1977 Craigavon Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1977

1977 Craigavon Borough Council election

18 May 1977 (1977-05-18)
All 25 seats to Craigavon Borough Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party UUP SDLP DUP Seats won 10 6 4 Seat change 0 4 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Alliance UUUP Republican Clubs Seats won 3 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Party Vanguard Ind. Unionist Ind. Nationalist Seats won 0 0 0 Seat change 4 1 1

Elections to Craigavon 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 25 councillors.

Election results

Craigavon Borough Council Election Result 1977

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UUP	10	1	1	0	40.0	31.4	8,827	5.5
	SDLP	6	4	0	4	24.0	23.4	6,595	16.7
	DUP	4	2	1	1	16.0	17.3	4,871	5.7
	Alliance	3	0	1	1	12.0	11.3	3,173	4.7
	UUUP	1	1	0	1	4.0	6.8	1,907	New
	Republican Clubs	1	1	0	1	4.0	5.6	1,578	0.4
	Vanguard	0	0	4	4	0.0	2.1	599	13.9
	Unionist Party NI	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	426	New
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	167	0.6

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Craigavon Borough Council election, 1977
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		SDLP		DUP		Alliance		UUUP		RC		Others
Area A	14.5	1	45.9	3	12.8	0	10.7	0	0.0	0	16.0	1	0.0	0	5
Area B	38.2	3	17.3	1	19.1	1	17.9	2	3.8	0	0.0	0	3.7	0	7
Area C	21.5	2	28.5	2	9.7	1	10.8	1	7.8	0	9.5	0	12.2	0	6
Area D	46.0	4	8.9	0	26.0	2	5.9	0	13.2	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	7
Total	31.4	10	23.4	6	17.3	4	11.3	3	6.8	1	5.6	1	4.2	0	25

Districts results

Area A

1973: 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x UUP
1973-1977 Change: SDLP and Republican Clubs gain from Alliance and DUP, Independent Nationalist joins SDLP

Craigavon Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SDLP	James McDonald*	18.68%	1,013
	SDLP	Sean McCavanagh	16.56%	898	964.4
	Republican Clubs	Malachy McGurran	16.00%	868	875.5	877.5	882.72	1,072.72
	SDLP	Patrick Crilly*	10.71%	581	595.6	596.7	646.83	916.83
	UUP	James Gillespie	8.19%	444	444.5	723.6	723.6	751.69	767.69
	DUP	Frederick Baird*	12.83%	696	696.2	737.6	737.6	740.97	742.97
	Alliance	Donnell Deeny*	10.75%	583	591.3	601.4	605.27
	UUP	Eric McKeown	6.29%	341	341.8
Electorate: 8,541   Valid: 5,424 (63.51%)   Spoilt: 321   Quota: 905   Turnout: 5,745 (67.26%)

Area B

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x Vanguard, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP
1973-1977 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from Vanguard (two seats), Independent Unionist joins UUP

Craigavon Area B - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	UUP	Herbert Whitten*	25.60%	1,863
	UUP	John Wright*	6.28%	457	919.57
	UUP	Alan Locke*	6.32%	460	779.66	808.21	812.76	834.33	931.33
	DUP	Gladys McCullough	7.50%	546	562.83	565.83	593.34	682.91	712.03	910.03
	SDLP	Daniel Murphy	11.05%	804	804	804	804	804	804	804	1,203
	Alliance	Sean Hagan*	11.31%	823	827.08	834.08	835.08	841.08	850.08	854.08	900.08	1,130.63
	Alliance	William Ramsay*	6.64%	483	511.56	511.56	516.56	525.56	559.17	570.25	577.25	637.28	788.66	797.66	800.42
	DUP	James Forsythe	6.84%	498	508.71	510.22	519.73	561.81	605.95	782.21	783.21	784.08	784.08	795.96	798.19
	SDLP	Mary Mackle	6.28%	457	457	457	458	458	458	459
	DUP	William Stothers	4.75%	346	364.36	364.36	376.87	400.91	424.48
	Vanguard	Samuel McCammick*	2.90%	211	245.68	274.7	279.21	292.74
	UUUP	John Lyttle	1.98%	144	159.3	163.81	231.34
	UUUP	James McBratney	1.80%	131	137.12	139.12
	Vanguard	William Lappin	0.74%	54	58.59
Electorate: 12,358   Valid: 7,277 (58.88%)   Spoilt: 390   Quota: 910   Turnout: 7,667 (62.04%)

Area C

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

Craigavon Area C - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	SDLP	Hugh News*	15.90%	1,194
	SDLP	Robert McEvoy	8.99%	675	735.5	741.2	790	790	792	807.5	817.1	1,082.9
	UUP	Frank Dale*	11.37%	854	854	854	854	870	966	966	974	974	1,088
	DUP	Ronald Williamson	9.67%	726	726	726	726	741	747	747	748	748	798	832	1,175
	UUP	Mary Simpson	7.07%	531	531	538	538	539.1	634.1	634.1	634.1	634.1	719.1	946.1	1,069.1
	Alliance	Brian English	6.01%	451	453.6	519.7	530.8	534.8	543.8	543.8	773.1	787.3	802.3	965.5	974.5
	Republican Clubs	Patrick O'Malley	6.02%	452	464.3	465.5	490.1	490.1	490.1	738	746.4	796	796	796	798
	UUUP	William Cooper	5.10%	383	383	385	387	512	518	518	521	521	563	592
	Unionist Party NI	Florence Woodman	5.67%	426	426.3	438.3	438.3	445.3	454.3	454.3	456.4	456.4	491.4
	Vanguard	Frederick Crowe*	4.45%	334	334	336	336	355	358	358	360	360
	SDLP	Virginia King	3.58%	269	300.2	301.3	336.9	336.9	336.9	341.6	357
	Alliance	William Blanton	3.26%	245	246.5	263.6	281.2	287.2	290.2	293.2
	Republican Clubs	Roger Monteith	3.44%	258	260.2	260.4	280.8	281.8	282.8
	UUP	James Glenn	3.01%	226	226	227	228	235
	UUUP	Robert Anderson	2.69%	202	202.1	203.1	203.1
	Independent	Hugh Casey	2.22%	167	172.2	172.3
	Alliance	Michael Stevenson	1.56%	117	118.5
Electorate: 13,624   Valid: 7,510 (55.12%)   Spoilt: 325   Quota: 1,073   Turnout: 7,835 (57.51%)

Area D

1973: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Vanguard
1977: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUUP
1973-1977 Change: Vanguard joins UUUP

Craigavon Area D - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	David Calvert*	13.63%	1,081
	UUUP	Philip Black*	10.68%	847	969	1,011
	UUP	James Baird*	11.54%	915	928	933	937	1,016
	DUP	Thomas Willey*	8.55%	678	703	922	989.76	994.76
	UUP	Sydney Cairns*	10.55%	837	849	874	880.64	927.64	1,197.64
	UUP	Eric Crozier	8.94%	709	715	720	723.12	791.28	917.6	998.94
	UUP	Thomas Creith*	8.62%	684	687	689	690.76	765.76	876	997.52
	SDLP	Brid Rodgers	8.88%	704	704	704	704.08	802.16	808.16	810.12
	UUP	Thomas Megarrell*	6.38%	506	511	520	521.52	565.52
	Alliance	Charles Phillips	5.94%	471	472	472	472.32
	DUP	Harold Glass	3.78%	300	313
	UUUP	John Dummigan	2.52%	200
Electorate: 13,004   Valid: 7,932 (61.00%)   Spoilt: 366   Quota: 992   Turnout: 8,298 (63.81%)