1973 Belfast City Council election

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 30 May 1973 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used eight district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors.

1973 Belfast City Council election
30 May 1973
All 51 seats to Belfast City Council
26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout62.54%
Map showing results by electoral area.
Council control before election

Irish Unionist

 Council control after election

No overall control

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.

The Ulster Unionist Party maintained its position as the largest party, winning just short of a majority, and William Christie continued as Lord Mayor.

Results by party
Party Seats ± First Pref. votes FPv% ±%
UUP 25 83,658 50.7%
Alliance 8 22,081 13.4%
SDLP 7 18,827 11.4%
NI Labour 2 9,046 5.5%
Republican Clubs 2 6,584 4.0%
United Loyalist 2 6,274 3.8%
Independent Unionist 2 4,997 3.0%
DUP 2 3,860 2.3%
Loyalist Coalition 1 4,823 2.9%
Republican Labour 0 2,594 1.6%
Independent Unionist Loyalist 0 967 0.6%
Independent Ratepayer 0 610 0.4%
Communist Party 0 211 0.1%
Ulster Liberal 0 172 0.1%
Non-Party 0 88 0.1%
Independent 0 180 0.1%
Totals 51 168,667 100% —

[1]

Results by electoral area

Belfast A
Belfast A - 7 seats[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1
UUP Grace Bannister 25.50 6,328
UUP Ben Horan 11.15 2,768
UUP Thomas Gildea 6.44 1,598
UUP William Blair 6.04 1,498
NI Labour Erskine Holmes 5.39 1,337
Vanguard W. H. Elliot 1,322
Alliance Patricia Carson 1,315
SDLP Ben Caraher 1,302
United Loyalist W. Dougherty 1,198
DUP Thomas Wright 1,158
UUP John McKeown 1,021
DUP W. G. Greene 874
Alliance Sam Edgerton 702
UUP Emma Dunbar 546
Independent Unionist J. Keenan 432
Alliance Bernadette Hopkirk 430
NI Labour J. Murray 421
United Loyalist / Ulster Constitution Party Lindsay Mason 271
Alliance Jacqueline Maguire 192
Communist Party H. Moore 101
Electorate: 33,915   Valid: 24,814 (95.3%)   Spoilt: 801   Quota: 2,013   Turnout: 25,615

    Belfast B
    Belfast B[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP Joshua Cardwell 6,708
    UUP John Allen 3,910
    United Loyalist H. K. Dickey 3,371
    Alliance Michael Brown 2,549
    UUP Thomas Patton 1,833
    UUP William Corry 1,488
    UUP Dorothy Dunlop 1,428
    Alliance D. Wonnacott 1,205
    UUP H. Cranston 1,085
    Alliance Coulson 878
    NI Labour W. J. Gunning 631
    Alliance Miller 534
    NI Labour Conway 507
    NI Labour Kirkpatrick 332
    Turnout 26,788

    Belfast C
    Belfast C[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP J. Webster 2,770
    UUP John William Kennedy 2,611
    UUP W. D. Gilmore 2,522
    UUP F. J. McGibben 2,247
    Alliance David Cook 2,241
    United Loyalist McNarry 1,693
    UUP Preston 1,404
    Alliance Muriel Pritchard 1,172
    SDLP M. O. Scott 948
    NI Labour Brian Garrett 817
    Alliance W. H. Jeffrey 731
    Alliance McDonough 681
    Independent RTPY Donaghy 610
    Republican Clubs Callaghan 503
    NI Labour Copley 186
    Turnout 21,346

    Belfast D
    Belfast D[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    SDLP J. Gillespie 2,306
    SDLP Desmond O'Donnell 1,332
    Alliance P. D. Corrie 1,159
    Alliance Wilson 1,080
    UUP Shaw 1,045
    SDLP J. P. McCarron 871
    Alliance Reginald Donnelly 822
    Republican Clubs John Brady 758
    Republican Clubs McAllister 684
    Republican Clubs Raymond O'Hagan 649
    Alliance McGrogan 569
    SDLP McKenna 530
    SDLP O'Connor 524
    Republican Labour Barnes 360
    Republican Clubs Bernard McDonagh 340
    Alliance Slavin 332
    NI Labour Hannon 326
    Republican Clubs McElroy 276
    Republican Labour McNamee 256
    Republican Labour Flanigan 241
    NI Labour Watson 169
    NI Labour Moyna 109
    Republican Labour Lavelle 90
    Republican Labour McDermott 86
    Turnout 15,915

    Belfast E
    Belfast E[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP William Christie 7,875
    DUP Fred Proctor 2,156
    Independent Unionist Hugh Smyth 2,145
    NI Labour Billy Boyd 1,758
    Alliance James Robinson 1,452
    United Loyalist D. Smylie 1,210
    SDLP Goan 1,012
    Republican Labour Fleming 842
    DUP Hoy 514
    SDLP Tanney 432
    NI Labour G. Chambers 264
    Independent Moore 88
    Turnout 20,015

    Belfast F
    Belfast F[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP H. Fletcher 3,441
    UUP James Stewart 3,320
    SDLP Paddy Devlin 2,242
    DUP William Spence 1,190
    UUP T. G. Murphy 1,000
    Republican Clubs John Sullivan 735
    Republican Clubs S. O'Hare 700
    Republican Clubs Dornan 560
    Republican Clubs Sean Flynn 538
    SDLP Owen Allen 475
    Alliance Maureen Smyth 370
    NI Labour Magee 232
    SDLP Desmond Gillespie 230
    Alliance Woods 230
    NI Labour W. Ritchie 165
    Republican Labour Clarke 129
    Communist Party Betty Sinclair 110
    Republican Labour McKenna 72
    Republican Labour Marron 29
    Turnout 16,390

    Belfast G
    Belfast G[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP M. Laird 3,632
    UUP Herbert Ditty 3,556
    SDLP Gerry Fitt 2,876
    UUP H. H. Kidd 2,651
    Independent Unionist Sammy Millar 2,291
    Alliance M. J. V. McKeown 572
    Republican Clubs John McAlea 376
    NI Labour Boyle 368
    Republican Clubs McGlade 291
    Republican Labour Jim O'Kane 193
    NI Labour Pakenham 182
    Republican Labour S. O'Hare 174
    NI Labour Jack Sharkey 132
    Independent Moya Saunders 52
    Republican Labour Scullion 19
    Independent Rigby 13
    Turnout 17,895

    Belfast H
    Belfast H[2]
    Party Candidate 1st Pref
    UUP John Carson 5,518
    UUP Frank Millar 3,993
    SDLP Thomas Donnelly 2,667
    Alliance John Ferguson 2,271
    UUP Myles Humphreys 1,935
    UUP Shannon 1,263
    UUP H. E. Smith 1,245
    Alliance McManus 974
    Independent United Loyalist David M. Riddelsdell 967
    UUP Mary Creighton 730
    Alliance Lantin 700
    UUP Lavery 689
    NI Labour Barbour 432
    NI Labour Simpson 407
    NI Labour Boyd 327
    Republican Labour Loughran 277
    Ulster Liberal R. A. Smith 172
    Independent Unionist McAuley 129
    Independent Daly 115
    Turnout 25,144

    References
    1. "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Belfast". Retrieved 15 June 2016.
    2. The Local Government Elections 1973–1981: Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections
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