1973 Ards Borough Council election

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.

Party		Seats	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	UUP	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	—

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
Ward	UUP		Alliance		NILP		SDLP		Others		Total Cllrs
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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SDLP	J. B. McPolin	14.68%	1,101
	UUP	Henry Cosbey	12.81%	961
	UUP	John Scott	11.27%	845	845	847.17	854.17	879.51	1,029.51
	UUP	J. Donnan	12.07%	905	906.87	910.55	925.55	937.89	1,020.89
	UUP	T. G. H. Pollock	11.64%	873	873.17	873.51	891.51	904.51	990.51
	UUP	Oliver Johnston	9.59%	719	719.17	722.17	730.34	742.34	814.34	870.58	915.58	944.83
	UUP	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%)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	UUP	John Algie	19.38%	1,568
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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%)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	UUP	D. Hamilton	11.69%	645	653	669	973	1,249
	UUP	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
	UUP	Harold Porter	10.55%	582	595	605	692
	UUP	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%)

1973 Ards Borough Council election

Districts summary

Districts results

Area A

Area B

Area C

References

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v t e (1972 ←) 1973 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1974)
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