The 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place following the publication of the British government's white paper Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly , elected by proportional representation. The proposals for a Northern Ireland Assembly contained in the White Paper were put into effect through the Northern Ireland Assembly Act 1973 in May 1973.[1]
A cross-community coalition of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) under Brian Faulkner , the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland was agreed in November, and following the Sunningdale Agreement , a Power Sharing Executive was established from 1 January 1974. After opposition from within the UUP and the Ulster Workers Council Strike , the executive and assembly collapsed in May 1974.
Result [ ]
The election results were:
Party
Votes
Vote %
Seats
Seats %
UUP (Pro-White Paper)
182,696
25.3
24
30.8
SDLP
159,773
22.1
19
24.4
DUP
78,228
10.8
8
10.3
UUP (Anti-White Paper)
76,094
10.5
7
9.0
Vanguard
75,709
10.5
7
9.0
Alliance
66,541
9.2
8
10.3
NI Labour
18,675
2.6
1
1.3
West Belfast Loyalist Coalition
16,869
2.3
3
3.8
Ind U
13,755
1.9
1
1.3
Republican Clubs
13,064
1.8
0
—
Nationalist
6,270
0.9
0
—
Independent
4,091
0.6
0
—
Loyalist
2,752
0.4
0
—
Independent pro-White Paper
2,008
0.3
0
—
Independent Nationalist
2,000
0.3
0
—
Republican Labour
1,750
0.2
0
—
Ulster Liberal
811
0.1
0
—
National Front
591
0.1
0
—
Ulster Constitution
202
0.0
0
—
Independent Loyalist
189
0.0
0
—
Communist Party
123
0.0
0
—
Total
722,151
100
78
100
All parties listed.
↓
24
19
8
8
7
7
3
1
1
UUP (Pro)
SDLP
DUP
APNI
UUP (Anti)
Vanguard
Votes summary [ ]
Popular vote
UUP (Pro-White Paper)
25.3%
SDLP
22.1%
Democratic Unionist
10.8%
UUP (Anti-White Paper)
10.5%
Vanguard
10.5%
Alliance
9.2%
NI Labour
2.6%
West Belfast Loyalist
2.3%
Independent Unionist
1.9%
Republican Clubs
1.8%
Nationalist
0.9%
Independent
0.6%
Other
1.5%
Seats summary [ ]
Parliamentary seats
UUP pro-white paper
30.8%
SDLP
24.4%
Democratic Unionist
10.3%
Alliance
10.3%
UUP anti-white paper
9.0%
Vanguard
9.0%
West Belfast Loyalist
3.8%
NI Labour
1.3%
Independent Unionist
1.3%
See also [ ]
Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly elected in 1973
References [ ]
[ ]
^ 24 Ulster Unionist AMs were supportive of the White Paper, while 7 UUP AMs were against it.
Sources [ ]