Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973

← 1969 28 June 1973 1975 →
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All 78 seats to the Northern Ireland Assembly 40 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Brian Faulkner Gerry Fitt Ian Paisley Party UUP SDLP DUP Leader since 23 March 1971 21 August 1970 30 September 1971 Leader's seat South Down Belfast North North Antrim Seats won 31 19 8 Popular vote 258,790 159,773 78,228 Percentage 35.8% 22.1% 10.8%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Oliver Napier William Craig Party Alliance Vanguard Leader since 1972 9 February 1972 Leader's seat Belfast East North Antrim Seats won 8 7 Popular vote 66,541 75,709 Percentage 9.2% 11.5%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the party.
Chief Executive before election New position Elected Chief Executive Brian Faulkner

New position

Brian Faulkner

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.

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.

The election results were: