1997 Ards Borough Council election

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1997 Ards Borough Council election
  1993 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21) 2001  

All 23 seats to Ards Borough Council
12 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Party UUP DUP Alliance
Seats won1055
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
 
Party SDLP Ind. Unionist Independent
Seats won120
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1

Ards 1997 election.svg
Results by district electoral area, shaded by First Preference Votes.

Elections to Ards Borough Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

Contents

Election results

Ards Borough Council Election Result 1997 [1]
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  UUP 1010Increase2.svg143.539.67,754Increase2.svg4.9
  DUP 512Decrease2.svg121.722.64,431Decrease2.svg5.7
  Alliance 501Decrease2.svg121.721.14,138Decrease2.svg2.3
  Ind. Unionist 210Increase2.svg18.76.31,240Increase2.svg0.4
  SDLP 110Increase2.svg14.33.9901New
  Independent 001Decrease2.svg10.01.6337Decrease2.svg1.8
  PUP 000Steady2.svg00.02.3441Increase2.svg2.3
  UK Unionist 000Steady2.svg00.01.4269New
  Ulster Democratic 000Steady2.svg00.00.355New
  Green (NI) 000Steady2.svg00.00.233New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1997
by district
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
UUP DUP Alliance SDLP Others
Ards East52.1423.0115.310.009.606
Ards West56.1318.8125.120.000.006
Newtownards 26.6218.6115.410.0039.426
Peninsula22.6129.7228.8118.210.705
Total39.61022.6521.154.6112.1023

Districts results

Ards East

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1997: 4 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from DUP

Ards East - 6 seats [2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12345678
UUP Thomas Benson *17.40%882       
UUP Ronald Ferguson*13.33%676762.4      
DUP Hamilton Gregory12.25%621628.2 629.53 656.71 811.71   
UUP John Shields*11.95%606618.24 622.44 656.62 668.05 668.64 752.64 
Alliance Linda Cleland8.24%418422.32 422.53 437.71 441.71 442.89 462.07 792.07
UUP Jeffrey Magill*9.47%480508.98 533.69 582.23 616.56 621.87 680.76 694.05
DUP St Clair McAlister*5.82%295299.32 299.95 309.95 369.2 447.67 509.28 518.64
Alliance Laurence Thompson*6.94%352355.06 355.48 363.48 363.48 363.48 378.66  
UK Unionist Thomas Sheridan5.31%269271.16 271.93 283.93 287.93 287.93   
DUP Hamilton Lawther4.95%251254.96 255.87 274.87     
PUP Georgina McCrory4.34%220221.26 221.33      
Electorate: 14,904  Valid: 5,070 (34.02%)  Spoilt: 114  Quota: 725  Turnout: 5,184 (34.78%)  

    Ards West

    1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
    1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
    1993-1997 Change: No change

    Ards West - 6 seats [2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456
    UUP Robert Gibson*22.59%1,103     
    UUP David McNarry 21.83%1,066     
    Alliance Kathleen Coulter*15.18%741     
    UUP Margaret Craig*11.71%572871.52    
    DUP David Gilmore13.00%635683.75 877.19   
    Alliance Jim McBriar*9.85%481511.03 595.27 599.43 654.81 693.81
    DUP Lorraine Gilmore5.84%285311.13 398.49 552.93 649.26 650.58
    Electorate: 12,917  Valid: 4,883 (37.80%)  Spoilt: 70  Quota: 698  Turnout: 4,953 (38.34%)  

      Newtownards

      1993: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
      1997: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
      1993-1997 Change: Independent Unionist gain from DUP

      Newtownards - 6 seats [2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456789
      Ind. Unionist Wilbert Magill*19.41%914        
      Alliance Alan McDowell*15.37%724        
      UUP David Smyth*14.65%690        
      DUP George Ennis *10.89%653692.44       
      UUP Thomas Hamilton *12.00%565628.22 635.8 651.6 656.36 666.68 728.68  
      Ind. Unionist Bobby McBride6.92%326377.33 382.33 388.83 391.38 391.78 426.07 507.6 534.6
      Ind. Unionist Nancy Orr*7.15%337393.26 407.42 430.62 433.68 434.68 461.61 503.67 510.67
      DUP John Purdy4.78%225238.63 245.08 246.28 253.76 254.62 305.39   
      PUP Alfred McCrory4.69%221231.15 245.15 249.45 250.47 250.73    
      Ulster Democratic Billy McKeown1.17%5559.93        
      Electorate: 12,942  Valid: 4,710 (36.39%)  Spoilt: 120  Quota: 673  Turnout: 4,830 (37.32%)  

        Peninsula

        1993: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
        1997: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP
        1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from Alliance and Independent

        Peninsula - 5 seats [2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345
        UUP Paul Carson22.57%1,114    
        Alliance Kieran McCarthy *21.21%1,047    
        DUP Jim Shannon *20.12%993    
        DUP Robert Drysdale10.25%473687.21 696.01 849.01 
        SDLP Daniel McCarthy15.60%770777.44 808.9 810.52 930.52
        Alliance William Sheldon*3.12%154202.98 315.62 325.16 346.72
        Alliance John Smyth4.48%221227.82 279.3 281.82 296.02
        SDLP Iain Bell2.65%131131 141.12 141.48  
        Green (NI) Owen Crawford0.67%3340.75 44.49 45.75  
        Electorate: 11,165  Valid: 4,936 (44.21%)  Spoilt: 101  Quota: 824  Turnout: 5,037 (45.11%)  

          References

          1. 1 2 "Ards Council Elections 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. 1 2 3 4 "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.