1997 Ballymena Borough Council election
← 1993 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21) 2001 →
All 24 seats to Ballymena Borough Council
13 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Ulster Unionist DUP SDLP
Seats won 11 8 3
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1 Increase 1
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Alliance Ind. Unionist
Seats won 1 1
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 1

Elections to Ballymena 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 24 councillors.

Election results

Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1997[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Ulster Unionist 11 1 0 Increase1 45.8 38.3 8,639 Decrease0.4
  DUP 8 0 1 Decrease1 33.3 36.7 8,639 Increase5.0
  SDLP 3 1 0 Increase1 12.5 17.5 3,951 Increase5.6
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 1 Decrease1 4.2 5.5 1,233 Increase0.2
  Alliance 1 0 0 Steady0 4.2 2.0 447 Decrease3.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1997
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
UUP DUP SDLP Alliance Others
Ballymena North 36.8 3 22.0 1 16.8 1 7.8 1 16.6 1 7
Ballymena South 36.6 3 40.9 3 17.6 1 0.0 0 4.9 0 7
Bannside 32.9 2 50.7 3 16.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 5
Braid 47.7 3 32.7 1 19.6 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 5
Total 38.3 11 36.7 8 17.5 3 2.0 1 5.5 1 24

Districts results

Ballymena North

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
1993-1997 Change: No change

Ballymena North - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SDLP Patrick McAvoy* 16.84% 975          
Ulster Unionist William Wright* 16.46% 953          
Ind. Unionist Samuel Henry* 12.58% 728          
Ulster Unionist Joseph McKernan* 10.88% 630 669.9 785.34      
Ulster Unionist James Alexander* 9.45% 547 551.8 620.92 675.52 778.52  
DUP Maurice Mills* 10.54% 610 610.3 624.46 626.15 650.28 768.28
Alliance Jayne Dunlop 7.72% 447 641.4 645 645.91 700.61 703.09
DUP John Stewart 7.20% 417 417.3 428.1 429.4 439.14 562.22
DUP David Warwick 4.27% 247 247.3 253.78 253.91 269.15  
Ind. Unionist Herbert Park 4.06% 235 242.2 246.28 247.58    
Electorate: 12,239   Valid: 5,789 (47.30%)   Spoilt: 81   Quota: 724   Turnout: 5,870 (47.96%)  

Ballymena South

1993: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1997: 3 x DUP, 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP
1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from Independent Unionist

Ballymena South - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
SDLP Declan O'Loan* 17.56% 967                
Ulster Unionist James Currie* 16.67% 918                
DUP David Tweed 15.11% 832                
DUP Martin Clarke* 10.37% 571 576.6 581.02 604.99 614.81 655.29 896.29    
DUP Hubert Nicholl 9.70% 534 535.68 544 575.45 585 622.43 714.87    
Ulster Unionist Peter Brown 6.85% 377 425.72 478.24 481.64 524.27 548.93 559.69 583.69 586.41
Ulster Unionist Malcolm Gilmour 6.63% 365 390.76 472.66 479.63 495.69 538.51 556.29 577.29 580.86
Ulster Unionist John Scott* 6.48% 357 410.2 473.9 479.51 499.95 534.81 546.52 565.52 567.56
DUP John Carson 5.72% 315 316.68 320.84 369.63 379.16 397.12      
Ind. Unionist Agnes McLeister 3.34% 184 196.32 203.6 219.75 240.93        
Ind. Unionist Samuel Balmer 1.56% 86 210.32 214.74 216.1          
Electorate: 12,043   Valid: 5,506 (45.72%)   Spoilt: 116   Quota: 689   Turnout: 5,622 (46.68%)  

Bannside

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

Bannside - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
DUP Roy Gillespie* 18.75% 1,110        
DUP Tommy Nicholl* 17.70% 1,048        
Ulster Unionist Robert Coulter* 17.13% 1,014        
DUP Sandy Spence* 14.27% 845 949.28 1,004.6    
Ulster Unionist Ian Johnston* 15.81% 936 948.43 953.71 972.89 987.89
SDLP Seamus Laverty 16.33% 967 967.33 967.39 967.55 967.67
Electorate: 9,931   Valid: 5,920 (59.61%)   Spoilt: 115   Quota: 987   Turnout: 6,035 (60.77%)  

Braid

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

Braid - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
SDLP Margaret Gribben 19.57% 1,042        
Ulster Unionist David Clyde* 18.05% 961        
Ulster Unionist Desmond Armstrong* 15.33% 816 919.48      
DUP Samuel Hanna* 11.70% 623 632.36 1,029.36    
Ulster Unionist Lexie Scott 14.37% 765 794.12 812.2 814.72 878.48
DUP Samuel Gaston 11.78% 627 629.08 690.72 826.8 833.92
DUP David McClintock* 9.20% 490 497.8      
Electorate: 9,081   Valid: 5,324 (58.63%)   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 888   Turnout: 5,415 (59.63%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Ballymena Council Elections 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
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