1977 Newtownabbey Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1977

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.

1977 Newtownabbey Borough Council election

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

Election results

Newtownabbey Borough Council Election Result 1977

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UUP	8	0	4	4	38.1	38.1	7,452	9.7
	Alliance	6	3	0	3	28.6	28.4	5,556	9.5
	DUP	4	1	0	1	19.0	19.0	3,712	4.9
	Unionist Party NI	1	1	0	1	4.8	3.5	689	New
	Loyalist	1	0	0	0	0.0	2.3	457	2.8
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	4.2	2.5	825	4.2
	Republican Clubs	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.9	168	New
	British Ulster Dominion Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.8	147	New
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	90	1.7
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	32	0.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Newtownabbey Borough Council election, 1977
by district

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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	UUP	Sidney Cameron*	28.90%	1,053
	DUP	Mary Harkness	17.73%	646
	UUP	Jim Wilson	15.70%	572	685.82
	UUP	Arthur Templeton*	13.23%	482	671.42
	Alliance	Pat McCudden	14.93%	544	572.56	579.46	603.96
	UUP	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Alliance	Claire Martin	18.81%	1,128
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Alliance	John Drysdale*	27.67%	1,553
	DUP	James Smith*	23.93%	1,343
	UUP	Arthur Kell*	16.96%	952
	Alliance	James Rooney	11.24%	631	1,209.8
	UUP	William McKee*	11.14%	625	650.2	881.9	1,084.14
	UUP	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%)