# 1977 Newtownabbey Borough Council election

Elections to Newtownabbey 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

Newtownabbey Borough Council Election Result 1977 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 38.1 | 38.1 | 7,452 | 9.7 |
| Alliance | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 28.6 | 28.4 | 5,556 | 9.5 |
| DUP | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 3,712 | 4.9 |
| Unionist Party NI | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 689 | New |
| Loyalist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 457 | 2.8 |
| Ind. Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 825 | 4.2 |
| Republican Clubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 168 | New |
| British Ulster Dominion Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 147 | New |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 90 | 1.7 |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 32 | 0.1 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Newtownabbey Borough Council election, 1977 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | DUP | DUP | UPNI | UPNI | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 63.3 | 3 | 14.9 | 1 | 17.7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.1 | 0 | 5 |
| Area B | 34.1 | 2 | 18.9 | 1 | 16.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 31.0 | 2 | 6 |
| Area C | 26.4 | 1 | 33.5 | 2 | 17.2 | 1 | 11.5 | 1 | 11.4 | 0 | 5 |
| Area D | 37.2 | 2 | 38.9 | 2 | 23.9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 38.1 | 8 | 28.4 | 6 | 19.0 | 4 | 3.5 | 1 | 11.0 | 2 | 21 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1973: 4 x UUP, 1 x DUP 1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1973-1977 Change: Alliance gain from UUP
Newtownabbey Area A - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | UUP | Sidney Cameron* | 28.90% | 1,053 | | | |
| | DUP | Mary Harkness | 17.73% | 646 | | | |
| | UUP | Jim Wilson | 15.70% | 572 | 685.82 | | |
| | UUP | Arthur Templeton* | 13.23% | 482 | 671.42 | | |
| | Alliance | Pat McCudden | 14.93% | 544 | 572.56 | 579.46 | 603.96 |
| | UUP | Samuel Todd* | 5.46% | 199 | 280.9 | 346.9 | 461.18 |
| | Dominion Party | Kennedy Lindsay | 4.04% | 147 | 168.84 | 173.64 | |
| Electorate: 8,719 Valid: 3,643 (41.78%) Spoilt: 109 Quota: 608 Turnout: 3,752 (43.03%) ||||||||

### Area B

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x NILP, 1 x Loyalist, 1 x United Loyalist 1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Newtownabbey Labour, 1 x Loyalist 1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from United Loyalist, NILP joins Newtownabbey Labour
Newtownabbey Area B - 6 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 | Ivan Hunter | 17.02% | 737 | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | George Herron | 16.01% | 693 | | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | John Elliott* | 11.92% | 516 | 516.96 | 517.84 | 543.84 | 561.84 | 600 | 876.43 | | |
| | Newtownabbey Labour | Robert Kidd* | 8.48% | 367 | 368.6 | 370.8 | 450.91 | 525.91 | 578.91 | 606.07 | 745.07 | |
| | UUP | Doris Robb* | 12.22% | 529 | 545.64 | 553.67 | 554.67 | 554.67 | 596.35 | 661.78 | 663.78 | |
| | Loyalist | Cecil Stringer* | 10.56% | 457 | 459.08 | 492.19 | 492.19 | 492.19 | 530.43 | 534.59 | 537.59 | 544.59 |
| | UUP | James McWatters | 4.85% | 210 | 302.48 | 322.39 | 325.66 | 325.66 | 377.06 | 379.49 | 403.49 | 450.49 |
| | Alliance | John Mellor | 7.02% | 304 | 305.28 | 305.61 | 307.61 | 329.61 | 342.72 | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Thomas Gourley* | 5.34% | 231 | 232.6 | 238.98 | 240.14 | 253.25 | | | | |
| | Republican Clubs | J. J. Magee | 3.88% | 168 | 168 | 168.11 | 171.11 | | | | | |
| | Newtownabbey Labour | Brian Caul | 2.70% | 117 | 117.32 | 117.65 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,848 Valid: 4,329 (33.69%) Spoilt: 208 Quota: 619 Turnout: 4,537 (35.31%) |||||||||||||

### Area C

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 1977: 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UPNI 1973-1977 Change: Alliance and UPNI gain from UUP (two seats)
Newtownabbey Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Alliance | Claire Martin | 18.81% | 1,128 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Caul | 17.23% | 1,033 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Samuel Neill* | 17.18% | 1,030 | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | George Jones | 14.68% | 880 | 917 | 1,029.31 | | | | |
| | Unionist Party NI | Bertram Biggerstaff* | 11.49% | 689 | 703 | 709.16 | 713.39 | 720.38 | 734.78 | 1,110.78 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Desmond Dowds | 9.91% | 594 | 606 | 607.43 | 607.79 | 614.06 | 619.4 | 690.4 |
| | UUP | Letitia McCartney* | 9.21% | 552 | 565 | 567.64 | 593.32 | 607.57 | 611.92 | |
| | Independent | Olive Shannon | 1.50% | 90 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,661 Valid: 5,996 (40.90%) Spoilt: 157 Quota: 1,000 Turnout: 6,153 (41.97%) |||||||||||

### Area D

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 1977: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP 1977-1981 Change: Alliance gain from UUP
Newtownabbey Area D - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Alliance | John Drysdale* | 27.67% | 1,553 | | | |
| | DUP | James Smith* | 23.93% | 1,343 | | | |
| | UUP | Arthur Kell* | 16.96% | 952 | | | |
| | Alliance | James Rooney | 11.24% | 631 | 1,209.8 | | |
| | UUP | William McKee* | 11.14% | 625 | 650.2 | 881.9 | 1,084.14 |
| | UUP | James Michael | 9.05% | 508 | 517.2 | 686.25 | 756.97 |
| Electorate: 13,277 Valid: 5,612 (42.27%) Spoilt: 168 Quota: 916 Turnout: 5,780 (43.53%) ||||||||