# Ards Area C

Ards Area C was one of the three district electoral areas in Ards, Northern Ireland which existed from 1973 to 1985. The district elected four members to Ards Borough Council, and formed part of the North Down constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
It was created for the 1973 local elections, and contained the wards of Ballygowan, Comber North, Comber South and Killinchy. It was abolished for the 1985 local elections and replaced by the Ards West DEA.

## Councillors

| Election | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) |
| 1981 | Hamilton McKeag (UUP) | Thomas Gourley (DUP) | John Hamilton (DUP) | Jim McBriar (Alliance) |
| 1977 | Hamilton McKeag (UUP) | Thomas Gourley (DUP) | John Shields (Independent Unionist) | Jim McBriar (Alliance) |
| 1973 | Hamilton McKeag (UUP) | D. Hamilton (UUP) | James Caughey (Independent Unionist) | Jim McBriar (Alliance) |

## 1981 Election

1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Independent Unionist
Ards Area C - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | DUP | Thomas Gourley* | 26.19% | 1,479 | | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Hamilton McKeag* | 19.16% | 1,082 | 1,099.02 | 1,111.71 | 1,201.71 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | John Hamilton | 13.31% | 752 | 1,041.8 | 1,057.72 | 1,082.41 | 1,087.33 | 1,112.61 | 1,187.61 | | | |
| | Alliance | Jim McBriar* | 9.31% | 526 | 528.76 | 535.22 | 541.22 | 547.78 | 559.01 | 598.88 | 902.72 | 908.72 | 1,113.72 |
| | UUP | Gordon Brown | 5.91% | 334 | 339.52 | 356.75 | 416.05 | 466.89 | 481.12 | 551.78 | 571.78 | 595.78 | 753.78 |
| | Ind. Unionist | John Shields* | 5.51% | 311 | 314.68 | 317.68 | 325.14 | 327.6 | 499.62 | 540.9 | 570.59 | 584.59 | |
| | Alliance | Kathleen Coulter | 6.16% | 348 | 350.53 | 353.53 | 362.53 | 362.53 | 377.53 | 388.99 | | | |
| | UPUP | Robert McKee | 3.93% | 222 | 226.14 | 294.6 | 303.52 | 307.62 | 317.62 | | | | |
| | Independent | James Middleton | 4.20% | 237 | 240.22 | 247.22 | 255.45 | 257.91 | | | | | |
| | UUP | James Caughey | 3.77% | 213 | 217.83 | 224.83 | | | | | | | |
| | UPUP | Shirley McWhinney | 2.20% | 124 | 126.07 | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Thomas Adair | 0.35% | 20 | 20.69 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,936 Valid: 5,648 (56.84%) Spoilt: 168 Quota: 1,130 Turnout: 5,816 (58.53%) ||||||||||||||

## 1977 Election

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Ards Area C - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | UUP | Hamilton McKeag* | 19.16% | 823 | 842 | 869 | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | John Shields | 12.11% | 520 | 542 | 552 | 558 | 585 | 639 | 1,049 | | |
| | Alliance | Jim McBriar* | 10.43% | 448 | 451 | 452 | 687 | 706 | 779 | 824 | 917.84 | |
| | DUP | Thomas Gourley | 13.06% | 561 | 578 | 701 | 701 | 716 | 747 | 768 | 796.56 | 804.96 |
| | UUP | Harold Porter | 8.10% | 348 | 350 | 352 | 356 | 540 | 611 | 681 | 744.92 | 793.92 |
| | Independent | James Middleton | 9.73% | 418 | 434 | 442 | 452 | 482 | 584 | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | James Caughey* | 8.20% | 352 | 359 | 363 | 365 | 379 | | | | |
| | UUP | Adela Hamilton | 6.57% | 282 | 284 | 291 | 292 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Alice Rudnitzky | 6.08% | 261 | 264 | 265 | | | | | | |
| | UUUP | William Dempster | 3.77% | 170 | 187 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Arthur Spence | 2.61% | 112 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,514 Valid: 4,295 (45.14%) Spoilt: 120 Quota: 860 Turnout: 4,415 (46.41%) |||||||||||||

## 1973 Election

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
Ards Area C - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | 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%) |||||||||||