1977 Magherafelt District Council election
← 1973 18 May 1977 (1977-05-18) 1981 →
All 15 seats to Magherafelt District Council
8 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP Ulster Unionist DUP
Seats won 5 4 3
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1 Increase 3
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Republican Clubs UUUP Independent Nationalist
Seats won 1 1 1
Seat change Steady0 Increase 1 Steady0
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Party Vanguard United Loyalist
Seats won 0 0
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1

Elections to Magherafelt District 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 15 councillors.

Election results

Magherafelt District Council Election Result 1977[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SDLP 5 0 1 Decrease1 33.3 35.1 5,451 Increase2.9
  Ulster Unionist 4 1 2 Decrease1 26.7 20.1 3,127 Decrease9.0
  DUP 3 3 0 Increase3 20.0 18.7 2,897 New
  Republican Clubs 1 0 0 Steady0 0.0 8.5 1,323 Decrease0.6
  UUUP 1 1 0 Increase1 6.7 6.3 972 New
  Independent Nationalist 1 0 0 Steady0 6.7 4.4 685 Decrease0.8
  Alliance 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 4.7 727 Increase0.1
  Unionist Party NI 0 0 0 0 0.0 1.2 181 New
  Vanguard 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.1 165 Decrease5.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Magherafelt District Council election, 1977
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
SDLP UUP DUP RC UUUP Others
Area A 47.8 2 26.2 2 10.0 0 17.0 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 5
Area B 21.5 1 24.5 2 14.8 1 9.1 0 10.1 1 20.0 1 5
Area C 36.5 2 10.2 1 31.4 2 0.0 0 8.4 0 13.5 0 5
Total 35.1 5 20.1 4 18.7 3 8.5 1 6.3 1 11.3 1 15

Districts results

Area A

1973: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Republican Clubs
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Republican Clubs
1973-1977 Change: UUP gain from SDLP

Magherafelt Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SDLP Philip Bradley* 24.87% 1,243          
Republican Clubs Francis Donnelly* 11.20% 560 619.4 682.76 844.92    
Ulster Unionist Francis Thompson 13.07% 653 653 654 654 654 927
SDLP Patrick Sweeney* 13.81% 690 789 806.08 830.32 832.48 832.48
Ulster Unionist John Henning 13.13% 656 656.72 656.72 656.72 657.08 827.24
SDLP Francis McKendry 9.10% 455 674.24 676.24 689.92 692.44 693.52
DUP Phyllis Charlton 8.98% 449 455.12 455.12 455.12 455.12  
Republican Clubs Kevin Murphy 3.86% 193 213.52 225.88      
Republican Clubs Peter Merron 1.98% 99 100.8        
Electorate: 6,853   Valid: 4,998 (72.93%)   Spoilt: 285   Quota: 834   Turnout: 5,283 (77.09%)  

Area B

1973: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Vanguard, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1973-1977 Change: DUP and UUUP gain from UUP and Vanguard

Magherafelt Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
DUP Matthew Hyndman 14.81% 768 809 812 812 812 960            
Independent Nationalist Vincent O'Neill* 13.21% 685 685 698 712 753 753 753 912        
Ulster Unionist Thomas Kelso* 11.27% 584 647 667 667 667 713 726 727 986      
UUUP Robert Overend 10.13% 525 545 597 597 597 686 760.75 761.75 914.75      
SDLP Patrick Scullion* 9.82% 509 509 530 568 602 602 602 651 654 658 661 685.96
SDLP John Madden 7.29% 378 379 388 405 566 566 566 626 630 637 639 660.32
Ulster Unionist Robert Shiels 7.35% 381 393 414 414 414 451 456.85 461.85        
Republican Clubs Murty Dorrity 5.42% 281 283 289 397 402 402 402          
Ulster Unionist David Porte 5.90% 306 321 326 328 328              
SDLP Frank McWilliams 4.38% 227 227 234 243                
Republican Clubs Michael Scullion 3.67% 190 190 198                  
Alliance Thomas Smyth 3.57% 185 190                    
Vanguard Ian Davidson* 3.18% 165                      
Electorate: 6,757   Valid: 5,184 (76.72%)   Spoilt: 192   Quota: 865   Turnout: 5,376 (79.56%)  

Area C

1973: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x United Loyalist
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP
1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP, United Loyalist joins DUP

Magherafelt Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
DUP William McCrea* 24.73% 1,322              
SDLP Michael O'Neill* 14.65% 783 783 791 791 793 1,012    
SDLP William Conaghan 15.23% 814 814.32 819.32 820.32 820.32 920.32    
DUP George Miller 6.70% 358 665.2 665.54 682.84 772.04 772.04 772.04 980.04
Ulster Unionist Thomas Bradley* 10.23% 547 575.8 578.8 657.12 686.88 686.88 689.88 839.36
Alliance Wilfred Brennan 8.75% 468 474.08 519.4 551.4 555.04 570.04 670.04 697.88
UUUP Robert Ditty 4.86% 260 294.88 294.88 333.84 434.92 435.92 435.92  
SDLP Joseph Walls 6.58% 352 352 358 358 362      
UUUP Ruby Speer 3.50% 187 227.96 227.96 234.28        
Unionist Party NI William Galway* 3.39% 181 182.92 182.92          
Alliance George Logue 1.38% 74 74.64            
Electorate: 7,307   Valid: 5,346 (73.16%)   Spoilt: 272   Quota: 892   Turnout: 5,618 (76.89%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Magherafelt". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c "Local Government Results 1977". EONI. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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