1997 Derry City Council election
← 1993 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21) 2001 →
All 30 seats to Derry City Council
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP Sinn Féin DUP
Seats won 14 8 4
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 3 Decrease 1
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Ulster Unionist Ind. Unionist
Seats won 3 1
Seat change Increase 1 Steady 0

Elections to Derry City Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 30 councillors.

Election results

Derry City Council Election Result 1997[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SDLP 14 0 3 Decrease3 46.7 43.7 18,012 Decrease3.2
  Sinn Féin 8 3 0 Increase3 26.7 27.7 11,394 Increase7.5
  DUP 4 0 1 Decrease1 13.3 12.6 5,186 Decrease0.7
  Ulster Unionist 3 1 0 Increase1 10.0 8.7 3,595 Decrease0.5
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 0 Steady0 3.3 2.8 1,203 Increase0.1
  NI Women's Coalition 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.5 1,036 New
  Labour Coalition 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.1 434 New
  Ulster Democratic 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.7 176 Decrease0.5
  Independent 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.1 48 Decrease1.9
  Independent Nationalist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.1 22 Increase0.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Derry City Council election, 1997
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
SDLP Sinn Féin DUP UUP Others
Cityside 40.6 2 55.5 3 0.0 0 0.0 0 3.9 0 5
Northland 57.2 5 33.4 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 9.4 0 7
Rural 44.5 3 9.0 0 23.6 1 20.0 1 2.9 0 6
Shantallow 56.4 3 36.7 2 1.7 0 0.0 0 5.2 0 5
Waterside 19.8 1 9.9 1 35.0 3 22.2 1 13.1 1 7
Total 43.7 14 27.7 8 12.6 4 8.7 3 7.3 1 30

District results

Cityside

1993: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin
1997: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP
1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Cityside - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Sinn Féin Cathal Crumley 20.61% 1,333          
Sinn Féin Mitchel McLaughlin* 20.21% 1,307          
Sinn Féin Peter Anderson 14.72% 952 979 1,213.27      
SDLP Jim Clifford* 14.98% 969 1,042 1,047.7 1,115.64    
SDLP Pat Ramsey* 12.71% 822 883 884.33 972.81 976.8 989.55
SDLP Patrick Devine* 12.82% 829 881 884.42 955.52 961.41 986.16
NI Women's Coalition Margaret Logue 3.94% 255          
Electorate: 9,432   Valid: 6,467 (68.56%)   Spoilt: 194   Quota: 1,078   Turnout: 6,661 (70.62%)  

Northland

1993: 5 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin
1997: 5 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin
1993-1997 Change: No change

Northland - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SDLP Mark Durkan* 17.17% 1,679            
Sinn Féin Mary Nelis* 16.00% 1,564            
SDLP Martin Bradley* 11.41% 1,115 1,272.14          
Sinn Féin Marion Hutcheon 11.54% 1,128 1,134.75 1,318.67        
SDLP John Tierney* 11.21% 1,096 1,147.03 1,161.99 1,163.42 1,172.06 1,246.06  
SDLP John Kerr* 8.69% 850 1,012 1,018.82 1,019.59 1,045.75 1,132.75 1,252.1
SDLP Kathleen McCloskey* 8.74% 854 896.39 901.67 902.44 910.04 968.04 1,040.04
Sinn Féin Pius McNaught 5.85% 572 577.94 691.24 779.35 780.23 822.23 827.23
Ind. Unionist Alexander Simpson 5.44% 532 533.89 533.89 533.89 533.89 567.89  
NI Women's Coalition Patricia McAdams 2.97% 290 303.23 308.51 309.06 310.5    
Labour Coalition Anthony Martin 0.51% 50 52.97 54.51 54.62 54.94    
Labour Coalition Geraldine O'Neill 0.47% 46 48.7 50.24 50.46 50.7    
Electorate: 16,075   Valid: 9,776 (60.81%)   Spoilt: 207   Quota: 1,223   Turnout: 9,983 (62.10%)  

Rural

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

Rural - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SDLP Annie Courtney* 15.59% 1,220            
DUP William Hay* 14.12% 1,105 1,121          
SDLP John McNickle* 12.47% 976 991 1,421        
SDLP George Peoples* 9.44% 739 760 871 1,168.84      
Ulster Unionist Andrew Davidson 10.64% 833 887 890 890 901.31 905.87 1,212.87
Ulster Unionist Ernest Hamilton 9.33% 730 751 751 751 754.19 757.23 1,048.15
Sinn Féin Paul Fleming 9.03% 707 719 748 749.46 833.56 874.6 874.6
DUP Maurice Devenney 9.47% 741 749 749 749 750.74 751.5  
SDLP Jim McKeever 7.01% 549 600          
NI Women's Coalition Catherine Cooke 2.30% 180            
Independent David Hawthorne 0.61% 48            
Electorate: 13,468   Valid: 7,828 (58.12%)   Spoilt: 164   Quota: 1,119   Turnout: 7,992 (59.34%)  

Shantallow

1993: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin
1997: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin
1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Shantallow - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SDLP Mary Bradley* 22.87% 1,826            
Sinn Féin Tony Hassan 16.16% 1,290 1,304.84 1,306.84 1,307.84 1,325.68 1,658.68  
Sinn Féin Gearóid Ó hEára* 14.21% 1,134 1,154.44 1,157.44 1,157.44 1,199.66 1,333.56  
SDLP Shaun Gallagher* 10.92% 872 1,190.92 1,202.2 1,221.88 1,298.64 1,311.2 1,325.2
SDLP William O'Connell* 12.86% 1,027 1,088.32 1,091.32 1,104.32 1,171.56 1,181.96 1,187.96
SDLP Margaret McCartney* 9.76% 779 833.6 841.88 869.16 989.96 1,000.8 1,011.8
Sinn Féin Bernadette McDaid 6.31% 504 508.2 509.32 509.32 522.88    
Labour Coalition Charles McDaid 2.44% 195 197.8 222.8 232.8      
NI Women's Coalition Diane Greer 2.07% 165 177.04 179.32 204.32      
DUP William Dougherty 1.68% 134 136.24 137.24        
Labour Coalition Robert Lindsay 0.51% 41 43.24          
Labour Coalition Patrick Muldowney 0.20% 16 16.56          
Electorate: 13,598   Valid: 7,983 (58.71%)   Spoilt: 188   Quota: 1,331   Turnout: 8,171 (60.09%)  

Waterside

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

Waterside - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Ulster Unionist Richard Dallas* 16.77% 1,535              
DUP Gregory Campbell* 16.36% 1,497              
SDLP Philip Kelly 11.48% 1,051 1,051.25 1,051.73 1,124.73 1,127.73 1,128.21 1,815.21  
Sinn Féin Lynn Fleming 9.87% 903 903.25 904.21 925.21 925.21 926.45 967.45 1,120.45
DUP Joe Miller* 8.18% 749 789.75 851.91 862.13 946.17 1,098.86 1,100.86 1,106.86
Ind. Unionist James Guy* 7.33% 671 717.25 762.37 815.35 850.26 877.66 905.66 1,082.66
DUP Mildred Garfield 5.65% 517 544.5 680.1 691.54 736.97 1,056.75 1,060.75 1,061.75
Ulster Unionist Mary Hamilton 5.43% 497 722 757.04 770.03 821.72 850.56 850.56 850.56
SDLP Wilfred White* 8.29% 759 759 759 795 798 799    
DUP Bill Irwin* 4.84% 443 464.5 517.06 519.06 560.99      
Ulster Democratic David Nicholl 3.02% 276 290 304.88 318.87        
NI Women's Coalition Helena Schlindwein 1.60% 146 146.5 147.22          
Labour Coalition Kenneth Adams 0.94% 86 89.75 93.11          
Independent Nationalist Gerald Toland* 0.24% 22 22 22          
Electorate: 15,408   Valid: 9,152 (59.40%)   Spoilt: 186   Quota: 1,145   Turnout: 9,338 (60.60%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Derry City Council, 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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