The 2005 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland

Map by Conal Kelly

The Elections

The elections for Northern Ireland's 26 local councils took place on 5 May, 2005, simultaneously with the Westminster election. This was the ninth set of elections since the local councils were reorganised in 1973, and the fourth on the boundaries set up for the 1993 elections. Councillors are elected for a four-year term by Single Transferable Vote from local electoral areas returning five, six or seven councillors. You can look at all the local election results since 1973 here, and compare specifically with the 2001 elections here , the 1997 elections here and the 1993 elections here. You may also like to look at entries to the prediction contest. (See spreadsheet archive.)

The Results

I have acquired my figures from the BBC, cross-checked with local knowledge where possible. First preferences for all electoral areas will be added to the respective council pages as soon as possible.

These elections saw further advances for the DUP and Sinn Féin at the expense of the other main parties and smaller groupings (apart from Alliance, which held its ground).

DUP 208,278 30% 182 cllrs
SF 163,205 23% 126 cllrs
UUP 126,317 18% 115 cllrs
SDLP 121,991 17% 101 cllrs
Alliance 35,149 5% 30 cllrs
Greens 5,703 1% 3 cllrs
PUP 4,591 1% 2 cllrs
UUC 2,064 0.3% 2 cllrs
Newtownabbey Ratepayers Association 1,897 0.3% 1 cllr
Socialist Environmental Alliance 1,321 0.2%
Conservatives 1,164 0.2%
Workers Party 1,052 0.1%
Socialist Party 828 0.1%
Women's Coalition 738 0.1%
UKUP 734 0.1%
Independents 27,677 4% 20 cllrs

Total valid vote: 702,749

Details of distribution of seats on the 26 District Councils

Council DUP UUP Alliance Others SDLP SF Total Seats
Antrim 6+ 5-- 2++ 0 3-- 3+ 19
Ards 12+++ 7- 3- 0 1 0 23
Armagh 6++ 5-- 0 0 6 5 22
Ballymena 14+++ 5-- 0 1 Ind 3- 1+ 24
Ballymoney 8 2--- 0 1 Ind 2 3++ 16
Banbridge 7++ 5-- 1 0- 3 1+ 17
Belfast 15+++++ 7---- 4+ 2 PUP, 1 Ind 8- 14 51
Carrickfergus 8++ 4 3-- 2 Inds 0 0 17
Castlereagh 13+++ 4- 4 0- 2 0 23
Coleraine 9++ 8-- 0 1 Ind 3- 1+ 22
Cookstown 3+ 3 0 0 5+ 5- 16
Craigavon 9+++ 6-- 0 1 Ind 4--- 6++ 26
Derry 5+ 1- 0 0 14 10 30
Down 3+ 4-- 0 1 Green 10 5+ 23
Dungannon 5++ 4-- 0 0 4 9+ 22
Fermanagh 4++ 5-- 0 0 5+ 9 23
Larne 5 4 2 2 Inds 2 0 15
Limavady 3+ 2- 0 1 UUC 3- 6++ 15
Lisburn 13++++++++ 7------ 3 0 3 4 30
Magherafelt 4+ 2 0 0 2- 8+ 16
Moyle 2- 3 0 3 Inds 3- 4+++ 15
Newry and Mourne 2+ 3- 0 2 Inds, 1 Green 9- 13 30
Newtownabbey 12++++ 6--- 2+ 1 Ind, 1 N'b'y R'payer, 1 UUC 1- 1 25
North Down 8+++ 8 6+ 2 Inds, 1 Green 0 0 25
Omagh 3 3+ 0 2 Inds 3--- 10++ 21
Strabane 3 2 0 1 Ind 2-- 8+ 16
Total 182 115 30 28 101 126 582

Parliamentary constituencies

See also:

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.

Nicholas Whyte, 10 May 2005.


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Disclaimer:© Nicholas Whyte 2005 Last Updated on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 23:32:51