1985 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1985

1985 Ballymoney Borough Council election

←  1981 15 May 1985 (1985-05-15) 1989  →
All 16 seats to Ballymoney Borough Council 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP UUP SDLP Seats won 6 6 2 Seat change 1 3 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Sinn Féin Independent Alliance Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 1 2 1

Elections to Ballymoney Borough Council were held on 15 May 1985 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 16 councillors.

Election results

Ballymoney Borough Council Election Result 1985 ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	6	0	1	1	37.5	41.9	4,044	1.6
	UUP	6	3	0	3	37.5	29.9	2,886	5.9
	SDLP	2	0	0	0	12.5	12.7	1,225	2.8
	Independent	1	0	2	2	6.3	7.1	687	10.7
	Sinn Féin	1	1	0	1	6.3	5.5	532	New
	Alliance	0	0	1	1	0.0	2.6	248	5.5
	Green (NI)	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	35	New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Ballymoney Borough Council election, 1985
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		UUP		SDLP		Sinn Féin		Others
Ballymoney Town	39.9	2	35.0	2	0.0	0	0.0	0	25.1	1	5
Bann Valley	41.2	2	25.1	2	13.9	1	13.5	1	6.3	0	6
Bushvale	44.6	2	31.5	2	22.7	1	0.0	0	1.2	0	5
Total	41.9	6	29.9	6	12.7	2	5.5	1	10.0	1	16

District results

Ballymoney Town

1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent

Ballymoney Town - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	Robert McComb*	25.07%	687
	UUP	James Simpson	16.53%	453	502.45
	DUP	Cecil Cousley *	15.47%	424	457.97
	DUP	Kenneth Blair	13.87%	380	395.91	396.77	613.77
	UUP	Adam McNeilly	10.00%	274	326.03	347.53	381.12	430.12
	UUP	James McKeown	8.50%	233	293.63	311.69	345.99	412.99
	DUP	Ralph Stronge*	10.55%	289	304.05	307.06
Electorate: 5,278  Valid: 2,740 (51.91%)  Spoilt: 63  Quota: 457  Turnout: 2,803 (53.11%)

Bann Valley

1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin

Bann Valley - 6 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	James Patterson*	16.96%	669
	DUP	Robert Wilson*	12.27%	484	564.1
	SDLP	Malachy McCamphill	13.94%	550	550.15	712.15
	Sinn Féin	Margaret Hogan	13.49%	532	532	557.15	622.15
	UUP	Kenneth Bamford*	12.34%	487	491.8	524.95	556.95	567.95
	UUP	Joe Gaston *	12.72%	502	505.9	518.05	522.05	522.05
	DUP	Robert Halliday*	11.99%	473	483.2	487.35	487.35	490.35
	Alliance	Hugh McFarland*	6.29%	248	248.75
Electorate: 5,997  Valid: 3,945 (65.78%)  Spoilt: 57  Quota: 564  Turnout: 4,002 (66.73%)

Bushvale

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

Bushvale - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Charles Steele*	19.18%	570
	DUP	William Gracey*	18.74%	557
	UUP	John Ramsay	16.96%	504
	SDLP	Harry Connolly*	14.97%	445	445.13	445.46	445.48	453.48	680.48
	UUP	William Logan*	14.57%	433	447.3	453.02	457.4	471.62	471.63	522.63
	DUP	Bertie McIlhatton*	6.66%	198	255.46	306.39	306.77	311	311.13	318.13
	SDLP	John Mulholland	7.74%	230	230.39	230.61	230.62	231.62
	Green (NI)	William Hartin	1.18%	35	35	35.77	35.78
Electorate: 4,883  Valid: 2,972 (60.86%)  Spoilt: 71  Quota: 496  Turnout: 3,043 (62.32%)

References

1. "Local Government Election 1985-1989: Ballymoney". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1985". EONI. Retrieved 11 July 2021.