey
North Down
Omagh
Strabane
All councils		style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #48A5EE;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Party" \|	UUP (194) style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2AA82C;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic and Labour Party" \|	SDLP (82)	517

References

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

[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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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