1973 Belfast City Council election explained

See main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1973.

Election Name:	1973 Belfast City Council election
Country:	United Kingdom
Flag Image:	Flag of Belfast.svg
Type:	Parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Party Colour:	yes
Next Election:	1977 Belfast City Council election
Next Year:	1977
Seats For Election:	All 51 seats to Belfast City Council
Majority Seats:	26
Election Date:	30 May 1973
Turnout:	62.54%
Party1:	Ulster Unionist Party
Seats1:	25
Party2:	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Seats2:	8
Party3:	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Seats3:	7
Party4:	Northern Ireland Labour Party
Seats4:	2
Party5:	Republican Clubs
Seats5:	2
Party6:	Democratic Unionist Party
Seats6:	2
Party7:	Independent Unionist
Seats7:	2
Party8:	United Loyalist
Seats8:	2
Party9:	Loyalist Coalition
Seats9:	1
Map Size:	300px
Council control
Posttitle:	Council control after election
Before Election:	Irish Unionist
After Election:	No overall control

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 30 May 1973 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used eight district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors.

The elections were the first following the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland, brought about by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 & Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, which replaced the previous FPTP ward system with a new system of proportional representation using multi-member district electoral areas.

The Ulster Unionist Party maintained its position as the largest party, winning just short of a majority, and William Christie continued as Lord Mayor.

Results by party

Party	valign=top	Seats	valign=top	±	valign=top	First Pref. votes	valign=top	FPv%	valign=top	±%
	25		83,658	50.7
	8		22,081	13.4
	7		18,827	11.4
	2		9,046	5.5
	2		6,584	4.0
	United Loyalist	2		6,274	3.8
	2		4,997	3.0
	2		3,860	2.3
	Loyalist Coalition	1		4,823	2.9
	0		2,594	1.6
	Independent Unionist Loyalist	0		967	0.6
	Independent Ratepayer	0		610	0.4
	0		211	0.1
	0		172	0.1
	Non-Party	0		88	0.1
	0		180	0.1
Totals	align=right	51		align=right	168,667	100.0	—

^[1]

Districts summary

Others|-|align="left"|Area A|bgcolor="40BFF5"|55.4|bgcolor="40BFF5"|4|10.6|1|5.2|0|6.1|1|0.0|0|8.2|0|14.5|1|7|-|align="left"|Area B|bgcolor="40BFF5"|62.3|bgcolor="40BFF5"|5|19.6|1|0.0|0|5.4|0|0.0|0|0.0|0|12.7|0|7|-|align="left"|Area C|bgcolor="40BFF5"|54.7|bgcolor="40BFF5"|4|22.8|2|4.5|0|4.7|0|2.4|0|0.0|0|10.9|0|6|-|align="left"|Area D|7.0|0|19.3|1|bgcolor="#99FF66"|44.5|bgcolor="#99FF66"|4|4.0|0|18.2|1|0.0|0|7.0|0|6|-|align="left"|Area E|bgcolor="40BFF5"|39.9|bgcolor="40BFF5"|1|7.4|1|7.3|0|10.2|1|0.0|0|13.5|1|21.7|2|6|-|align="left"|Area F|bgcolor="40BFF5"|49.2|bgcolor="40BFF5"|3|3.8|0|18.7|1|2.5|0|16.1|1|7.5|1|2.2|0|6|-|align="left"|Area G|bgcolor="40BFF5"|56.6|bgcolor="40BFF5"|3|3.3|1|16.5|1|3.9|0|4.8|0|0.0|0|14.9|0|6|-|align="left"|Area H|bgcolor="40BFF5"|62.0|bgcolor="40BFF5"|5|15.9|1|14.8|1|4.7|0|0.0|0|0.0|0|2.6|0|7|-|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| Total|50.7|25|13.4|8|11.4|7|5.5|2|4.0|2|2.3|2|12.7|5|51|-|}

Districts results

Area A

1973: 4 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Vanguard, 1 x NILP

Area B

1973: 5 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x United Loyalist

Area C

1973: 4 x UUP, 2 x Alliance

Area D

1973: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Republican Clubs

Area E

1973: 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x NILP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x United Loyalist, 1 x Independent Unionist

Area F

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs

Area G

1973: 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

Area H

1973: 5 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

Notes and References

Web site: Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Belfast. 8 July 2021.