# 1977 Ballymena Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymena Borough Council were held on 18 May 1977 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 21 councillors.

## Election results

Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1977 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 11 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 52.4 | 40.1 | 5,175 | 15.9 |
| UUP | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 19.0 | 19.5 | 2,523 | 18.4 |
| Ind. Unionist | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 14.3 | 21.4 | 2,765 | 12.1 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 9.5 | 13.7 | 1,774 | 0.8 |
| Alliance | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4.8 | 5.2 | 672 | 1.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1977 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 36.6 | 2 | 28.3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 35.1 | 1 | 4 |
| Area B | N/A | 4 | N/A | 2 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 0 | 6 |
| Area C | 50.5 | 3 | 13.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 36.2 | 2 | 5 |
| Area D | 34.3 | 2 | 18.4 | 1 | 12.0 | 1 | 35.3 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 40.1 | 11 | 19.5 | 4 | 5.2 | 1 | 35.2 | 5 | 21 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent 1977: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Ballymena Area A - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | Independent | James Woulahan | 21.93% | 784 | | |
| | DUP | William Turtle | 20.28% | 725 | | |
| | DUP | James Millar | 20.03% | 584 | 716 | |
| | UUP | Thomas Hume* | 14.43% | 516 | 531 | 698 |
| | UUP | Thomas McCaughey* | 13.87% | 496 | 498 | 589 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Lyle Cubitt | 8.62% | 308 | 315 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | William Wilson* | 4.53% | 162 | | |
| Electorate: 5,986 Valid: 3,575 (59.72%) Spoilt: 79 Quota: 716 Turnout: 3,654 (61.04%) |||||||

### Area B

1973: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1977: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1973-1977 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and Independent, Independent Unionists (two seats) join UUP
Ballymena Area B - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 |
| | DUP | Roy Gillespie* | N/A | N/A |
| | DUP | John Greer | N/A | N/A |
| | DUP | Hubert Nicholl | N/A | N/A |
| | UUP | Hugh Simpson* | N/A | N/A |
| | UUP | Thomas Smyth* | N/A | N/A |
| | DUP | Sandy Spence* | N/A | N/A |
| Electorate: N/A Valid: N/A Spoilt: N/A Quota: N/A Turnout: N/A |||||
* As only six candidates had been nominated for six seats, there was no vote in Area B and all six candidates were deemed elected.

### Area C

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Vanguard 1977: 3 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist 1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP, Independent Unionists (two seats) leave UUP and Vanguard
Ballymena Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | DUP | John McAuley* | 22.61% | 928 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | George Sloane* | 20.71% | 850 | | | | | |
| | DUP | Desmond McBurney | 18.56% | 762 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | David Allen* | 15.47% | 635 | 653.34 | 716.36 | | | |
| | DUP | Albert Young | 9.33% | 383 | 589.82 | 593.81 | 658.41 | 677.66 | 678.92 |
| | UUP | William Simpson | 7.87% | 323 | 327.59 | 376.94 | 381.04 | 583.55 | 612.39 |
| | UUP | Robert McCosh | 5.46% | 224 | 236.96 | 285.05 | 288.75 | | |
| Electorate: 9,789 Valid: 4,105 (41.93%) Spoilt: 183 Quota: 685 Turnout: 4,288 (43.80%) ||||||||||

### Area D

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent 1977: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist 1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP, Independent Unionist leaves UUP
Ballymena Area D - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Independent | Patrick Burke* | 18.93% | 990 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Samuel Henry* | 15.49% | 810 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Muriel Lamont | 12.85% | 672 | 882.08 | | | | |
| | UUP | William Rainey | 12.89% | 674 | 683.1 | 736.4 | 764.56 | | |
| | DUP | Maurice Mills* | 12.18% | 637 | 638.56 | 640.9 | 644.66 | 702.56 | 706.24 |
| | DUP | James Alexander | 11.61% | 607 | 609.08 | 611.94 | 615.06 | 667.66 | 671.66 |
| | DUP | Robert McAuley | 10.50% | 549 | 552.64 | 553.42 | 556.38 | 582.42 | 583.94 |
| | UUP | David Thompson* | 5.55% | 290 | 297.28 | 326.66 | 348.66 | | |
| Electorate: 11,819 Valid: 5,229 (44.24%) Spoilt: 176 Quota: 748 Turnout: 5,405 (45.73%) ||||||||||