Assembly election, 20 October 1982 (eight seats)

* Elected to the 1975 Constitutional Convention

North Down's population had grown sufficiently to get an extra seat. It is probably fair to say that compared with 1975 the DUP gained from Vanguard and the UUP won the new seat and the UPNI seat, while sustaining a loss through Kilfedder's defection. Kilfedder's huge vote was clearly personal rather than for his party; only 42% of his transfers went to George Green, his running mate who had been elected for Vanguard in 1975. Green survived to a the final count to be beaten by William Bleakes of the UUP, the margin being 5384 for Bleakes to 5378 for Green, the closest result of the entire election (as in 1975). Although Alliance started well below two quotas, the two surviving candidates got 84% of the SDLP candidate's transfers which put them both within spitting distance of election.

Kilfedder was elected Speaker of the Assembly.

Westminster Election, 3 May 1979 (one seat)

Independent Unionist majority: 23,625; Electorate: 99,889; Turnout: 66.4%

Kilfedder received a massive personal endorsement, having split with the UUP due to dislike of their increasing support for integration with the rest of the UK rather than devolution. The UUP's candidate, Smyth, was also a defector, having been previously elected as a DUP candidate in North Antrim.

The UUP candidate here in 1959 was elected to Westminster with over 98% of the vote.

Constitutional Convention election, 1 May 1975 (seven seats)

* member of the 1973 Assembly

All seven men elected to the Assembly from North Down in 1973 stood again in 1975, with the addition of John Taylor who had been elected in 1973 from Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The three elected as pro-White Paper UUP candidates from 1973 all stood again for the UPNI, but only John Brooke (now the 2nd Viscount Brookeborough following the death of his father) was elected this time. The two seats lost by his running mates were effectively won by George Green for Vanguard and John Taylor for the UUP. Kilfedder's massive personal vote gave the five UUUC candidates more than five quotas on the first count, but enough of his first preferences went outside the Loyalist coalition to allow Lord Brookebrough to squeak through against the UUP's Neil Oliver, by 6536 votes to 6516, the closest result of the entire election. Kilfedder had refused to sign the UUUC pledge of conduct, and his voters appear to have taken the same attitude.

Westminster election, 10 October 1974 (one seat)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP - UUUC) majority: 31,023; Electorate: 93,641 Turnout: 61.2%

* sitting MP
@ member of Assembly (which by this time had been prorogued).

A storming result for Kilfedder, adding to his good performance in February by eating into the moderate vote.

Westminster Election, 28 February 1974 (one seat)

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP - UUUC) majority: 15,104; Electorate: 90,262 Turnout: 67.7%

* sitting MP
@ Member of Assembly

Bradford was a minister in the power-sharing Executive and perhaps the most credible candidate fielded by the pro-Assembly Unionists across Northern Ireland. However Kilfedder's personal popularity ensured a crushing victory for the UUUC.

Assembly election, 28 June 1973 (seven seats)

* Member of the Northern Ireland House of Commons when it was dissolved.

Of the Stormont MPs representing parts of North Down, only Bertie McConnell, elected as an independent pro-O'Neill Unionist in 1968 and one of three MPs who had joined the Alliance Party, was elected. John Brooke, son of former NI Prime Minister Lord Brookeborough, had sat in Stormont for his father's seat of Lisnaskea in Fermanagh but failed to get nominated there for his party. Kilfedder's massive vote transferred all over the place. The runner-up, Andrew Donaldson, finished on 6098 votes to 6331 for Alliance's Bertie McConnell, the second tightest finish of the entire election.

Kilfedder is listed by both Walker and Knight as anti-White Paper; he had however signed Faulkner's pledge and so is listed by Flackes and Elliott as pro, with a mention by Bew and Gillespie that he changed sides after the election from pro to anti. I have tallied him as anti.

And yes, the candidate who finished last is the same David Trimble...

See also:

Results from 1973 to 1982 for each seat: East Belfast | North Belfast | South Belfast | West Belfast | North Antrim | South Antrim | Armagh | North Down | South Down | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Londonderry | Mid Ulster

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.

Nicholas Whyte, 25 March 2003.