Interim bodies Elections Members See also
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. Unionist 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 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 http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm