Ards Area C

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

It was created for the 1973 local elections, and contained the wards of Ballygowan, Comber North, Comber South and Killinchy. It was abolished for the 1985 local elections and replaced by the Ards West DEA.

Councillors

Election	Councillor (Party)		Councillor (Party)		Councillor (Party)		Councillor (Party)
1981		Hamilton McKeag (UUP)		Thomas Gourley (DUP)		John Hamilton (DUP)		Jim McBriar (Alliance)
1977						John Shields (Independent Unionist)
1973				D. Hamilton (UUP)		James Caughey (Independent Unionist)

1981 Election

1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Independent Unionist

Ards Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	Thomas Gourley*	26.19%	1,479
	Ulster Unionist	Hamilton McKeag*	19.16%	1,082	1,099.02	1,111.71	1,201.71
	DUP	John Hamilton	13.31%	752	1,041.8	1,057.72	1,082.41	1,087.33	1,112.61	1,187.61
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	9.31%	526	528.76	535.22	541.22	547.78	559.01	598.88	902.72	908.72	1,113.72
	Ulster Unionist	Gordon Brown	5.91%	334	339.52	356.75	416.05	466.89	481.12	551.78	571.78	595.78	753.78
	Ind. Unionist	John Shields*	5.51%	311	314.68	317.68	325.14	327.6	499.62	540.9	570.59	584.59
	Alliance	Kathleen Coulter	6.16%	348	350.53	353.53	362.53	362.53	377.53	388.99
	UPUP	Robert McKee	3.93%	222	226.14	294.6	303.52	307.62	317.62
	Independent	James Middleton	4.20%	237	240.22	247.22	255.45	257.91
	Ulster Unionist	James Caughey	3.77%	213	217.83	224.83
	UPUP	Shirley McWhinney	2.20%	124	126.07
	Independent	Thomas Adair	0.35%	20	20.69
Electorate: 9,936   Valid: 5,648 (56.84%)   Spoilt: 168   Quota: 1,130   Turnout: 5,816 (58.53%)

1977 Election

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

1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1973-1977 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Ards Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Ulster Unionist	Hamilton McKeag*	19.16%	823	842	869
	Ind. Unionist	John Shields	12.11%	520	542	552	558	585	639	1,049
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	10.43%	448	451	452	687	706	779	824	917.84
	DUP	Thomas Gourley	13.06%	561	578	701	701	716	747	768	796.56	804.96
	Ulster Unionist	Harold Porter	8.10%	348	350	352	356	540	611	681	744.92	793.92
	Independent	James Middleton	9.73%	418	434	442	452	482	584
	Ind. Unionist	James Caughey*	8.20%	352	359	363	365	379
	Ulster Unionist	Adela Hamilton	6.57%	282	284	291	292
	Alliance	Alice Rudnitzky	6.08%	261	264	265
	UUUP	William Dempster	3.77%	170	187
	Independent	Arthur Spence	2.61%	112
Electorate: 9,514   Valid: 4,295 (45.14%)   Spoilt: 120   Quota: 860   Turnout: 4,415 (46.41%)

1973 Election

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

Ards Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Ulster Unionist	D. Hamilton	11.69%	645	653	669	973	1,249
	Ulster Unionist	Hamilton McKeag	13.18%	727	740	777	881	1,201
	Alliance	Jim McBriar	12.36%	682	1,003	1,011	1,037	1,068	1,105.4
	Ind. Unionist	James Caughey	16.23%	895	920	939	969	1,004	1,065.2	1,123.85
	Vanguard	W. Crawford	10.75%	593	594	936	953	977	1,022.9	1,060.64
	Ulster Unionist	Harold Porter	10.55%	582	595	605	692
	Ulster Unionist	J. H. Cromie	10.12%	558	561	572
	Vanguard	D. McCreery	7.96%	439	445
	Alliance	Alice Rudnitzky	7.16%	395
Electorate: 8,762   Valid: 5,516 (62.95%)   Spoilt: 83   Quota: 1,104   Turnout: 5,599 (63.90%)