1977 Ballymena Borough Council election

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 UUP Ind. Unionist Seats won 11 4 3 Seat change 6 5   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Independent Alliance Vanguard Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change 1

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
	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				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%)