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.

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1977
1977 Ballymena Borough Council election
18 May 1977 (1977-05-18)
All 21 seats to Ballymena Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party DUP Ulster Unionist Ind. Unionist
Seats won 11 4 3
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 5 Steady
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Independent Alliance Vanguard
Seats won 2 1 0
Seat change Steady Steady Decrease 1

Election results
Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1977[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  DUP 11 6 0 Increase6 52.4 40.1 5,175 Increase15.9
  Ulster Unionist 4 1 6 Decrease5 19.0 19.5 2,523 Decrease18.4
  Ind. Unionist 3 3 3 Steady 14.3 21.4 2,765 Increase12.1
  Independent 2 1 1 Steady 9.5 13.7 1,774 Decrease0.8
  Alliance 1 0 0 Steady 4.8 5.2 672 Decrease1.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1977
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
DUP UUP Alliance Others
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[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123
Independent James Woulahan 21.93% 784    
DUP William Turtle 20.28% 725    
DUP James Millar 20.03% 584 716  
Ulster Unionist Thomas Hume* 14.43% 516 531 698
Ulster Unionist 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[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    1
    DUP Roy Gillespie* N/A N/A
    DUP John Greer N/A N/A
    DUP Hubert Nicholl N/A N/A
    Ulster Unionist Hugh Simpson* N/A N/A
    Ulster Unionist 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[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456
      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
      Ulster Unionist William Simpson 7.87% 323 327.59 376.94 381.04 583.55 612.39
      Ulster Unionist 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[2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        123456
        Independent Patrick Burke* 18.93% 990          
        Ind. Unionist Samuel Henry* 15.49% 810          
        Alliance Muriel Lamont 12.85% 672 882.08        
        Ulster Unionist 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
        Ulster Unionist 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%)  

          References
          1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Ballymena". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. "Local Government Results 1977". EONI. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
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