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The 2023 election to Ards and North Down Borough Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.[2]
They returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.
Background
Ards and North Down is the only council in Northern Ireland on which Sinn Féin have never won a seat.[3]
Election results
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DUP | 14 | 1 | 1 |  0
|
35.00 | 29.02 | 16,522 |  4.36
| |
| Alliance | 12 | 3 | 1 |  2
|
30.00 | 26.59 | 15,137 | 4.36
| |
| UUP | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0
|
20.00 | 16.50 | 9,393 | 1.31
| |
| Independent | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0
|
7.50 | 11.16 | 6,351 | 2.55
| |
| Green (NI) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1
|
5.00 | 5.94 | 3,381 | 4.23
| |
| SDLP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0
|
2.50 | 3.72 | 2,115 | 0.49
| |
| TUV | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
|
0.00 | 4.83 | 2,748 | 3.45
| |
| Sinn Féin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
|
0.00 | 1.66 | 945 | 1.13
| |
| NI Conservatives | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
|
0.00 | 0.59 | 337 | 0.72
| |
| Total | 40 | 56,929 | |||||||
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.
District summary
| District Electoral Area (DEA) | % |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
% |
Cllrs |
Total cllrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DUP | Alliance | UUP | Green | SDLP | TUV | Sinn Féin | Independents and others | ||||||||||
| Ards Peninsula | 44.71 | 3
|
13.78 | 1
|
8.05 | 1
|
1.62 | 0
|
13.93 | 1
|
6.45 | 0
|
10.29 | 0
|
1.18 | 0
|
6 |
| Bangor Central | 16.73 | 1 1
|
28.75 | 2 1
|
14.55 | 1
|
6.90 | 0 1
|
0.00 | 0
|
5.37 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
27.69 | 2 1
|
6 |
| Bangor East and Donaghadee | 23.39 | 2
|
23.90 | 2 1
|
34.18 | 2
|
4.18 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
14.35 | 0 1
|
6 |
| Bangor West | 25.72 | 2 1
|
30.09 | 1 1
|
13.33 | 1
|
11.33 | 1
|
4.57 | 0
|
5.09 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
9.87 | 0
|
5 |
| Comber | 38.48 | 2
|
28.83 | 2 1
|
19.31 | 1
|
2.72 | 0
|
0.0 | 0
|
5.61 | 0 1
|
0.00 | 0
|
5.00 | 0
|
5 |
| Holywood and Clandeboye | 19.81 | 1
|
41.03 | 2
|
12.80 | 1
|
14.67 | 1
|
6.97 | 0
|
4.71 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
5 |
| Newtownards | 32.38 | 3
|
23.51 | 2
|
13.54 | 1
|
2.43 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
6.44 | 0
|
0.00 | 0
|
21.70 | 1
|
7 |
| Total | 29.02 | 14
|
26.59 | 12 2
|
16.50 | 8
|
5.94 | 2 1
|
3.72 | 1
|
4.83 | 0 1
|
1.66 | 0
|
11.75 | 3
|
40 |
District results
Ards Peninsula
2019: 3 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2023: 3 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2019–2023 Change: No change
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| DUP | Robert Adair* | 21.33% | 1,959 | |||||
| Alliance | Lorna McAlpine* | 13.78% | 1,266 | 1,273.92 | 1,383.92 | |||
| SDLP | Joe Boyle* | 13.93% | 1,279 | 1,288.24 | 1,308.57 | 1,314.57 | ||
| DUP | Nigel Edmund* | 6.89% | 633 | 996.99 | 1,003.32 | 1,174.22 | 1,675.22 | |
| DUP | Davy Kerr | 9.00% | 827 | 990.68 | 1,014.99 | 1,165.61 | 1,314.61 | |
| UUP | Pete Wray | 8.05% | 739 | 773.98 | 810.31 | 949.27 | 1,069.06 | |
| Sinn Féin | Noel Sands | 10.29% | 945 | 946.65 | 963.65 | 964.65 | 965.65 | |
| DUP | Eddie Thompson* | 7.48% | 687 | 720.00 | 725.33 | 852.62 | ||
| TUV | Tom Thompson | 6.45% | 592 | 616.09 | 628.09 | |||
| Green (NI) | Gilian McNaull | 1.62% | 149 | 149.99 | ||||
| Independent | Boyd Ireland | 1.18% | 108 | 111.63 | ||||
| Electorate: 19,000 Valid: 9,184 (48.34%) Spoilt: 111 Quota: 1,313 Turnout: 9,925 (52.24%) | ||||||||
Bangor Central
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green, 1 x Independent
2023: 2 x Alliance, 2 x Independent, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: Alliance and Independent gain from DUP and Green
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Alliance | Karen Douglas* † | 16.31% | 1,378 | |||||||||
| Independent | Wesley Irvine* | 16.20% | 1,369 | |||||||||
| DUP | Alistair Cathcart* | 12.46% | 1,053 | 1,053.84 | 1,061.84 | 1,091.36 | 1,107.68 | 1,397.68 | ||||
| UUP | Craig Blaney* | 10.85% | 917 | 920.48 | 935.48 | 965.96 | 1,205.28 | 1,225.28 | ||||
| Alliance | Chris McCracken | 7.88% | 666 | 699.24 | 705.36 | 707.16 | 718.76 | 719.88 | 722.76 | 1,154.88 | 1,436.88 | |
| Independent | Ray McKimm* | 10.47% | 885 | 891.48 | 906.48 | 933.84 | 958.52 | 962.36 | 975.8 | 1,003.44 | 1,218.44 | |
| TUV | Peter Wilson | 5.37% | 454 | 454.36 | 463.48 | 492.88 | 505.36 | 552.2 | 712.52 | 713.52 | 729.52 | |
| Green (NI) | Stephen Dunlop* | 6.90% | 583 | 598.84 | 600.84 | 605.4 | 615.88 | 622.48 | 631.12 | 666 | ||
| Alliance | Alex Harbinson | 4.56% | 385 | 485.92 | 492.04 | 494.44 | 503.92 | 504.16 | 507.04 | |||
| DUP | Dean McSorley | 4.27% | 361 | 361.12 | 366.12 | 381.84 | 388.16 | |||||
| UUP | Rachel McCord | 3.70% | 313 | 315.76 | 328.76 | 341.12 | ||||||
| NI Conservatives | Tim Mullen | 1.02% | 86 | 86.36 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 19,376 Valid: 8,450 (43.61%) Spoilt: 105 Quota: 1,208 Turnout: 8,555 (44.15%) | ||||||||||||
Bangor East and Donaghadee
2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent
2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance
2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from Independent
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| UUP | Mark Brooks* | 23.21% | 1,972 | ||||||||
| Alliance | Hannah Irwin* | 17.01% | 1,445 | ||||||||
| DUP | James Cochrane | 15.01% | 1,275 | ||||||||
| UUP | David Chambers* | 10.97% | 932 | 1,323.95 | |||||||
| Alliance | Gillian McCollum | 6.89% | 585 | 630.63 | 839.59 | 864.14 | 1,110.04 | 1,128.24 | 1,208.73 | 1,208.85 | |
| DUP | Janice MacArthur* † | 8.38% | 712 | 816.52 | 817.64 | 837.20 | 853.25 | 901.13 | 1,062.63 | 1,110.67 | |
| Independent | Bill Keery* | 7.54% | 641 | 668.30 | 671.66 | 697.22 | 731.42 | 751.58 | 1,019.71 | 1,021.15 | |
| Independent | Tom Smith* | 5.41% | 460 | 590.26 | 592.34 | 612.46 | 646.29 | 669.67 | |||
| Green (NI) | Ciara Henry | 4.18% | 355 | 394.30 | 408.25 | ||||||
| NI Conservatives | Paul Leeman | 1.40% | 119 | 132.65 | 133.13 | ||||||
| Electorate: 18,066 Valid: 8,496 (47.03%) Spoilt: 94 Quota: 1,214 Turnout: 8,590 (47.55%) | |||||||||||
Bangor West
2019: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green
2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green
2019–2023 Change: DUP gain from Alliance
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Alliance | Christine Creighton | 18.06% | 1,175 | ||||||||||
| DUP | Jennifer Gilmour* | 15.88% | 1,033 | 1,063 | 1,063.77 | 1,068.77 | 1,205.77 | ||||||
| UUP | Stephen Hollywood | 13.33% | 867 | 902 | 903.75 | 911.96 | 976.10 | 996.12 | 1,003.33 | 1,185.33 | |||
| DUP | Peter Martin | 9.84% | 640 | 649 | 649.35 | 650.35 | 732.42 | 828.88 | 830.95 | 1,045.93 | 1,113.13 | ||
| Green (NI) | Barry McKee* | 11.33% | 737 | 752 | 758.23 | 880.63 | 884.77 | 884.77 | 913.47 | 978.61 | 1,002.97 | 1,019.77 | |
| Alliance | Alison McWhinney | 5.96% | 388 | 392 | 440.02 | 548.91 | 551.91 | 551.91 | 961.60 | 997.02 | 1,005.42 | 1,008.78 | |
| Independent | Susan Prentice | 7.84% | 510 | 522 | 522.77 | 529.77 | 585.77 | 589.41 | 598.48 | ||||
| Alliance | Huw Stacy | 6.07% | 395 | 398 | 417.67 | 460.81 | 460.81 | 460.81 | |||||
| TUV | John Gordon | 5.09% | 331 | 348 | 348.35 | 350.35 | |||||||
| SDLP | Tony McCann | 4.57% | 297 | 298 | 301.92 | ||||||||
| NI Conservatives | Colin Breen | 2.03% | 132 | ||||||||||
| Electorate: 14,486 Valid: 6,505 (44.91%) Spoilt: 83 Quota: 1,085 Turnout: 6,588 (45.48%) | |||||||||||||
Comber
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x TUV
2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from TUV
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| DUP | Libby Douglas [5] | 20.60% | 1,501 | |||||
| UUP | Philip Smith* | 19.31% | 1,407 | |||||
| DUP | Trevor Cummings* | 17.88% | 1,303 | |||||
| Alliance | Patricia Morgan* | 14.84% | 1,081 | 1,087.38 | 1,127.54 | 1,204.6 | 1,219.6 | |
| Alliance | Rachel Ashe | 13.99% | 1,019 | 1,032.64 | 1,074.72 | 1,160.8 | 1,215.2 | |
| TUV | Sam Patterson | 5.61% | 409 | 595.56 | 651.24 | 677.36 | 922.12 | |
| Independent | Stephen Cooper* | 4.42% | 322 | 374.14 | 399.58 | 452.36 | ||
| Green (NI) | Cory Quinn | 2.72% | 197 | 207.56 | 219.56 | |||
| Independent | John Sloan | 0.58% | 47 | 52.5 | 66.42 | |||
| Electorate: 15,112 Valid: 7,286 (48.21%) Spoilt: 95 Quota: 1,215 Turnout: 7,381 (48.84%) | ||||||||
Holywood and Clandeboye
2019: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Green, 1 x UUP
2023: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Green, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: No change
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| DUP | Alan Graham | 14.39% | 1,112 | 1,300 | ||||
| UUP | Linzi McLaren | 12.80% | 989 | 1,056 | 1,344 | |||
| Alliance | Martin McRandal* | 15.81% | 1,222 | 1,226 | 1,237 | 1,385 | ||
| Green (NI) | Rachel Woods* † | 14.67% | 1,134 | 1,144 | 1,186 | 1,361 | ||
| Alliance | David Rossiter | 13.90% | 1,074 | 1,076 | 1,083 | 1,179 | 1,256.39 | |
| Alliance | Helen Corbett | 11.32% | 875 | 891 | 900 | 1,004 | 1,021.75 | |
| SDLP | Déirdre Vaughan | 6.97% | 539 | 541 | 549 | |||
| DUP | Carl McClean* | 5.42% | 419 | 483 | ||||
| TUV | Diane Adams | 4.71% | 364 | |||||
| Electorate: 15,973 Valid: 7,728 (48.38%) Spoilt: 87 Quota: 1,289 Turnout: 7,815 (48.93%) | ||||||||
Newtownards
2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
2019–2023 Change: No change
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Independent | Steven Irvine* | 15.76% | 1,463 | ||||||||
| DUP | Naomi Armstrong* | 14.75% | 1,370 | ||||||||
| UUP | Richard Smart* | 13.54% | 1,257 | ||||||||
| Alliance | Alan McDowell* | 13.31% | 1,236 | ||||||||
| DUP | Stephen McIlveen* | 11.38% | 1,057 | 1,111.78 | 1,154.98 | 1,161.98 | |||||
| Alliance | Vicky Moore* | 10.20% | 947 | 959.32 | 961.42 | 1,126.21 | 1,159.33 | 1,230.97 | |||
| DUP | Colin Kennedy* | 6.25% | 580 | 628.4 | 764.75 | 768.49 | 797.83 | 798.25 | 801.43 | 981.25 | |
| TUV | Eddie Allen | 6.44% | 598 | 670.16 | 681.26 | 686.68 | 700.36 | 700.72 | 702.4 | 872.68 | |
| Independent | Ian Cox | 5.68% | 527 | 618.3 | 625.5 | 672.21 | 685.08 | 685.56 | 701.16 | ||
| Green (NI) | Maurice Macartney | 2.43% | 226 | 233.04 | 234.39 | ||||||
| Independent | Ben King | 0.26% | 24 | 36.54 | 36.84 | ||||||
| Electorate: 21,723 Valid: 9,285 (42.74%) Spoilt: 167 Quota: 1,161 Turnout: 9,452 (43.51%) | |||||||||||
Changes during the term
† Co-options
| Date co-opted | Electoral Area | Party | Outgoing | Co-optee | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 September 2023 | Bangor Central | Alliance | Karen Douglas | Alex Harbinson | Douglas resigned.[6] | |
| 30 October 2023 | Holywood and Clandeboye | Green (NI) | Rachel Woods | Lauren Kendall | Woods resigned.[7] | |
| 24 April 2024 | Bangor East and Donaghadee | DUP | Janice MacArthur | Eddie Thompson | MacArthur resigned.[8] | |
Notes
References
- ^ "Local government elections in Northern Ireland". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- ^ "NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash". BBC News. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Ainsworth, Paul (2023-05-04). "Independents aim to return in Ards and North Down, while Sinn Féin hopes to score first ever seat". The Irish News. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Northern Ireland council election: List of all the candidates in the May 2023 poll". Belfast Live. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ^ "Councillor Libby Douglas | Ards and North Down Borough Council".
- ^ "New Councillor - Bangor Central DEA".
- ^ "New Councillor - Holywood and Clandeboye District Electoral Area".
- ^ "New Councillor - Bangor East and Donaghadee District Electoral Area".
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