# 1973 North Down Borough Council election

Elections to North Down Borough Council were held on 30 May 1973 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 20 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 | 9 | 11,977 | 46.0 | |
| | Alliance | 7 | 7,691 | 29.5 | |
| | Loyalist | 4 | 4,638 | 17.8 | |
| | Independent | 0 | 1,282 | 4.9 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | 0 | 315 | 1.2 | |
| | NI Labour | 0 | 148 | 0.6 | |
| Totals | Totals | 20 | 26,393 | 100.0 | — |

## Districts summary

Results of the North Down Borough Council election, 1973 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 57.5 | 3 | 31.0 | 2 | 11.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Area B | 44.5 | 2 | 21.5 | 1 | 34.0 | 2 | 5 |
| Area C | 38.2 | 2 | 28.8 | 2 | 33.0 | 1 | 5 |
| Area D | 42.6 | 2 | 36.9 | 2 | 20.5 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 46.0 | 9 | 29.5 | 7 | 24.5 | 4 | 20 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1973: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance
North Down Area A - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | UUP | Robert Topping | 25.99% | 1,786 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Maurice Butler | 14.20% | 976 | 1,180.8 | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Bertie McConnell | 15.35% | 1,055 | 1,090.35 | 1,102.55 | 1,103.99 | 1,109.49 | 1,248.49 | | |
| | UUP | Edmund Mills | 8.08% | 555 | 686.95 | 800.25 | 804.09 | 832.96 | 845.8 | 848.96 | 1,279.96 |
| | Alliance | James Hamilton | 10.26% | 705 | 727.05 | 731.1 | 731.48 | 740.58 | 926.39 | 1,052 | 1,166.93 |
| | Loyalist | Thomas Barkley | 6.46% | 444 | 452.4 | 460.45 | 460.63 | 740.92 | 744.97 | 744.97 | 837.39 |
| | UUP | Robert McCready | 7.19% | 494 | 615.1 | 693.05 | 698.13 | 729.98 | 741.12 | 743.49 | |
| | Alliance | Anne Mayne | 5.43% | 373 | 377.9 | 385.35 | 385.49 | 388.86 | | | |
| | Loyalist | Campbell McCormick | 4.17% | 344 | 365.7 | 372.45 | 372.69 | | | | |
| | UUP | James Warden | 2.02% | 139 | 232.1 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,818 Valid: 6,871 (69.99%) Spoilt: 64 Quota: 1,146 Turnout: 6,935 (70.64%) ||||||||||||

### Area B

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Loyalist, 1 x Alliance
North Down Area B - 5 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 | John Preston | 19.24% | 1,276 | | | | | | | | |
| | Loyalist | George Green | 14.09% | 934 | 962 | 969.02 | 973.28 | 990.49 | 1,316.49 | | | |
| | Alliance | James Magee | 8.16% | 541 | 543 | 546.64 | 783.68 | 804.02 | 821.41 | 824.76 | 1,415.76 | |
| | UUP | Amy Corry | 10.83% | 718 | 722 | 760.22 | 765.48 | 892.35 | 930.38 | 941.77 | 956.42 | 1,121.22 |
| | Loyalist | Thomas Braniff | 10.33% | 685 | 754 | 757.9 | 762.03 | 771.55 | 898.37 | 1,080.61 | 1,090.06 | 1,114.86 |
| | UUP | Arminella McMullan | 8.34% | 553 | 553 | 586.28 | 591.93 | 869.78 | 907.77 | 919.16 | 929.81 | 1,047.41 |
| | Alliance | Clifford Creighton | 8.20% | 544 | 544 | 545.69 | 624.21 | 629.47 | 635.99 | 636.66 | | |
| | Loyalist | Bruce Mulligan | 7.51% | 498 | 526 | 532.89 | 535.89 | 561.92 | | | | |
| | UUP | Mary Norman | 6.09% | 404 | 407 | 474.21 | 483.47 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Denis Mayne | 5.16% | 342 | 344 | 347.12 | | | | | | |
| | Loyalist | Thomas O'Brien | 2.05% | 136 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,509 Valid: 6,631 (63.10%) Spoilt: 112 Quota: 1,106 Turnout: 6,743 (64.16%) |||||||||||||

### Area C

1973: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x Loyalist
North Down Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | UUP | Robert Campbell | 21.86% | 1,352 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | David Belshaw | 11.95% | 739 | 853.17 | 864.23 | 868.69 | 879.92 | 887.84 | 1,040.65 | |
| | Alliance | John Calvert | 12.76% | 789 | 797.05 | 808.05 | 844.05 | 844.05 | 975.43 | 988.58 | 1,080.58 |
| | Loyalist | Mary O'Fee | 10.32% | 638 | 655.94 | 672.4 | 677.63 | 941.7 | 943.93 | 966.46 | 1,071.46 |
| | Alliance | Jean Foster | 11.06% | 684 | 695.73 | 726.73 | 793.96 | 799.42 | 974.88 | 989.41 | 1,044.82 |
| | Independent | James Stark | 8.18% | 506 | 522.56 | 546.79 | 573.79 | 577.02 | 588.71 | 614.7 | 735.76 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Henry Garner | 5.09% | 315 | 376.64 | 380.87 | 383.87 | 390.56 | 397.56 | 534.55 | |
| | UUP | Henry Patton | 4.43% | 274 | 342.08 | 347.77 | 347.77 | 351.23 | 356.46 | | |
| | Alliance | Thomas Rollins | 5.01% | 310 | 313.91 | 328.91 | 341.91 | 341.91 | | | |
| | Loyalist | Christopher Millar | 4.62% | 286 | 290.14 | 294.14 | 296.14 | | | | |
| | NI Labour | Harold Parkhill | 2.39% | 148 | 148.92 | 170.92 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Brian Wilson | 2.31% | 143 | 145.3 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,067 Valid: 6,184 (68.20%) Spoilt: 53 Quota: 1,031 Turnout: 6,237 (68.79%) ||||||||||||

### Area D

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x Loyalist
North Down Area D - 5 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 |
| | UUP | John Auld | 14.89% | 948 | 959 | 967 | 1,022 | 1,152 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Keith Jones | 16.09% | 1,024 | 1,030 | 1,031 | 1,033 | 1,046 | 1,261 | | | | |
| | Alliance | James Shannon | 14.49% | 922 | 937 | 940 | 953 | 972 | 1,122 | | | | |
| | UUP | Kathleen McClure | 12.24% | 779 | 785 | 792 | 866 | 942 | 951 | 995 | 1,049.76 | 1,066.76 | |
| | Loyalist | Ian Kerr | 7.24% | 461 | 467 | 652 | 659 | 671 | 677 | 683 | 690.4 | 692.9 | 894.54 |
| | Independent | Henry McCourt | 8.48% | 540 | 573 | 575 | 576 | 578 | 599 | 695 | 696.48 | 729.48 | 881.18 |
| | UUP | David McCormick | 7.53% | 479 | 482 | 491 | 549 | 586 | 599 | 627 | 653.64 | 661.14 | |
| | Alliance | John Marks | 6.32% | 402 | 405 | 406 | 411 | 416 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Maurice Davison | 4.27% | 272 | 272 | 275 | 294 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Richard Thompson | 3.66% | 233 | 233 | 235 | | | | | | | |
| | Loyalist | Arthur Millar | 3.33% | 212 | 222 | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Francis McKeag | 1.46% | 93 | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,077 Valid: 6,365 (70.12%) Spoilt: 113 Quota: 1,061 Turnout: 6,478 (71.37%) ||||||||||||||