Ballymena Area B

District electoral areas in Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Ballymena Area B was one of the four district electoral areas in Ballymena, Northern Ireland which existed from 1973 to 1985. The district elected six members to Ballymena Borough Council, and formed part of the North Antrim constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.

It was created for the 1973 local elections, and contained the wards of Ahoghill, Cullybackey, Dunminning, Galgorm, Grange and Portglenone. It was abolished for the 1985 local elections and replaced by The Main DEA.

## Councillors

[edit]

Election  | Councillor
(Party)  | Councillor
(Party)  | Councillor
(Party)  | Councillor
(Party)  | Councillor
(Party)  | Councillor
(Party)

|
|
|
|
|
|

1981 |  | Roy Gillespie
(DUP)  |  | Sandy Spence
(DUP)  |  | John Greer
(DUP)  |  | Tommy Nicholl
(DUP)  |  | William Wright
(UUP)  |  | Hugh Simpson
(UUP)/
(Independent Unionist)
1977 | Hubert Nicholl
(DUP)  | Thomas Smyth
(UUP)/
(Independent Unionist)
1973 |  | A. Simpson
(Independent)  |  | W. Dickey
(UUP)  |  |

## 1981 Election

[edit]

1977: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP

1981: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP

1977-1981 Change: No change

Ballymena Area B - 7 seats[1] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| DUP | Roy Gillespie*  | 19.20%  | 1,254 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| DUP | Sandy Spence*  | 15.02%  | 981 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| DUP | John Greer*  | 13.06%  | 853  | 1,075.3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| UUP | Hugh Simpson*  | 8.22%  | 537  | 538.56  | 539.52  | 590.52  | 593.12  | 793.19  | 1,109.19 |  |
| UUP | William Wright*  | 7.10%  | 464  | 474.14  | 474.78  | 605.56  | 608.91  | 661.68  | 807.62  | 972.07 |
| DUP | Tommy Nicholl | 11.33%  | 740  | 763.66  | 771.34  | 793.34  | 824.04  | 831.75  | 844.29  | 848.19  | 860.54
| DUP | Hubert Nicholl*  | 9.43%  | 616  | 649.02  | 765.82  | 765.82  | 773.67  | 794.06  | 830.53  | 835.08  | 853.93
| UUP | Robert Nelson  | 6.33%  | 413  | 431.2  | 438.88  | 473.88  | 474.73  | 561.18  |  |  |
| UUP | Thomas Smyth*  | 6.16%  | 402  | 409.8  | 410.28  | 435.28  | 436.93  |  |  |  |
| UUP | John Sutter  | 4.15%  | 271  | 272.04  | 272.04  |  |  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 9,994  Valid: 6,531 (65.35%)  Spoilt: 240  Quota: 934  Turnout: 6,771 (67.75%)

## 1977 Election

[edit]

1973: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent

1977: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP

1973-1977 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and Independent, Independent Unionists (two seats) join UUP

Ballymena Area B - 6 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

| DUP | Roy Gillespie*  | N/A  | N/A
| DUP | John Greer | N/A  | N/A
| DUP | Hubert Nicholl | N/A  | N/A
| UUP | Hugh Simpson*  | N/A  | N/A
| UUP | Thomas Smyth*  | N/A  | N/A
| DUP | Sandy Spence*  | N/A  | N/A
Electorate: N/A  Valid: N/A  Spoilt: N/A  Quota: N/A  Turnout: N/A

* As only six candidates had been nominated for six seats, there was no vote in Area B and all six candidates were deemed elected.

## 1973 Election

[edit]

1973: 2 x UUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent

Ballymena Area B - 4 seats[3] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

|
|
|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
| Independent | A. Simpson | 22.30%  | 1,390 |  |  |  |  |
| DUP | Sandy Spence | 20.07%  | 1,251 |  |  |  |  |
| DUP | Roy Gillespie | 19.06%  | 1,188 |  |  |  |  |
| UUP | W. Dickey | 11.78%  | 734  | 930.8 |  |  |  |
| Ind. Unionist | Hugh Simpson | 7.49%  | 467  | 541  | 648.3  | 728.34  | 814.64  | 894.12
| Ind. Unionist | Thomas Smyth | 6.03%  | 376  | 431.6  | 504.1  | 607.6  | 693.1  | 786.54
| UUP | W. O. Given  | 4.19%  | 261  | 305.8  | 433.98  | 481.36  | 569.28  | 685.18
| Alliance | Maeve Kyle  | 5.30%  | 330  | 398.4  | 413.48  | 420.38  | 435.78  |
| Independent | W. R. McNeilly  | 3.77%  | 235  | 291  | 324.64  | 378  |  |
Electorate: 9,474  Valid: 6,232 (65.78%)  Spoilt: 61  Quota: 891  Turnout: 6,293 (66.42%)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
2. ^ "Local Government Results 1977". EONI. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
3. ^ "Local Government Results 1973". EONI. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

*[FPv%]: First preference votes percentage