1977 Northern Ireland local elections

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in May 1977.

1977 Northern Ireland local elections

18 May 1977

All council seats
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harry West Gerry Fitt Ian Paisley
Party UUP SDLP DUP
Seats won 176 113 74
Seat change 18 31 53
Popular vote 166,971 114,775 70,670
Percentage 30.0% 20.6% 12.8%
Swing 13.0% 7.2% 8.7%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Oliver Napier N/A Ernest Baird
Party Alliance Independent UUUP
Seats won 70 42 12
Seat change 7 10 12
Popular vote 80,282 42,841 15,831
Percentage 14.4% 7.6% 2.8%
Swing 0.7% 0.6% New party

Colours denote the winning party with outright control

Colours denote the party with the most seats

The elections saw good performances by the four largest parties: the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), while smaller parties failed to make a breakthrough. The DUP took control of their first council, Ballymena, while the UUP retained control of Banbridge. The SDLP lost control of Magherafelt, their only council.[1]

Results

Overall

Party[2] Councillors Votes
Total +/- % share Total
UUP 176 -18 30.0 166,971
SDLP 113 +31 20.6 114,775
Alliance 70 +7 14.4 80,282
DUP 74 +53 12.8 70,670
Independent 42 -10 7.6 42,841
UUUP 12 N/A 2.8 15,831
Republican Clubs 6 -2 2.6 14,277
Unionist Party NI 6 N/A 2.5 13,691
Independent Unionist 10 -16 1.7 9,202
Vanguard 5 -5 1.5 8,135
Unity 2 -4 1.0 5,528
NI Labour 1 -3 0.8 4,960
Nationalist 4 0 0.5 2,836
Independent Loyalist 2 -14 0.3 2,534
Independent Community 1 -2 0.3 1,731
British Ulster Dominion 0 N/A 0.1 644
United Ratepayer 1 N/A 0.1 635
Independent Labour 1 +1 0.1 484
Independent Ratepayer 0 0 0.1 321
Independent Nationalist 0 0 0.0 227
Communist Party 0 0 0.0 115
Independent Socialist 0 N/A 0.0 107

Belfast

Belfast A[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
Alliance Basil Glass 2,580
UUP Grace Bannister 2,367
DUP Raymond McCrea 1,912
DUP Robert J. Newman 1,549
SDLP Alasdair McDonnell 1,364
UUP Billy Blair 1,026
Unionist Party NI T. Jordan 954
UUUP Ben Horan 954
Alliance Dennis Loretto 667
NI Labour B. Garrett 594
UUP T. Gildea 483
UUP W. Shannon 452
Independent Unionist W. Elliot 379
UUP A. Shaw 378
UUUP P. Moles 345
Republican Clubs T. W. McGrattan 278
NI Labour D. Peters 93
Turnout 16,898
Social Democratic and Labour gain from Labour (NI)
Democratic Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist
Democratic Unionist gain from Vanguard
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist
Belfast B[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
Unionist Party NI Joshua Cardwell 2,722
Alliance Oliver Napier 2,703
UUP Tommy Patton 2,209
Alliance Michael Brown 2,045
UUP John Allen 1,903
DUP H. B. Evans 1,058
UUUP Reg Empey 981
DUP T. McIntyre 920
Alliance D. Wonnacott 781
UUP William Corry 664
NI Labour W. J. Gunning 631
UUP Dorothy Dunlop 622
UUP J. Hanna 541
UUUP S. Morgan 237
Turnout 18,741
Unionist Party NI gain from Ulster Unionist
Democratic Unionist gain from United Loyalist
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist
Belfast C[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
Alliance David Cook 2,748
Unionist Party NI Victor Brennan 1,446
UUP Andrew Cairns 1,287
Alliance Muriel Pritchard 1,274
UUP Margaret Crooks 1,142
SDLP M. O. Scott 923
Alliance W. H. Jeffrey 892
DUP A. McMeekin 872
Vanguard R. Jordan 780
UUP John William Kennedy 630
UUP W. D. Gilmore 619
DUP W. Spence 604
Independent Unionist J. Webster 340
NI Labour Macartney 330
Independent W. Weir 313
UUUP R. A. W. Johnston 199
UUUP J. Robinson 119
Turnout 15,041
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist
Unionist Party NI gain from Ulster Unionist
Belfast D[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
SDLP Paddy Devlin 7,087
Alliance Dan McGuinness 1,235
Republican Clubs Bernard McDonagh 942
SDLP Cormac Boomer 905
SDLP Mary Sullivan 760
Republican Clubs M. Lynch 723
Alliance R. Turkington 575
Republican Clubs K. Smyth 527
SDLP W. Hunter 477
Independent Socialist G. Campbell 107
Turnout 14,932
No change
Belfast E[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
UUP Billy Bell 3,297
Independent Jimmy Weir 2,184
DUP Fred Proctor 1,755
Alliance Alfred Egerton 1,223
Independent Unionist Hugh Smyth 1,140
NI Labour G. Chambers 809
Independent H. Stackman 718
DUP W. Lavery 715
UUP D. Smylie 667
UUP J. Sands 412
UUP Alfie Ferguson 366
Independent Peter Emerson 236
Turnout 14,228
Independent gain from United Loyalist
Ulster Unionist gain from Labour (NI)
Belfast F[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
SDLP Owen Allen 1,886
UUP James Stewart 1,681
Republican Clubs Jim Sullivan 1,099
UUP Harry Fletcher 1,081
Alliance Will Glendinning 1,077
DUP Billy Dickson 949
SDLP T. Lappin 899
DUP J. H. Parkes 525
UUP T. G. Murphy 369
Republican Clubs S. O'Hare 306
Communist Party James Stewart 115
Turnout 11,040
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist
Belfast G[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
SDLP Gerry Fitt 3,006
DUP Frederick Ashby 1,377
Republican Clubs Seamus Lynch 1,323
UUP Herbert Ditty 1,043
UUP Cecil Walker 779
DUP G. A. Haffey 742
UUP M. Laird 592
UUP Sammy Millar 515
Independent Unionist H. H. Kidd 387
Alliance McKeown 320
Turnout 10,970
Democratic Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist
Republican Clubs gain from Independent Unionist
Belfast H[3]
Party Candidate 1st Pref
SDLP Paschal O'Hare 2,414
Independent Unionist Frank Millar 2,321
UUP John Carson 2,250
UUP Myles Humphreys 1,942
Alliance John Cushnahan 1,865
DUP William Annon 1,507
SDLP Alban Maginness 1,099
Alliance R. O. Jamison 944
NI Labour Alan Carr 502
Unionist Party NI J. E. Gibson 462
DUP Cynthia McDowell 441
UUP J. S. Kennet 439
UUP Mary Creighton 331
Dominion Party A. Beattie 114
Turnout 17,316
Alliance gain from Ulster Unionist
Democratic Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist
Independent Unionist gain from Ulster Unionist

References

  1. "Four main parties do well", Irish Times, 20 May 1977
  2. Local Government Elections 1977, Northern Ireland Elections
  3. The Local Government Elections 1973–1981: Belfast, Northern Ireland Elections

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.