1977 Newtownabbey Borough Council election
← 1973 18 May 1977 (1977-05-18) 1981 →
All 21 seats to Newtownabbey Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Ulster Unionist Alliance DUP
Seats won 8 6 4
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 3 Increase 1
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Unionist Party NI Newtownabbey Labour Loyalist
Seats won 1 1 1
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 1 Steady 0
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Party NI Labour United Loyalist
Seats won 0 0
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1

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[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Ulster Unionist 8 0 4 Decrease4 38.1 38.1 7,452 Decrease9.7
  Alliance 6 3 0 Increase3 28.6 28.4 5,556 Increase9.5
  DUP 4 1 0 Increase1 19.0 19.0 3,712 Increase4.9
  Unionist Party NI 1 1 0 Increase1 4.8 3.5 689 New
  Loyalist 1 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.3 457 Increase2.8
  Ind. Unionist 0 0 0 Steady0 4.2 2.5 825 Increase4.2
  Republican Clubs 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.9 168 New
  British Ulster Dominion Party 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.8 147 New
  Independent 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.5 90 Decrease1.7
  Communist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.1 32 Increase0.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Newtownabbey Borough Council election, 1977
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
UUP Alliance DUP UPNI Others
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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Ulster Unionist Sidney Cameron* 28.90% 1,053      
DUP Mary Harkness 17.73% 646      
Ulster Unionist Jim Wilson 15.70% 572 685.82    
Ulster Unionist Arthur Templeton* 13.23% 482 671.42    
Alliance Pat McCudden 14.93% 544 572.56 579.46 603.96
Ulster Unionist 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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Ulster Unionist 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  
Ulster Unionist 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
Ulster Unionist 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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Alliance Claire Martin 18.81% 1,128            
Ulster Unionist 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
Ulster Unionist 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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Alliance John Drysdale* 27.67% 1,553      
DUP James Smith* 23.93% 1,343      
Ulster Unionist Arthur Kell* 16.96% 952      
Alliance James Rooney 11.24% 631 1,209.8    
Ulster Unionist William McKee* 11.14% 625 650.2 881.9 1,084.14
Ulster Unionist 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%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Newtownabbey". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1977". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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