1977 Newry and Mourne District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1977

1977 Newry and Mourne District Council election

18 May 1977 (1977-05-18)
All 30 seats to Newry and Mourne District Council 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP UUP Alliance Seats won 15 7 3 Seat change 2 4 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party DUP Ind. Nationalist Ind. Republican Seats won 1 3 1 Seat change 1 1   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Ind. Unionist Republican Clubs Seats won 0 0 Seat change 5 2

Elections to Newry and Mourne District Council were held on 18 May 1977 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used six district electoral areas to elect a total of 30 councillors.

Election results

Newry and Mourne District Council Election Result 1977

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	15	2	0	2	50.0	46.9	13,538	11.6
	UUP	7	5	1	4	23.3	24.5	7,078	11.6
	Alliance	3	0	1	1	10.0	8.3	2,382	5.2
	Ind. Nationalist	3	2	1	1	10.0	7.6	2,194	3.3
	DUP	1	1	0		3.3	3.1	884	New
	Ind. Republican	1	0	0		0.0	2.2	632	0.8
	Republican Clubs	0	0	2	2	0.0	5.1	1,477	5.7
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	2.3	676	0.7

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Newry and Mourne District Council election, 1977
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		UUP		Alliance		DUP		Others
Area A	33.2	2	32.4	2	2.2	0	15.8	1	16.4	0	5
Area B	50.0	2	11.6	0	17.9	1	0.0	0	20.5	1	4
Area C	48.2	2	47.0	2	0.0	0	0.0	0	4.8	0	4
Area D	44.2	3	25.5	2	9.5	1	0.0	0	20.8	1	7
Area E	61.1	4	11.3	0	1.3	0	0.0	0	26.3	2	6
Area F	47.7	2	23.4	1	19.9	1	0.0	0	9.0	0	6
Total	46.9	15	24.5	7	8.3	3	3.1	1	17.2	4	30

Districts results

Area A

1973: 3 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1973-1977 Change: SDLP and DUP gain from UUP and Independent Nationalist

Newry and Mourne Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	William Russell*	22.15%	1,238
	SDLP	Anne Marie Cunningham*	15.62%	873	873.25	894.5	1,081.5
	UUP	Arthur Coulter*	10.25%	573	793.5	806	806.25	806.25	1,037.25
	DUP	George Graham	15.82%	884	910	910.5	911.5	912.34	945.34
	SDLP	Frank MacCann	10.18%	569	569.75	585.75	763.75	892.27	910.27
	Ind. Nationalist	Arthur Doran*	9.07%	507	509.75	538.5	588.5	607.82	687.82
	Independent	John Henning	7.16%	400	450	484.25	485.25	485.25
	SDLP	Hugh Cunningham	7.48%	418	418.5	427.5
	Alliance	Doreen Leitch	2.27%	127	130.75
Electorate: 8,225   Valid: 5,589 (67.95%)   Spoilt: 292   Quota: 932   Turnout: 5,881 (71.50%)

Area B

1973: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1973-1977 Change: No change

Newry and Mourne Area B - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SDLP	Jim McCart*	31.71%	1,377
	Alliance	Anthony Williamson*	15.93%	692	727.72	792	797.14	831.9	977.9
	Ind. Nationalist	John McAteer*	15.82%	687	715.88	721.26	725.26	763.78	809.54
	SDLP	Liam Trainor	8.24%	358	658.96	665.72	665.72	709.64	727.3
	SDLP	Brian Mulligan	10.04%	436	528.34	531.62	533	563.56	570.22
	UUP	William Gordon	7.83%	340	348.36	350.74	497.04	503.64
	Republican Clubs	Thomas Moore	4.72%	205	224	230.04	230.04
	UUP	James Thompson	3.78%	164	167.8	168.8
	Alliance	James McGowan	1.93%	84	93.5
Electorate: 6,723   Valid: 4,343 (64.60%)   Spoilt: 276   Quota: 869   Turnout: 4,619 (68.70%)

Area C

1973: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Unionist
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP
1973-1977 Change: UUP (two seats) gain from Independent Unionist (two seats)

Newry and Mourne Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	UUP	Violet Cromie*	31.36%	1,075
	SDLP	Nan Sands*	26.90%	922
	SDLP	Patrick McAlinden	21.30%	730
	UUP	Edward Walsh	15.67%	537	921.18
	Republican Clubs	Daniel Mussen	4.78%	164	167.8
Electorate: 5,658   Valid: 3,428 (60.59%)   Spoilt: 245   Quota: 686   Turnout: 3,673 (64.92%)

Area D

1973: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Republican Clubs
1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1973-1977 Change: UUP (two seats) and Independent Nationalist gain from Independent Unionist (two seats) and Republican Clubs

Newry and Mourne Area D - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	UUP	Clarence Morrow*	13.32%	845
	SDLP	John Bell*	12.86%	816
	UUP	Andy Moffett	12.20%	774	822.66
	SDLP	Thomas McGrath*	11.91%	756	756.06	756.3	760.3	765.7	796.7
	SDLP	John McEvoy*	11.11%	705	705	705.06	727.06	730.5	761.78	768.84	810.84
	Alliance	Victor Frizell*	7.85%	498	498.66	507.66	565.8	566.58	589.8	591.86	631.16	699.84
	Ind. Nationalist	Eugene Markey	8.81%	559	559.06	559.06	562.06	562.56	564.58	575.6	661.72	684.98
	Republican Clubs	Noel Collins*	5.23%	332	332	332	335	335.64	339.64	451.66	515.14	564.56
	SDLP	John Grant	6.11%	388	388.12	388.54	389.6	392.92	435.04	438.08	467.26
	Independent	Fabian Boyle	4.35%	276	276	276.06	283.18	284.3	288.36	297.38
	Republican Clubs	Edward McGeown	2.36%	150	150	150	150.06	150.18	151.18
	SDLP	Patrick Sloan	2.24%	142	142.18	142.36	146.36	146.84
	Alliance	Monica Sweeney	1.65%	105	105.24	106.74
Electorate: 11,390   Valid: 6,346 (55.72%)   Spoilt: 343   Quota: 794   Turnout: 6,689 (58.73%)

Area E

1973: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Independent Republican, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Republican
1973-1977 Change: SDLP (two seats) gain from Republican Clubs and Independent Unionist, Independent Nationalist leaves SDLP

Newry and Mourne Area E - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SDLP	Pat Toner*	18.61%	948
	SDLP	Peter McMahon*	15.84%	807
	SDLP	James Savage	15.41%	785
	Ind. Republican	Sean McCreesh*	12.41%	632	707.75	718.5	764.5
	SDLP	Owen Kelly	11.21%	571	677.5	699	756
	Ind. Nationalist	Jim Murphy*	8.66%	441	460	467	572.25	645.69	687.81
	UUP	Caroline Donaldson*	11.27%	574	574.5	591.75	595	600.44	613.4
	Republican Clubs	Seamus Murphy	5.28%	269	283	284
	Alliance	John Magowan	1.32%	67	69
Electorate: 9,174   Valid: 5,094 (55.53%)   Spoilt: 284   Quota: 728   Turnout: 5,378 (58.62%)

Area F

1973: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Alliance
1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
1973-1977 Change: UUP gain from Alliance

Newry and Mourne Area F - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	UUP	William McCaigue	23.59%	958
	SDLP	Arthur Ruddy*	19.13%	777	777.87	851.87
	Alliance	Michael McVerry*	9.97%	405	485.33	513.33	516.23	813.55
	SDLP	Daniel Hughes	14.63%	594	617.49	643.49	646.97	726.87
	SDLP	William Feely	13.94%	566	567.45	624.45	643.01	722.52
	Alliance	John McClelland	9.95%	404	440.83	499.83	513.17
	Republican Clubs	Alan Wadforth	8.79%	357	357
Electorate: 7,173   Valid: 4,061 (56.62%)   Spoilt: 234   Quota: 813   Turnout: 4,295 (59.88%)