1997 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymoney Borough Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 16 councillors.

1997 Ballymoney Borough Council election
← 1993 21 May 1997 (1997-05-21) 2001 →

All 16 seats to Ballymoney Borough Council
9 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party DUP UUP SDLP
Seats won 6 4 3
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 2 Steady 0

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Independent Sinn Féin
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 1

Election results

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Ballymoney Borough Council Election Result 1997[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  DUP 6 0 0  0 37.5 32.7 3,102  1.8
  UUP 6 0 2  2 37.5 26.0 2,467  7.5
  SDLP 3 1 1  0 18.8 23.7 2,249  4.8
  Independent 2 1 0  1 12.5 9.8 927  1.9
  Sinn Féin 1 0 0  1 6.3 5.3 508  2.1
  PUP 0 0 0  0 0.0 1.9 180 New
  NI Women's Coalition 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.6 66 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

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Results of the Ballymoney Borough Council election, 1997
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
DUP UUP SDLP Sinn Féin Others
Ballymoney Town 28.5 2 20.9 2 9.2 0 0.0 0 41.4 2 5
Bann Valley 35.2 2 24.6 2 27.4 1 12.8 1 0.0 0 6
Bushvale 33.1 2 33.0 1 32.7 2 0.0 0 1.2 0 5
Total 32.7 6 26.0 6 23.7 3 5.3 1 12.3 2 16

Districts results

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Ballymoney Town

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

Ballymoney Town - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
DUP Cecil Cousley* 17.90% 493        
Independent Robert McComb* 15.72% 433 435 469    
UUP Tom McKeown* 12.09% 333 334 370 422 438
Independent Bill Williamson 9.48% 261 265 274 340 413
DUP Samuel McConaghie* 10.64% 293 293 326 344 346
UUP James Simpson* 8.79% 242 242 263 326 336
SDLP Joan McCaffrey 9.26% 255 269 272 294  
Independent Colin McVicker 8.46% 233 239 260    
PUP Jeffrey Balmer 6.54% 180 181      
NI Women's Coalition Mary McCusker 1.13% 31        
Electorate: 5,905   Valid: 2,754 (46.64%)   Spoilt: 53   Quota: 460   Turnout: 2,807 (47.54%)  

Bann Valley

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

Bann Valley - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
UUP Joe Gaston* 18.09% 719            
SDLP Malachy McCamphill* 17.76% 706            
DUP Robert Halliday* 15.30% 608            
DUP Robert Wilson* 11.09% 441 454.44 454.63 482.35 743.35    
UUP John Watt* 6.54% 260 382.85 382.85 385.07 463.49 578.49  
Sinn Féin Martin O'Neill 12.78% 508 508.21 519.42 519.42 519.42 519.42 519.42
SDLP Mary McPoland 9.61% 382 382 502.27 502.27 503.27 503.27 504.27
DUP John Finlay 8.83% 351 361.29 361.29 367.11      
Electorate: 6,991   Valid: 3,975 (56.86%)   Spoilt: 80   Quota: 568   Turnout: 4,055 (58.00%)  

Bushvale

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

Bushvale - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SDLP Harry Connolly* 26.17% 725            
DUP Frank Campbell* 17.08% 473            
DUP Bill Kennedy* 15.99% 443 443.38 450.5 455.52 491.52    
UUP William Logan* 12.64% 350 351.52 351.98 356.76 456.68 473.68  
SDLP Francis McCluskey 6.53% 181 429.14 429.16 445.96 445.98 445.98 445.98
UUP John Ramsay* 12.31% 341 341 341.56 346.56 425.28 433.28 444.92
UUP William Johnston 8.01% 222 222.76 223.88 225.88      
NI Women's Coalition Joan Cosgrove 1.26% 35 42.6 42.64        
Electorate: 5,387   Valid: 2,770 (51.42%)   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 462   Turnout: 2,819 (52.33%)  

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ballymoney Council Elections 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 10 July 2021.