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.Local Government Elections 1973 (Ark Social & Political Archive)Big Roman Catholic turnout in poll despite threats, The Times, 31 May 1973Party accused over Ulster poll, The Times, 31 May 1973Unionist supporters elect many hard-line men in Ulster local government poll, The Times, 2 June 1973
Results
Overall PartyLocal Government Elections 1973, Northern Ireland Elections Councillors VotesNotes Total +/- % share Total 216N/A40.2278,084 63N/A13.792,600 82N/A13.494,474Loyalist coalitions53N/A9.666,027 55N/A7.853,448 21N/A4.027,578 11N/A3.322,591 4N/A2.517,274 6N/A1.510,639 6N/A1.510,281 5N/A1.49,993 4N/A0.53,784 0N/A0.42,594 0N/A0.1704 0N/A0.1599 0N/A0.1363 0N/A0.0290 Total526100.0%691,323 On 21 March 1973, Ian Paisley, William Craig and Laurence Orr announced the creation of a united front to oppose the White Paper, a British government document that had proposed a power-sharing administration and a Council of Ireland to replace the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
Craig and Paisley had initially announced that their parties would not be contesting the local elections - but in practice, candidates from their parties did run, under their own party banners, but in many cases they opted to run under various 'loyalist' labels instead alongside anti-White Paper UUP members, non-party unionists, and localist unionists. The 'loyalist' labels included 'Loyalist', 'United Loyalist', 'Loyalist Coalition', 'Unionist Unity', 'United Unionist' and 'United Loyalist Coalition'.
Depending on the area, the candidates under the various 'loyalist' labels were supported by a coalition of some or all of Vanguard, the DUP, anti-White Paper UUP members, the Loyalist Association of Workers, the Orange Order, the Ulster Defence Association, the Loyalist Defence Volunteers, the Ulster Special Constabulary Association, and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers. In some cases, candidates under the DUP and Vanguard banners were running in the same areas as candidates under the various 'loyalist' labels.
In this election, many UUP candidates used the label "Unionist", while others used the label "Official Unionist". Candidates under both labels were identified as being UUP candidates by contemporary sources, with the difference in some places signifying whether the candidate supported the "official" party line on the White Paper.
Party seats by council CouncilUUP(U)SDLP (N)AP (O)LOY (U)DUP (U)RC (N)NILP (O)VUPP (U)Unity (N)Nat (N)IndInd (U)TotalUNOLargest blocLargest partyAntrim92112151104Unionist majorityUUP majorityBelfast City2578322225132910Unionist majorityUUP pluralityArds1112111171214Unionist majorityUUP majorityArmagh1141211201352Unionist majorityUUP majorityBallymena91515211506Unionist majorityUUP pluralityBallymoney6211616727Unionist/Other pluralityUUP/Ind pluralityBanbridge1213161213Unionist majorityUUP majorityCarrickfergus5361151104Unionist majorityLoyalist pluralityCastlereagh10531191306Unionist majorityUUP majorityColeraine131321201415Unionist majorityUUP majorityCookstown8311215942Unionist majorityUUP majorityCraigavon10243321251825Unionist majorityUUP pluralityDown8821120983Unionist pluralityUUP/SDLP pluralityDungannon11522201190Unionist majorityUUP majorityFermanagh841421201082Unionist pluralityUUP majorityLarne138315906Unionist majorityLoyalist majorityLimavady428115843Unionist majorityLoyalist majorityLisburn141341231913Unionist majorityUUP majorityLondonderry104913279144Nationalist majoritySDLP pluralityMagherafelt56111115671Nationalist pluralitySDLP pluralityMoyle52916529Other majorityInd majorityNewry and Mourne3134283031512Nationalist pluralitySDLP pluralityNewtownabbey123231211704Unionist majorityUUP majorityNorth Down974201307Unionist majorityUUP pluralityOmagh643211320866Unionist pluralityUUP pluralityStrabane6421215744Unionist pluralityUUP pluralityTotal21782635321114664555527301103122Unionist majority of council seatsUUP plurality of council seats
Votes by council CouncilUUP(U)SDLP (N)AP (O)LOY (U)DUP (U)RC (N)NILP (O)VUPP (U)Unity (N)Nat (N)Rep Lab (N)CPI (O)Liberal (O)Irish Labour (O)IndInd (U)Ind (N)TotalAntrim7,0383432,2917482878662,66314,236Belfast City83,65818,82722,08111,0973,8606,5849,0462,5942111728785,964164,972Ards11,4991,1803,1331,6081,1141,51016789521,106Armagh10,4055,2001,7852,6011,0705831531,13022,927Ballymena8,6881,4695,6074381,2765,46622,944Ballymoney3,7758246796872,8508,815Banbridge9,6221,1838501702,97214,797Carrickfergus3,4402,7164,4024721,12912,159Castlereagh14,2826,2485,2151,56434490428,557Coleraine12,4511,4832,8693256592002,6771,12121,785Cookstown6,4282,6719251,6521,7411,27614,693Craigavon11,5892,0925,0143,0962,9401,8793633,2461,20531,424Down8,9308,1012,8475631,6391,04623,126Dungannon11,4224,9131,3481,3502252,2971,04716222,764Fermanagh8,4123,5402,2852,0081,4957,2123,4061,49629,854Larne1,0365433,4116,4111821,81413,397Limavady3,4851,3055,53548381011,618Lisburn15,9791,7215,9165,4827492,16644520432,662Londonderry11,0084,93012,4832,091882,8504257133,946Magherafelt4,9785,5207881,7491,5621,0833771,07417,131Moyle1,814799334773,6446,668Newry and Mourne3,75710,2913,9393,1602882907,05438129,160Newtownabbey14,0705085,5652,2524,1581,7931,09029,436North Down12,2927,6914,6381481,28226,051Omagh5,3993,2792,2982,5087402429343,25014718,797Strabane7,1205,0891,7571,0487092,57518,298Total278,08492,60094,47466,02727,57822,59117,27410,63910,2813,7842,59421170429053,6009,993599691,323
Notes
References