1989 North Down Borough Council election
← 1985 17 May 1989 (1989-05-17) 1993 →
All 24 seats to North Down Borough Council
13 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party NI Conservatives Ulster Unionist Alliance
Seats won 6 5 4
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 3 Decrease 3
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party DUP UPUP Independent
Seats won 4 2 2
Seat change Decrease 2 Steady 0 Increase 2
  Seventh party
 
Party Ind. Unionist
Seats won 1
Seat change Steady 0

Elections to North Down Borough Council were held on 17 May 1989 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 24 councillors.

Prior to the election three Ulster Unionist politicians, including George Green, had defected to the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland. The election saw the Conservative presence in North Down doubling, with the Conservatives emerging as the single largest party on the council.

Election results

North Down Borough Council Election Result 1989[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  NI Conservatives 6 6 0 Increase6 25.0 24.9 5,204 New
  Ulster Unionist 5 0 3 Decrease3 20.8 21.7 4,548 Decrease10.6
  Alliance 4 0 3 Decrease3 16.7 20.7 4,313 Decrease5.6
  DUP 4 0 2 Decrease3 16.7 15.5 3,234 Decrease7.8
  Independent 2 2 0 Increase2 8.3 6.9 1,443 Increase4.2
  UPUP 2 1 1 Steady0 8.3 5.9 1,223 Decrease3.8
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 0 Steady0 4.2 2.8 578 Decrease1.2
  PUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.6 325 Decrease0.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the North Down Borough Council election, 1989
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
Conservative UUP Alliance DUP UPUP Others
Abbey 19.2 1 12.4 1 12.9 1 25.6 1 29.9 2 0.0 0 6
Ballyholme and Groomsport 27.5 2 25.4 1 24.1 1 12.4 1 0.0 0 10.6 1 6
Bangor West 26.7 2 23.0 2 19.3 1 14.5 1 0.0 0 16.5 1 7
Holywood 24.6 1 24.1 1 25.2 1 11.7 1 0.0 0 14.4 1 5
Total 24.9 6 21.7 5 20.7 4 15.5 4 5.9 2 11.3 3 24

Districts results

Abbey

1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPUP
1989: 2 x UPUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Conservative, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
1985-1989 Change: UPUP and Conservative gain from DUP and UUP

Abbey - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
UPUP Valerie Kinghan 18.19% 745            
NI Conservatives George Green* 13.09% 536 546.12 551.66 558.66 752.66    
UPUP Cecil Braniff* 11.67% 478 560.50 580.36 584.80 587.46    
Alliance James Magee* 7.30% 299 305.82 308.92 513.80 541.46 605.46  
DUP Denny Vitty 10.47% 429 438.68 445.34 445.56 448.78 454.78 609.78
Ulster Unionist Irene Cree 8.52% 349 364.40 483.26 483.26 498.92 546.92 571.9
DUP Ivy Cooling* 7.89% 323 332.24 337.12 337.12 338.34 349.34 462.10
NI Conservatives Shirley McCann 6.10% 250 252.86 254.30 262.30      
Alliance Mariam Judge 5.57% 228 229.76 229.98        
Ulster Unionist Edward Johnston 2.91% 119 128.02          
Ulster Unionist Robert Todd 1.03% 42 45.30          
Electorate: 11,789   Valid: 4,096 (34.74%)   Spoilt: 188   Quota: 586   Turnout: 4,284 (36.34%)  

Ballyholme and Groomsport

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1989: 2 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) gain from UUP and Alliance

Ballyholme and Groomsport - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ulster Unionist Leslie Cree 15.81% 864                  
NI Conservatives Bruce Mulligan* 11.18% 611 612.35 614.35 621.98 623.25 814.25        
Alliance Jane Copeland* 13.01% 711 712.53 762.53 768.89 771.16 779.25 779.59 1,159.59    
NI Conservatives Ivan Thompson 10.49% 573 574.53 582.53 586.89 587.16 672.43 703.71 765.07 877.07  
Ind. Unionist Edmund Mills* 10.58% 578 580.25 584.25 589.88 593.06 602.42 602.76 630.85 684.85 713.85
DUP Alan Leslie* 7.85% 429 432.6 434.6 452.31 686.82 693.09 693.26 697.89 703.89 705.89
Ulster Unionist Samuel Mellon 6.52% 356 375.35 378.35 518.2 532.28 547.09 547.09 575.54 608.54 635.54
Alliance Donald Hayes* 8.86% 484 485.44 533.44 535.71 535.89 542.89 543.06      
NI Conservatives William McLean 5.84% 319 320.44 322.53 326.25 329.34          
DUP Robert Gordon 4.58% 250 255.22 255.31 269.21            
Ulster Unionist Ian Henry 3.04% 166 204.79 207.79              
Alliance William Johnston 2.25% 123 123.18                
Electorate: 14,179   Valid: 5,464 (38.54%)   Spoilt: 150   Quota: 781   Turnout: 5,614 (39.59%)  

Bangor West

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UPUP
1989: 2 x Conservative, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent
1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) and Independent gain from Alliance, DUP and UPUP

Bangor West - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ulster Unionist Hazel Bradford* 10.73% 698 707 710 716 748 880        
DUP William Baxter 7.10% 462 497 498 502 551 573 575.5 829.5    
Alliance Brian Wilson* 10.71% 697 699 763 779 789 802 808 817    
Independent Ann-Marie Hillen 8.25% 537 540 549 701 725 741 742.5 764.5 902.5  
NI Conservatives Thomas Miskelly 9.62% 626 629 632 643 664 694 695.5 703.5 763.5 794.5
NI Conservatives James O'Fee 8.81% 573 579 580 587 597 623 624.5 641.5 717 744
Ulster Unionist Roy Bradford 6.19% 403 408 409 411 443 534 581 650 693 706
NI Conservatives Jack Preston 8.25% 537 550 551 556 577 605 605 613 662 673
Alliance William Bailie* 6.36% 414 416 471 473 476 491 491.5 493.5    
DUP Alan Graham* 5.34% 347 398 402 404 429 453 457.5      
Ulster Unionist Terence McKeag 6.09% 396 397 398 399 425          
PUP Thomas O'Brien 4.86% 316 327 328 329            
Independent Colin Simpson 3.24% 211 212 212              
Alliance Eileen Bell 2.23% 145 145                
DUP Elizabeth McMurtry 2.08% 135                  
PUP Samuel Meneely 0.14% 9                  
Electorate: 15,249   Valid: 6,506 (42.67%)   Spoilt: 147   Quota: 814   Turnout: 6,653 (43.63%)  

Holywood

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
1989: 1 x Alliance, 1 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent
1985-1989 Change: Conservative and Independent gain from UUP and Alliance

Holywood - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
NI Conservatives Laurence Kennedy 16.14% 775 852        
Ulster Unionist Ellie McKay* 12.27% 589 641 694 704.12 1,035.12  
Independent Dennis Ogborn 14.47% 695 712 755 764.2 804.2  
DUP Gordon Dunne* 11.68% 561 564 576 578.76 659.28 805.28
Alliance Susan O'Brien* 13.74% 660 670 696 701.52 732.96 754.96
Alliance Paul De Haan 11.50% 552 559 585 592.36 626.12 659.12
Ulster Unionist John Auld* 9.85% 473 498 549 564.64    
NI Conservatives Alice Kennedy 5.60% 269 299        
NI Conservatives Michael Weir 2.81% 135          
Ulster Unionist Ian Sinclair* 1.94% 93          
Electorate: 10,290   Valid: 4,802 (46.67%)   Spoilt: 116   Quota: 801   Turnout: 4,918 (47.79%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1985-1989: North Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1989". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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