2023 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council election

Main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections

2023 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council election

←  2019 18 May 2023 2027 →
All 40 council seats 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jeffrey Donaldson Naomi Long Doug Beattie Party DUP Alliance UUP Last election 15 9 11 Seats won 14 13 6 Seat change 1 4 5 Popular vote 19,187 16,064 7,877 Percentage 34.0% 28.5% 14.0% Swing 2.7% 4.9% 3.6%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Michelle O'Neill [n 1] Colum Eastwood Party Sinn Féin SDLP Independent Last election 2 2 0 Seats won 4 2 1 Seat change 2 0 1 Popular vote 6,193 3,774 1,017 Percentage 11.0% 6.7% 1.8% Swing 5.6% 2.0% 0.1%
Lisburn and Castlereagh 2023 Council Election Results by DEA (Shaded by plurality of FPVs)
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election TBC

The 2023 election to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England. ^[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III. ^[2]

The election returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote. This consisted of 14 Democratic Unionist Party members (who topped the polls in three districts: Castlereagh East, Downshire East and Lisburn South), 13 Alliance Party members (who topped the polls in two districts: Castlereagh South and Downshire West), 6 Ulster Unionist Party members, 4 Sinn Féin members (who topped the polls in two districts: Killultagh and Lisburn North), 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party members and 1 Independent member.

Election results

2023 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council election result ^[3]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	14	0	1	1	35.00	34.02	19,187	2.69
	Alliance	13	4	0	4	32.50	28.48	16,064	4.84
	UUP	6	0	5	5	15.00	13.97	7,877	3.61
	Sinn Féin	4	2	0	2	10.00	10.98	6,193	5.57
	SDLP	2	0	0	0	5.00	6.69	3,774	1.99
	Independent	1	1	0	1	2.50	1.80	1,017	0.05
	TUV	0	0	0	0	0.00	2.33	1,317	0.01
	Green (NI)	0	0	1	1	0.00	1.73	975	0.02
Total		40						56,404

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the 2023 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council election
by district

District Electoral Area (DEA)	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total cllrs
	DUP		Alliance		UUP		Sinn Féin		SDLP		Independents and others
Castlereagh East	50.92	3	30.78	2	9.03	1	0.00	0	0.00	0	9.28	0	6
Castlereagh South	15.05	1	32.36	3 1	7.46	0 1	21.61	2 1	17.05	1	6.92	0 1	7
Downshire East	41.34	2	30.06	2 1	17.47	1 1	0.00	0	4.51	0	5.73	0	5
Downshire West	40.19	2	36.62	2 1	17.26	1 1	4.21	0	0.00	0	1.73	0	5
Killultagh	33.49	2	22.22	1	15.66	1	23.36	1	4.34	0	0.93	0	5
Lisburn North	26.47	1 1	23.61	1	13.65	1 1	14.67	1 1	11.07	1	10.54	1 1	6
Lisburn South	38.20	3	23.81	2 1	19.95	1 1	6.58	0	6.30	0	5.16	0	6
Total	34.02	14 1	28.48	13 4	13.97	6 5	10.98	4 2	6.69	2	5.87	1	40

District results

Castlereagh East

2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Castlereagh East - 6 seats ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	Sharon Skillen*	21.04%	1,655
	Alliance	Martin Gregg*	17.50%	1,377
	DUP	Samantha Burns	11.17%	879	1,165.72
	Alliance	Sharon Lowry*	13.28%	1,045	1,057.16	1,192.16
	DUP	John Laverty*	11.31%	890	960.72	966.68	980.62	1,130.62
	UUP	Hazel Legge*	9.03%	710	735.28	763.92	959.08	1,086.60
	DUP	David Drysdale*	7.40%	582	678	682.96	703.70	931.76
	TUV	Andrew Girvin	6.79%	534	558.32	566.64	589.76
	Green (NI)	Terry Winchcombe	2.49%	195	199.48
Electorate: 16,289  Valid: 7,867 (48.30%)  Spoilt: 90  Quota: 1,124  Turnout: 7,957 (48.85%)

Castlereagh South

2019: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green

2023: 3 x Alliance, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Alliance and Sinn Féin gain from Green and UUP

Castlereagh South - 7 seats ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Alliance	Michelle Guy* †	14.26%	1,452
	DUP	Brian Higginson	9.88%	1,006	1,009	1,009.60	1,507.72
	Alliance	Nancy Eaton	10.96%	1,116	1,121	1,183.16	1,186.16	1,188.76	1,416.76
	SDLP	John Gallen*	10.61%	1,035	1,035	1,042.08	1,044.08	1,046.16	1,147.12	1,613.12
	Sinn Féin	Ryan Carlin*	11.82%	1,204	1,207	1,213.24	1,214.24	1,214.76	1,260.76	1,314.76
	Alliance	Martin McKeever	7.14%	727	734	793.88	795.88	803.12	926.04	1,048.76	1,269.89
	Sinn Féin	Daniel Bassett	9.79%	997	998	1,000.88	1,000.88	1,000.88	1,036.24	1,095.60	1,192.80
	UUP	Michael Henderson*	7.46%	760	764	768.92	786.92	1,001.68	1,039.08	1,059.60	1,077.42
	SDLP	Simon Lee*	6.44%	656	662	683.36	686.36	688.44	761.64
	Green (NI)	Jacinta Hamley	6.44%	656	667	675.16	675.16	677.76
	DUP	William Traynor	5.17%	527	528	528.18
	Independent	Andrew Miller	0.48%	49
Electorate: 18,120  Valid: 10,185 (56.21%)  Spoilt: 95  Quota: 1,274  Turnout: 10,280 (56.73%)

Downshire East

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Downshire East - 5 seats ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Andrew Gowan*	26.01%	1,798
	DUP	Uel Mackin*	15.33%	1,060	1,576.96
	Alliance	Aaron McIntyre*	15.94%	1,102	1,123.96	1,139.00	1,253.00
	Alliance	Kurtis Dickson	14.12%	976	981.04	985.84	1,147.84
	UUP	James Baird*	10.50%	726	768.48	938.40	945.76	959.76	1,154.76
	UUP	Alex Swan*	6.97%	482	498.92	600.36	605.36	626.36	749.36
	TUV	Stewart Ferris	5.73%	396	428.76	564.12	566.48	570.48
	SDLP	John Drake	4.51%	312	314.52	317.08
Electorate: 12,763  Valid: 6,914 (54.17%)  Spoilt: 62  Quota: 1,143  Turnout: 6,976 (54.66%)

Downshire West

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Downshire West - 5 seats ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Alliance	Owen Gawith*	23.58%	1,693
	Alliance	Gretta Thompson	13.04%	936	1,353.02
	UUP	Alan Martin	8.69%	624	641.98	693.33	776.91	1,315.91
	DUP	Caleb McCready*	13.87%	996	1,014.56	1,020.85	1,032.40	1,059.86	1,093.46
	DUP	Allan Ewart*	13.53%	971	975.06	987.35	992.81	1,039.51	1,082.56
	DUP	William Leathem	12.79%	918	921.48	925.48	928.21	947.26	988.56
	UUP	Liz McCord	8.57%	615	621.38	691.12	739.42
	Sinn Féin	Siobhán Murphy	4.21%	302	310.70
	Green (NI)	Luke Robinson	1.73%	124	135.02
Electorate: 13,284  Valid: 7,179 (54.04%)  Spoilt: 72  Quota: 1,197  Turnout: 7,251 (54.58%)

Killultagh

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No change

Killultagh - 5 seats ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Sinn Féin	Gary McCleave*	23.36%	1,958
	Alliance	Claire Kemp	22.22%	1,862
	DUP	Thomas Beckett*	18.01%	1,509
	DUP	James Tinsley*	15.48%	1,297	1,297.68	1,312.26	1,325.80	1,415.05
	UUP	Ross McLernon*	7.80%	654	657.74	732.80	765.65	776.78	1,398.14
	SDLP	Jack Patton	4.34%	364	888.28	1,145.86	1,178.05	1,178.47	1,192.49
	UUP	Laura Turner	7.86%	659	664.10	728.63	748.84	752.69
	Independent	Stuart Brown	0.93%	78	93.64	136.57
Electorate: 15,956  Valid: 8,381 (52.53%)  Spoilt: 68  Quota: 1,397  Turnout: 8,449 (52.95%)

Lisburn North

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2023: 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and Independent gain from DUP and UUP

Lisburn North - 6 seats ^{[4] [6]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Sinn Féin	Paul Burke †	14.67%	1,239
	DUP	Jonathan Craig *	14.45%	1,220
	Alliance	Nicola Parker	13.47%	1,137	1,147	1,900
	SDLP	Pat Catney	11.07%	935	941	1,002	1,360
	UUP	Nicholas Trimble*	7.43%	627	1,035	1,070	1,242
	Independent	Gary Hynds	10.54%	890	933	946	1,045	1,162
	DUP	Scott Carson*	12.02%	1,015	1,049	1,053	1,066	1,071
	Alliance	Stephen Martin*	10.14%	856	874
	UUP	Linsey Gibson	6.22%	525
Electorate: 16,680  Valid: 8,444 (50.62%)  Spoilt: 89  Quota: 1,207  Turnout: 8,553 (51.28%)

Lisburn South

2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Lisburn South - 6 seats ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	DUP	Andrew Ewing*	15.19%	1,139
	Alliance	Amanda Grehan*	14.82%	1,111
	DUP	Alan Givan*	13.85%	1,038	1,089.60
	Alliance	Peter Kennedy	8.99%	674	674.24	677.30	707.33	707.55	949.27	1,324.27
	UUP	Tim Mitchell*	11.61%	870	871.44	962.86	963.58	965.12	971.12	1,007.29	1,065.29
	DUP	Paul Porter*	9.16%	687	696	900.42	900.81	915.15	921.15	931.23	937.23
	UUP	Jenny Palmer*	8.34%	625	628.42	692.90	693.59	694.27	706.42	727.48	745.48
	Sinn Féin	Aisling Flynn	6.58%	493	493.42	494.42	494.90	494.94	671.09
	SDLP	Dee French	6.30%	472	472.42	476.42	477.32	477.34
	TUV	Stewart McEvoy	5.16%	387	388.44
Electorate: 16,838  Valid: 7,496 (44.52%)  Spoilt: 99  Quota: 1,071  Turnout: 7,595 (45.11%)

Changes during the term

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Electoral Area	Party		Outgoing	Co-optee	Reason
5 August 2024	Castlereagh South		Alliance	Michelle Guy	Jamie Harpur	Guy was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly. [7]
1 November 2024	Lisburn North		Sinn Féin	Paul Burke	Declan Lynch	Burke resigned. [8]
19 March 2025	Lisburn South		Alliance	Peter Kennedy	Jessica Bamford	Kennedy Resigned. [9]

Notes

1. The leader of Sinn Féin is Mary Lou McDonald, who sits as a TD in the Irish Dáil Éireann for Dublin Central. O'Neill is the leader of the party in Northern Ireland.

References

1. "Local government elections in Northern Ireland". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
2. "NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash". BBC News. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
3. "Lisburn and Castlereagh result - Northern Ireland Council Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
4. "Northern Ireland council election: List of all the candidates in the May 2023 poll". Belfast Live. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
5. "Killultagh Election Results 2023". Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
6. "Lisburn North Election Results 2023". Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
7. "New Councillor - Castlereagh South District Electoral Area".
8. "New Councillor - Lisburn North District Electoral Area".
9. "Jessica Bamford has been selected as Alliance Councillor for Lisburn South". allianceparty.org. Retrieved 20 March 2025.