1997 Ballymena Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1997

1997 Ballymena Borough Council election

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

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	11	1	0	1	45.8	38.3	8,639	0.4
	Democratic Unionist	8	0	1	1	33.3	36.7	8,639	5.0
	SDLP	3	1	0	1	12.5	17.5	3,951	5.6
	Ind. Unionist	1	0	1	1	4.2	5.5	1,233	0.2
	Alliance	1	0	0	0	4.2	2.0	447	3.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1997
by district

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

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
	Democratic Unionist	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
	Democratic Unionist	John Stewart	7.20%	417	417.3	428.1	429.4	439.14	562.22
	Democratic Unionist	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

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
	Democratic Unionist	David Tweed	15.11%	832
	Democratic Unionist	Martin Clarke*	10.37%	571	576.6	581.02	604.99	614.81	655.29	896.29
	Democratic Unionist	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
	Democratic Unionist	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Democratic Unionist	Roy Gillespie*	18.75%	1,110
	Democratic Unionist	Tommy Nicholl*	17.70%	1,048
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Coulter*	17.13%	1,014
	Democratic Unionist	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

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
	Democratic Unionist	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
	Democratic Unionist	Samuel Gaston	11.78%	627	629.08	690.72	826.8	833.92
	Democratic Unionist	David McClintock*	9.20%	490	497.8
Electorate: 9,081   Valid: 5,324 (58.63%)   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 888   Turnout: 5,415 (59.63%)