[[List of districts in Northern Ireland by area|Ranked 26th of 26]]"},"statistic_title":{"wt":"District HQ"},"statistic":{"wt":"[[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]]"},"statistic_title1":{"wt":"Catholic"},"statistic1":{"wt":"13.5%"},"statistic_title2":{"wt":"Protestant"},"statistic2":{"wt":"73.2%"},"councillor1":{"wt":"'''[[Members of the 4th Northern Ireland Assembly|MLAs]]'''
[[Democratic Unionist Party|DUP]]: 3
[[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]]: 1
[[Green Party in Northern Ireland|Green Party]]: 1
[[Ulster Unionist Party|UUP]]: 1"},"councillor2":{"wt":"'''[[List of MPs elected in the 2010 United Kingdom general election|MPs]]'''
[[Sylvia Hermon]] ([[Independent (politician)|Independent]])"},"website":{"wt":""},"hide_services":{"wt":"yes"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwCw">Human settlement in Northern Ireland
North Down Borough | |
---|---|
North Down Borough Council logo | |
Area | 81 km2 (31 sq mi) Ranked 26th of 26 |
District HQ | Bangor |
Catholic | 13.5% |
Protestant | 73.2% |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Councillors |
|
North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council.
Its main town was Bangor, 12 miles east of Belfast with a population of approximately 68,000. The council was headquartered in Bangor. Its secondary centre was the former Urban District of Holywood, 8 km northeast of Belfast with a population of approximately 10,000. Most of the remainder of a total population was in suburban villages along the southern shore of Belfast Lough. The area of the former Borough is heavily suburbanised, railway links with Belfast are good and the area has been the domain of Belfast commuters since the mid-19th century. The former Borough is often held to be the wealthiest area in Northern Ireland, although there are pockets of deprivation in a string of overspill public housing estates along the Bangor Ring Road.
The borough consisted of 4 electoral areas: Abbey, Ballyholme and Groomsport, Bangor West and Holywood. In the 2011 election, 25 members were elected from the following political parties: 11 Democratic Unionist Party, 6 Alliance, 4 Ulster Unionists, 1 Green, and 2 Independents. North Down along with Carrickfergus Borough Council were the only councils in Northern Ireland without Nationalist political party representation.
The Borough of North Down was formed in 1973 in the local government reorganisation from the old Bangor Urban District, Holywood Urban District, North Down Rural District and part of Castlereagh Rural District.
In elections for the Westminster Parliament it was part of the slightly larger North Down constituency.
1973 | 1977 | 1981 | 1985 | 1989 | 1993 | 1997 | 2001 | 2005 | 2011 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ulster Unionist (UUP) | 9 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
Alliance (APNI) | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Vanguard (VUPP) | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Loyalist (Loy) | 2 | |||||||||
Unionist Party of NI (UPNI) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
United Unionist (UUUP) | 1 | |||||||||
Independent Unionist (IU) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Democratic Unionist (DUP) | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | ||
Popular Unionist (UPUP) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
NI Conservatives (Con) | 6 | 4 | 2 | |||||||
UK Unionist Party (UKUP) | 3 | 2 | ||||||||
Progressive Unionist (PUP) | 2 | |||||||||
Women's Coalition (NIWC) | 1 | |||||||||
Green Party (GP) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Independent/Other† | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||
† Others include Ann Marie Hillen, who stood under the label Better Bangor Campaign in 1989, having been elected earlier that year in a by-election. Of the candidates elected in 1993, Jimmy White was elected as a Holywood Pool Campaigner and another as Action '93. Alan Chambers, elected at every election from 1993 to 2011, has usually been described on the ballot paper as an Independent, but describes himself on the council website as an Independent Unionist and stood under that label in 1997. [1] He is tallied as Independent Unionist above for all elections.
Party | seats | change +/- | |
---|---|---|---|
• | Democratic Unionist Party | 11 | +3 |
• | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | 6 | – |
• | Ulster Unionist Party | 4 | -4 |
• | Green Party in Northern Ireland | 1 | – |
• | Independent | 3 | +1 |
Year | Name | Political affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
1981–82 | Mary O'Fee | UPUP | |
1985–86 | Hazel Bradford | UUP | |
1990–92 | Denny Vitty | DUP | |
1992–93 | Leslie Cree | UUP | |
1993–94 | Brian Wilson | Alliance | |
1994–95 | Roy Bradford | UUP | |
1995–96 | Susan O'Brien | Alliance | |
1996–97 | Irene Cree | UUP | |
1997–98 | Ruby Cooling | DUP | |
1998–99 | Marsden Fitzsimons | Alliance | |
1999–00 | Marion Smith | UUP | |
2000–01 | Alan Chambers | Independent | |
2001–02 | Ian Henry | UUP | |
2002–03 | Alan Graham | DUP | |
2003–04 | Anne Wilson | Alliance | |
2004–05 | Valerie Kinghan | UK Unionist | |
2005–06 | Roberta Dunlop | UUP | |
2006–07 | Alan Leslie | DUP | |
2007–08 | Stephen Farry | Alliance | |
2008–09 | Leslie Cree | UUP | |
2009–10 | Tony Hill | Alliance | |
2010–11 | John Montgomery | DUP | |
2011–12 | James McKerrow | UUP | |
2012–13 | Wesley Irvine | DUP | |
2013–14 | Andrew Muir | Alliance | |
2014–15 | Peter Martin | DUP |
Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the council was due to merge with Ards in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 451 km2 and a population of 149,567. [2] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011. [3] It took place in 2015.
The area covered by North Down Borough Council had a population of 78,937 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census. [4]
Castlereagh was a local government district with the status of borough in Northern Ireland. It merged with Lisburn City Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council.
Magherafelt District Council was a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It was merged with Cookstown District Council and Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council on 1 April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland becoming Mid-Ulster District Council.
Ards was a local government district in Northern Ireland with the status of borough. It was one of twenty-six districts formed on 1 October 1973, and had its headquarters in Newtownards. It was merged with neighbouring North Down on 1 May 2015 to form the new Borough of Ards and North Down. Other towns in the defunct Borough included Portaferry, Comber, and Donaghadee, and the population of the area was 78,078 according to the 2011 census.
Newtownabbey Borough Council was a Local Authority in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Council merged with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015 under local government reform in Northern Ireland to form Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
North Down is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Alex Easton, elected at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
The Green Party Northern Ireland, sometimes abbreviated as Green Party NI, is a political party in Northern Ireland. Like many green political parties around the world, its origins lie in the anti-nuclear, labour and peace movements of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Armagh City and District Council was a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It merged with Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of 348,005 (2022), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, containing a total population of 579,276.
Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.
Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot, between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1,390 in the 2011 Census. It is part of the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. Helen's Bay had a population of 1,890 in 2020
Alderman Robin Leslie Cree, MBE is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. He was an Ulster Unionist Party MLA for North Down from 2003 to 2016.
North Down was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.
Ards Borough Council was the local authority of Ards in Northern Ireland. It merged with North Down Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council.
Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena in Northern Ireland. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Rachel Woods is a Northern Irish academic and former Green Party politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 2019 to 2022.
The first election to North Down and Ards District Council, part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 40 members to the newly formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of first-preference votes and seats.
Alan Chambers is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was acting Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly between 2022 and 2024. Chambers has been an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down since 2016. He currently serves as Chairperson of the Assembly's Audit Committee.
The 2023 election to Ards and North Down Borough Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England. The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.