1973 Londonderry City Council election

The 1973 Londonderry City Council election took place on 30 May 1973 to elect members of Londonderry City Council in Northern Ireland. This was on the same day as other Northern Irish local elections. The campaign was significant in that, following changes to the election process and districts, Irish nationalist parties were able to take control of the council for the first time.

Background

The election was the first held since the Londonderry Corporation had been reorganised under the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 following accusations of gerrymandering from the Corporation.[1] The vote was also the first to use the single transferable vote method of election for Londonderry council elections.[2]

During the elections, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party joined forces as The United Loyalist Group for the Londonderry City Council elections.[3] The group also claimed the backing of the Loyalist Association of Workers, the Ulster Protestant Volunteers, and the Ulster Special Constabulary Association. It was jointly chaired by Gerard Glover, chair of the City of Londonderry and Foyle Unionist Association, and Gordon Hegarty, a parliamentary agent for the DUP. It was initially unclear whether the coalition had the backing of the UUP headquarters, but Jim Bailie, the party secretary, stated that "I am sure whatever they are doing is all right by me". The group had a four point programme: total defeat of the Irish Republican Army, control of the police to be given to the Northern Ireland Assembly, increased representation of Northern Ireland in the Westminster Parliament, and opposition to a Council of Ireland.[4] The group took over the local headquarters of the UUP, on Kennedy Place.[5]

The nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) contested Londonderry City Council elections for the first time since being established in 1970 in protest against abstentionism policies from the Nationalist Party.[6] It stood 19 candidates, the most of any party in the election.[5]

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland stood 15 candidates, while the Derry Republican Club, backed by the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) stood 12, as did the United Loyalists. The Nationalist Party stood 10, including Fergus McAteer, son of the party leader, while there was a single Northern Ireland Labour Party candidate. Independent candidates included Brendan Duddy, a local fish-and-chip shop owner, and Finbar O'Doherty, a law student.[5]

Campaign

During the campaign, the British Army reduced its foot patrols in the city, arguing that this would help create an atmosphere in which people would feel confident to go and vote. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) did not conduct any bombings in the week leading up to the vote, an unusually long lull for the period.[7] The group also went door-to-door, calling for a boycott of the election.[5]

The day before the election, the PIRA and OIRA announced a surprising joint initiative of protest marches, strikes and the creation of "no-go areas" for police, in protest at internment, but coming at such a late point in the campaign, the Irish Times contended that it would have little effect on the vote.[5]

The Republican Clubs published a half-page advert in the Derry Journal, claiming that both the SDLP and the Nationalist Party had broken pledges not to contest local elections until all internees had been released. John Hume, deputy leader of the SDLP, claimed that the party's pledge was specific to the period when the Parliament of Northern Ireland had existed.[7] The Alliance Party accused Hume of having only visited Shantallow twice since he was elected to represent it in 1969, but Hume argued that he had visited it on numerous occasions, and had three volunteers running an advice centre in the district. Hume claimed that the Alliance Party's candidates were unionists and were "yesterday's men".[7]

The Nationalist Party argued that the SDLP was standing too many candidates, risking splitting the nationalist vote and thereby allowing the unionists to win more seats. It campaigned for the council to work closely with tenants' and other community groups, and for the council to move away from party politics.[8]

Hume claimed that the SDLP would do "very well", but would not be drawn on whether it would achieve a majority on the council, while Hegarty of the United Loyalists thought that it would win 10 seats. The Alliance Party focused its campaign on relieving unemployment and building new leisure, health, and community facilities, and believed it would win 7 or 8 seats. The Republican Club would not speculate on how many seats it would win, but Mickey Doherty claimed that it would take a "fairly substantial vote and surprise a lot of people".[5]

Results by party

The Irish Times reported the city as having particularly high turnout, initially estimated as between 65 and 70%.[9][10] The count was the slowest in the whole of Northern Ireland.[11]

Below is a list of the results:[12]

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	SDLP	10	N/A	11,008	32.4	N/A
	United Loyalist	9	-3	12,483	36.8	N/A
	Alliance	4	N/A	4,930	14.5	N/A
	Nationalist	3	-5	2,850	8.4
	Republican Clubs	1	N/A	2,091	6.2	N/A
	Independent	0		242	0.7
	Independent Community	0		183	0.5
	NI Labour	0	0	88	0.3
	Independent Republican	0		71	0.2
Totals		27		34,625	100%	—

[12]

Results by electoral area

Below is a list of electoral results by constituency:[12]

Londonderry A

• 1973: 3xUnLoy; 2xSDLP; 1xAll

Londonderry A - 6 seats[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	United Loyalist	Thomas M. Craig	50.2	1,294
	United Loyalist	R. C. Bond		1,126
	United Loyalist	Robinson		960
	SDLP	G. V. Peoples	32.2	879
	United Loyalist	Gordon Hegarty		767
	SDLP	Courtrey		752
	SDLP	T. A. Doherty		536
	SDLP	Millar		492
	Alliance	A. E. S. Barr	12.2	421
	Alliance	Gormley		415
	Republican Clubs	Gillespie	2.6	214
	Alliance	Morrison		175
	Nationalist	Mulhern	1.7	142
	NI Labour	Grace Stevenson	1.1	88
Electorate: 10,497   Valid: 8,262   Spoilt: 94   Quota: 1,181   Turnout: 8,356

Londonderry B

• 1973: 3xUnLoy; 1xSDLP; 1xAll

Londonderry B - 5 seats[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	United Loyalist	Glenn Barr	58.2	1,659
	United Loyalist	Jeffrey		960
	SDLP	Joe Fegan	18.3	940
	United Loyalist	Anna Hay		875
	United Loyalist	T. G. Heathley		874
	Alliance	H. Faulkner	17.0	853
	SDLP	Morrison		433
	Alliance	Kelly		257
	Nationalist	Boyle	4.3	166
	Alliance	Sinclair		164
	Nationalist	McCloskey		158
	Republican Clubs	Moran	2.2	91
	Republican Clubs	Shotter		72
Electorate: 10,377   Valid: 7,502   Spoilt: 104   Quota: 1,251   Turnout: 7,606

Londonderry C

• 1973: 3xSDLP; 1xNat; 1xRepCl

Londonderry C - 5 seats[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	SDLP	Pat Devine	49.3	728
	Nationalist	G. K. Barr	21.4	698
	SDLP	Hugh Doherty		525
	SDLP	Len Green		483
	Alliance	Kelly	13.4	436
	Republican Clubs	Michael Montgomery	15.9	401
	Nationalist	McCrystal		378
	SDLP	Nelis		374
	SDLP	Moran		370
	Republican Clubs	Liam Gallagher		272
	Alliance	Kelly		239
	Republican Clubs	P. C. Quinn		129
Electorate: 9,324   Valid: 5,033   Spoilt: 206   Quota: 839   Turnout: 4,780

Londonderry D

• 1973: 2xSDLP; 1xUnLoy; 1xAll; 1xNat

Londonderry D - 5 seats[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	United Loyalist	Marlene Jefferson	23.4	1,041
	SDLP	Raymond McClean	40.1	808
	SDLP	Feeney		643
	Alliance	J. Cosgrove	13.4	408
	Nationalist	James Hegarty	11.3	341
	Republican Clubs	Mickey Doherty	8.6	229
	SDLP	William O'Connoll		214
	Nationalist	C. McDaid		163
	Alliance	Mulhern		155
	SDLP	O'Hara		119
	Republican Clubs	Lynch		96
	Independent Republican	Finbar O'Doherty	1.6	71
	Independent Community	O'Neill	1.5	67
	Republican Clubs	McCool		59
	Alliance	McKenna		31
Electorate: 6,982   Valid: 4,445   Spoilt: 122   Quota: 741   Turnout: 4,567

Londonderry E

Londonderry E, covering Shantallow, Pennyburn and Rosemount, was the most politically and socially mixed of the electoral areas. With 19 candidates for 6 seats, the last councillors were elected on the 16th count.[11]

• 1973: 2xSDLP; 2xUnLoy; 1xAll; 1xNat

Londonderry E - 6 seats[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	United Loyalist	Jack Allen	33.6	1,519
	SDLP	Dan Casey	31.1	995
	United Loyalist	Albert McCartney		893
	SDLP	Craig		729
	Alliance	Ivor Canavan	15.8	718
	SDLP	Michael Durey		703
	Nationalist	Fergus McAteer	9.2	573
	United Loyalist	Walker	5.92	515
	Alliance	Mrs Roulston		300
	SDLP	Mrs A. Gallagher		284
	Alliance	Brian Brown		246
	Independent	Brendan Duddy	2.8	242
	Republican Clubs	S. Gallagher	6.1	284
	Nationalist	Doherty		208
	Republican Clubs	P. Gallagher		162
	Republican Clubs	Sweeney		145
	Non Party Community Candidate	Bergin	1.3	116
	Alliance	Commander		112
	Nationalist	Geraldine O'Driscoll		23
Electorate: 12,899   Valid: 8,704   Spoilt: 153   Quota: 1,244   Turnout: 8,857

Aftermath

Even though the United Loyalists won the most votes, the SDLP won the most councillors with ten being elected to the United Loyalists' nine.[12] The nonsectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland won four, the Nationalist Party won three and one was won by the Republican Clubs.[12] The result gave parties supported by the city's Catholic community a majority on the council for the first time.[13] The SDLP were disappointed not to win a majority on the council. John Hume blamed this on transfers going to other parties, noting the United Loyalist voters in the Bogside had transferred to the Alliance Party, while Republican Club voters in Londonderry E had transferred to the Nationalist Party.[14]

The new council elected Raymond McClean of the SDLP as Mayor of Londonderry, only the second Catholic mayor in the city's history, while Jack Allen of the United Loyalists was elected as deputy mayor.[15]

Following the election, there had been disputes within the United Loyalists. Some members of the UUP once said to the DUP's Anna Hay, who had been elected to Londonderry B[12] and was the mother of the future Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly William Hay, that they had only "lent" her her seat due to the UUP being historically the stronger unionist party at the time.[16]

References

1. Hopley, Cherry-Lynne. "Beginning of the Troubles - Northern Ireland 1969". Academia.edu. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
2. Collins, Neil (2004). Political Issues in Ireland Today (3rd ed.). Manchester University Press. p. 65. ISBN 0719065712.
3. Ó Dochartaigh, Niall (2004). From civil rights to armalites (2nd ed.). Springer. p. 261. ISBN 0230006043.
4. "Derry unionists unite to fight elections". Irish Times. 11 April 1973.
5. Musgrave, Donal (29 May 1973). "Varied reactions to Provisional-Official link". Irish Times.
6. Campbell, Sarah (4 February 2015). "New Nationalism? The S.D.L.P. and the creation of a socialist and labour party in Northern Ireland, 1969–75". Irish Historical Studies. 38 (151): 422–438. doi:10.1017/S0021121400001577. ISSN 0021-1214. Retrieved 20 June 2020 – via University of Cambridge.
7. "SDLP target again in election feud". Irish Times. 30 May 1973.
8. "Nationalists restrict aims in Derry". Irish Times. 11 May 1973.
9. "About 2m vote in north and south". Irish Times. 31 May 1973.
10. "North-South vote of about 2 million". Irish Times. 31 May 1973.
11. "Unionists back to strength". Irish Times. 1 June 1973.
12. "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: Londonderry". ARK. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
13. Russell, Richard (2014). Modernity, Community and Plurality in Brian Friel's drama. Syracuse University Press. p. 153. ISBN 0815652348.
14. "Unionists top the council poll". Irish Times. 2 June 1973.
15. "Catholic mayor for Derry". Irish Times. 13 June 1973.
16. Newsroom, The (25 November 2010). "William recalls Council 'Hay' days". Londonderry Sentinel. Retrieved 20 June 2020.