# 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.

## Election results

| Party | 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 | Totals | 17 | 21,106 | 100.0 | — |

## Districts summary

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1973 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | NILP | NILP | SDLP | SDLP | Others | 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 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1973: 6 x UUP, 1 x SDLP
Ards Area A - 7 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 |
| | 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%) |||||||||||||

### Area B

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x NILP, 1 x Loyalist Coalition
Ards Area B - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | 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%) ||||||||||||||||||

### Area C

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%) |||||||||||