# 1977 Ards Borough Council election

Elections to Ards Borough Council were held on 18 May 1977 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.

## Election results

Ards Borough Council Election Result 1977 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 35.3 | 31.8 | 5,368 | 22.7 |
| Alliance | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 29.4 | 20.8 | 3,507 | 6.0 |
| DUP | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17.6 | 13.8 | 2,322 | New |
| NI Labour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 | 8.0 | 1,349 | 2.7 |
| Ind. Unionist | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 1,042 | 2.0 |
| SDLP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 964 | 0.1 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.8 | 971 | 5.8 |
| Unionist Party NI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 886 | New |
| Vanguard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 277 | 5.6 |
| UUUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 170 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1977 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | DUP | DUP | NILP | NILP | SDLP | SDLP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 32.1 | 3 | 23.3 | 2 | 12.5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 14.7 | 1 | 17.4 | 0 | 7 |
| Area B | 30.1 | 2 | 21.2 | 2 | 13.0 | 1 | 22.5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 13.2 | 0 | 6 |
| Area C | 33.8 | 1 | 16.5 | 1 | 13.1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 36.6 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 31.8 | 6 | 20.8 | 5 | 13.8 | 3 | 8.0 | 1 | 5.7 | 1 | 19.9 | 1 | 17 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1973: 6 x UUP, 1 x SDLP 1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1973-1977 Change: Alliance (two seats) and DUP gain from UUP (three seats)
Ards Area A - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 |
| | Alliance | Charles Dunleath | 20.39% | 1,339 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Joseph Thompson* | 14.94% | 981 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Patrick Doherty* | 14.68% | 964 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | William Sheldon | 2.89% | 190 | 568.8 | 571.86 | 600.93 | 601.93 | 607.61 | 612.61 | 629.49 | 636.46 | 796.17 | 896.17 | |
| | UUP | John Scott* | 6.79% | 446 | 453.6 | 467.71 | 468.22 | 471.41 | 480.36 | 491.1 | 500.27 | 672.78 | 674.29 | 823.29 | |
| | UUP | William Caughey | 6.87% | 451 | 471.8 | 487.61 | 487.95 | 489.66 | 507.16 | 561.82 | 567.52 | 630.82 | 632.62 | 692.58 | 706.58 |
| | UUP | Robert Ambrose | 4.37% | 287 | 294.6 | 320.1 | 320.61 | 335.46 | 373.95 | 437.32 | 535.52 | 565.02 | 575.44 | 626.94 | 647.94 |
| | UUP | Oliver Johnston* | 7.01% | 460 | 466.4 | 475.41 | 475.92 | 477.09 | 480.28 | 493.12 | 497.8 | 529.42 | 531.42 | 566.01 | 578.01 |
| | Unionist Party NI | Michael Long | 5.65% | 371 | 401.4 | 406.67 | 407.69 | 408.09 | 411.77 | 421.11 | 451.85 | 477.96 | 499.54 | | |
| | Independent | James McMullan | 4.77% | 313 | 343.8 | 343.97 | 446.14 | 446.14 | 447.71 | 449.91 | 453.1 | 454.27 | | | |
| | UUP | Henry Cosbey* | 4.69% | 308 | 316 | 325.69 | 326.03 | 327.2 | 333.61 | 343.69 | 346.77 | | | | |
| | Independent | Francis McMaster | 1.95% | 128 | 133.2 | 142.72 | 144.76 | 175.45 | 207.96 | 218.98 | | | | | |
| | UUP | William Keag | 2.41% | 158 | 166 | 172.97 | 173.99 | 179.84 | 193.41 | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Robert Mason | 1.55% | 102 | 108.4 | 150.56 | 150.73 | 169.78 | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Vera Shaw | 1.04% | 68 | 71.2 | 83.1 | 83.1 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 13,817 Valid: 6,566 (47.52%) Spoilt: 227 Quota: 821 Turnout: 6,793 (49.16%) ||||||||||||||||

### Area B

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x NILP, 1 x Loyalist 1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x NILP, 1 x DUP 1973-1977 Change: Alliance and DUP gain from UUP and Loyalist
Ards Area B - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | NI Labour | Robert Gaw* | 14.06% | 843 | 874 | | | | |
| | DUP | Hugh Boyd | 13.01% | 780 | 868 | | | | |
| | UUP | John Algie* | 13.71% | 822 | 861 | | | | |
| | UUP | William Boal | 6.36% | 381 | 415 | 418.5 | 512.5 | 774.5 | 852.2 |
| | Alliance | Herbert Gallagher | 10.94% | 656 | 667 | 669.8 | 685.8 | 720.8 | 813.5 |
| | Alliance | Owen Dorrian* | 10.23% | 613 | 621 | 621 | 626 | 638.7 | 802.4 |
| | Unionist Party NI | Cecilia Cooke* | 8.59% | 515 | 536 | 537.4 | 562.4 | 649.1 | 733.5 |
| | NI Labour | William Allen | 8.44% | 506 | 515 | 520.6 | 541.3 | 567.3 | |
| | UUP | Hugh Yeaman | 5.24% | 314 | 323 | 325.1 | 457.8 | | |
| | UUP | William Spratt | 4.80% | 288 | 302 | 303.4 | | | |
| | Vanguard | Robert Brown* | 4.62% | 277 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 15,342 Valid: 5,995 (39.08%) Spoilt: 232 Quota: 857 Turnout: 6,227 (40.59%) ||||||||||

### Area C

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