1997 Down District Council election
21 May 1997 (1997-05-21)
All 23 seats to Down District Council
12 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP Ulster Unionist DUP
Seats won 12 6 2
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1 Decrease 1
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Sinn Féin NI Women's Coalition
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 1

Elections to Down District 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.

Election results

Down District Council Election Result 1997[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SDLP 12 2 1 Decrease1 52.2 46.0 10,481 Decrease5.2
  Ulster Unionist 6 0 1 Decrease1 26.1 24.1 5,507 Decrease4.4
  DUP 2 0 1 Decrease1 8.7 11.9 2,724 Increase2.0
  Sinn Féin 2 2 0 Increase2 8.7 7.6 1,724 Increase4.4
  NI Women's Coalition 1 1 0 Increase1 4.3 1.9 430 New
  Alliance 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 3.7 850 Decrease0.1
  Ind. Unionist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.3 521 Increase2.3
  Labour Coalition 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.4 327 New
  Workers' Party 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.6 132 Steady0.0
  Green (NI) 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.5 113 Increase0.5

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Down District Council election, 1997
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
SDLP UUP DUP Sinn Féin NIWC Others
Ballynahinch 46.8 3 24.0 1 24.9 1 4.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 5
Downpatrick 61.0 5 13.2 1 0.0 0 10.8 1 0.0 0 15.0 0 7
Newcastle 47.2 3 17.6 1 9.4 0 14.2 1 7.4 1 4.2 0 6
Rowallane 26.6 1 43.9 3 15.1 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 14.4 0 5
Total 46.0 12 24.1 6 11.9 2 7.6 2 1.9 1 8.5 0 23

Districts results

Ballynahinch

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

Ballynahinch - 5 seats[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123456
DUP William Alexander* 24.91% 1,362          
SDLP Patrick Toman* 21.89% 1,197          
Ulster Unionist Harvey Bicker 18.11% 990          
SDLP Anne Marie McAleenan* 17.39% 951          
SDLP Francis Casement 7.48% 409 413.2 672.64 821.91 823.11 856.51
Ulster Unionist John Reid 5.94% 325 769.5 772.62 776.86 851.5 852.06
Sinn Féin John Smyth 4.28% 234 234.7 249.58      
Electorate: 9,536   Valid: 5,468 (57.34%)   Spoilt: 110   Quota: 912   Turnout: 5,578 (58.49%)  

    Downpatrick

    1993: 6 x SDLP, 1 x UUP
    1997: 5 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
    1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

    Downpatrick - 7 seats[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456789
    SDLP John Doris* 16.17% 991                
    SDLP Peter Craig 14.98% 918                
    Ulster Unionist Jack McIlheron* 13.09% 802                
    SDLP Dermot Curran* 12.20% 748 841.15              
    SDLP Owen Adams* 7.78% 477 534.5 580.91 622.71 623.31 626.13 657.29 764.52 806.52
    Sinn Féin Patrick McGreevy 10.75% 659 664.29 668.88 670.4 670.4 674.1 700.09 712.23 757.15
    SDLP Gerard Mahon 6.80% 417 431.03 455.17 465.24 465.78 469.03 476.89 623.69 654.46
    Alliance Michael Healy 7.03% 431 437.44 444.41 448.02 472.62 476.25 536.88 542.1 594.88
    Labour Coalition Patrick O'Connor 4.10% 251 253.53 255.23 255.99 256.83 269.39 323.38 329.61  
    SDLP John Irvine 3.08% 189 225.34 277.87 291.36 291.66 293.29 307.26    
    Green (NI) Keith Bradford 1.84% 113 116.45 118.49 119.82 122.76 123.22      
    Workers' Party Desmond O'Hagan 0.93% 57 57.92 59.28 59.47 59.65 59.88      
    Labour Coalition Edna Furey 0.67% 41 41.92 43.62 44.19 47.49 53.72      
    Labour Coalition Michael Kearney 0.57% 35 37.53 43.14 43.71 44.07        
    Electorate: 12,631   Valid: 6,129 (48.52%)   Spoilt: 80   Quota: 767   Turnout: 6,209 (49.16%)  

      Newcastle

      1993: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP
      1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Women's Coalition
      1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin and Women's Coalition gain from SDLP and DUP

      Newcastle - 6 seats[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      123456789
      SDLP Eamon O'Neill* 15.63% 913                
      Sinn Féin Hugh McDowell 14.22% 831 837              
      Ulster Unionist Gerald Douglas* 13.23% 773 775 792 1,009          
      SDLP Carmel O'Boyle 12.24% 715 733 755 758 758.99 1,006.99      
      SDLP Peter Fitzpatrick* 12.08% 706 711 723 723 724.98 870.98      
      NI Women's Coalition Anne Carr 7.36% 430 451 532 540 565.74 605.73 672.73 748.13 779.13
      DUP Stanley Priestley 9.45% 552 552 554 588 729.57 731.56 732.56 733.08 734.08
      SDLP Frances Flynn* 7.22% 422 431 456 459 461.97        
      Ulster Unionist Ronald Richey 4.43% 259 259 271            
      Alliance Adrienne Healy 2.86% 167 175              
      Workers' Party Edward O'Hagan 1.28% 75                
      Electorate: 10,884   Valid: 5,843 (53.68%)   Spoilt: 115   Quota: 835   Turnout: 5,958 (54.74%)  

        Rowallane

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

        Rowallane - 5 seats[2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        12345
        SDLP Margaret Ritchie* 19.44% 1,044        
        Ulster Unionist Samuel Osborne* 15.76% 846 847.96 888.24 1,105.24  
        DUP William Dick* 15.09% 810 810.56 819.56 963.56  
        Ulster Unionist Albert Colmer* 15.22% 817 817.84 865.26 899.26  
        Ulster Unionist William Biggerstaff* 12.94% 695 695.28 734.28 801.56 925.56
        SDLP John Moffat 7.15% 384 516.58 584.82 602.52 605.52
        Ind. Unionist William Walker 9.70% 521 522.82 543.96    
        Alliance Barry Corscadden 4.69% 252 255.5      
        Electorate: 10,036   Valid: 5,369 (53.50%)   Spoilt: 78   Quota: 895   Turnout: 5,447 (54.27%)  

          References

          1. 1 2 "Down Council Elections, 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. 1 2 3 4 "Local Government Results 1997". EONI. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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