1997 Ards Borough Council election

Elections to Ards 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 23 councillors.

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1997
1997 Ards Borough Council election
21 May 1997 (1997-05-21)
All 23 seats to Ards Borough Council
12 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Ulster Unionist DUP Alliance
Seats won 10 5 5
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1 Decrease 1
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party SDLP Ind. Unionist Independent
Seats won 1 2 0
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 1 Decrease 1

Election results
Ards Borough Council Election Result 1997[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Ulster Unionist 10 1 0 Increase1 43.5 39.6 7,754 Increase4.9
  DUP 5 1 2 Decrease1 21.7 22.6 4,431 Decrease5.7
  Alliance 5 0 1 Decrease1 21.7 21.1 4,138 Decrease2.3
  Ind. Unionist 2 1 0 Increase1 8.7 6.3 1,240 Increase0.4
  SDLP 1 1 0 Increase1 4.3 3.9 901 Increase4.6
  Independent 0 0 1 Decrease1 0.0 1.6 337 Decrease1.8
  PUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.3 441 Increase2.3
  UK Unionist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.4 269 New
  Ulster Democratic 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.3 55 New
  Green (NI) 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.2 33 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1997
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
UUP DUP Alliance SDLP Others
Ards East 52.1 4 23.0 1 15.3 1 0.0 0 9.6 0 6
Ards West 56.1 3 18.8 1 25.1 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 6
Newtownards 26.6 2 18.6 1 15.4 1 0.0 0 39.4 2 6
Peninsula 22.6 1 29.7 2 28.8 1 18.2 1 0.7 0 5
Total 39.6 10 22.6 5 21.1 5 4.6 1 12.1 0 23

Districts results

Ards East

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1997: 4 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from DUP

Ards East - 6 seats[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
12345678
Ulster Unionist Thomas Benson* 17.40% 882              
Ulster Unionist Ronald Ferguson* 13.33% 676 762.4            
DUP Hamilton Gregory 12.25% 621 628.2 629.53 656.71 811.71      
Ulster Unionist John Shields* 11.95% 606 618.24 622.44 656.62 668.05 668.64 752.64  
Alliance Linda Cleland 8.24% 418 422.32 422.53 437.71 441.71 442.89 462.07 792.07
Ulster Unionist Jeffrey Magill* 9.47% 480 508.98 533.69 582.23 616.56 621.87 680.76 694.05
DUP St Clair McAlister* 5.82% 295 299.32 299.95 309.95 369.2 447.67 509.28 518.64
Alliance Laurence Thompson* 6.94% 352 355.06 355.48 363.48 363.48 363.48 378.66  
UK Unionist Thomas Sheridan 5.31% 269 271.16 271.93 283.93 287.93 287.93    
DUP Hamilton Lawther 4.95% 251 254.96 255.87 274.87        
PUP Georgina McCrory 4.34% 220 221.26 221.33          
Electorate: 14,904   Valid: 5,070 (34.02%)   Spoilt: 114   Quota: 725   Turnout: 5,184 (34.78%)  

    Ards West

    1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
    1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
    1993-1997 Change: No change

    Ards West - 6 seats[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456
    Ulster Unionist Robert Gibson* 22.59% 1,103          
    Ulster Unionist David McNarry 21.83% 1,066          
    Alliance Kathleen Coulter* 15.18% 741          
    Ulster Unionist Margaret Craig* 11.71% 572 871.52        
    DUP David Gilmore 13.00% 635 683.75 877.19      
    Alliance Jim McBriar* 9.85% 481 511.03 595.27 599.43 654.81 693.81
    DUP Lorraine Gilmore 5.84% 285 311.13 398.49 552.93 649.26 650.58
    Electorate: 12,917   Valid: 4,883 (37.80%)   Spoilt: 70   Quota: 698   Turnout: 4,953 (38.34%)  

      Newtownards

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

      Newtownards - 6 seats[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456789
      Ind. Unionist Wilbert Magill* 19.41% 914                
      Alliance Alan McDowell* 15.37% 724                
      Ulster Unionist David Smyth* 14.65% 690                
      DUP George Ennis* 10.89% 653 692.44              
      Ulster Unionist Thomas Hamilton* 12.00% 565 628.22 635.8 651.6 656.36 666.68 728.68    
      Ind. Unionist Bobby McBride 6.92% 326 377.33 382.33 388.83 391.38 391.78 426.07 507.6 534.6
      Ind. Unionist Nancy Orr* 7.15% 337 393.26 407.42 430.62 433.68 434.68 461.61 503.67 510.67
      DUP John Purdy 4.78% 225 238.63 245.08 246.28 253.76 254.62 305.39    
      PUP Alfred McCrory 4.69% 221 231.15 245.15 249.45 250.47 250.73      
      Ulster Democratic Billy McKeown 1.17% 55 59.93              
      Electorate: 12,942   Valid: 4,710 (36.39%)   Spoilt: 120   Quota: 673   Turnout: 4,830 (37.32%)  

        Peninsula

        1993: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
        1997: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP
        1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from Alliance and Independent

        Peninsula - 5 seats[2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345
        Ulster Unionist Paul Carson 22.57% 1,114        
        Alliance Kieran McCarthy* 21.21% 1,047        
        DUP Jim Shannon* 20.12% 993        
        DUP Robert Drysdale 10.25% 473 687.21 696.01 849.01  
        SDLP Daniel McCarthy 15.60% 770 777.44 808.9 810.52 930.52
        Alliance William Sheldon* 3.12% 154 202.98 315.62 325.16 346.72
        Alliance John Smyth 4.48% 221 227.82 279.3 281.82 296.02
        SDLP Iain Bell 2.65% 131 131 141.12 141.48  
        Green (NI) Owen Crawford 0.67% 33 40.75 44.49 45.75  
        Electorate: 11,165   Valid: 4,936 (44.21%)   Spoilt: 101   Quota: 824   Turnout: 5,037 (45.11%)  

          References
          1. "Ards Council Elections 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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