1997 Banbridge District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1997

1997 Banbridge District Council election

21 May 1997 (1997-05-21)
All 17 seats to Banbridge District Council 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party UUP SDLP DUP Seats won 9 3 3 Seat change 1 0 1   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Ind. Nationalist Alliance Seats won 2 0 Seat change 1 1

Elections to Banbridge District 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 17 councillors.

Election results

Banbridge District Council Election Result 1997

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UUP	9	0	1	1	52.9	52.4	8,408	5.2
	SDLP	3	0	0	0	17.6	17.9	2,870	4.8
	DUP	3	1	0	1	17.6	15.3	2,454	1.8
	Ind. Nationalist	2	1	0	1	11.8	9.3	1,501	4.9
	Alliance	0	0	1	1	0.0	5.1	822	3.3
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.8	289	1.8

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Banbridge District Council election, 1997
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		SDLP		DUP		Alliance		Others
Banbridge Town	54.3	3	10.4	1	11.3	1	8.2	0	15.8	1	6
Dromore	57.8	3	15.4	1	16.4	1	4.3	0	6.1	0	5
Knockiveagh	43.3	3	26.8	1	18.4	1	0.0	0	11.5	1	6
Total	52.4	9	17.9	3	15.3	3	5.1	0	9.3	2	17

Districts results

Banbridge Town

1993: 4 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1993-1997 Change: DUP and Independent Nationalist gain from UUP and Alliance

Banbridge Town - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Joan Baird*	28.00%	1,438
	Ind. Nationalist	James Walsh*	15.75%	809
	UUP	William Bell	11.72%	602	773.99
	UUP	Derick Bell	7.59%	390	729.08	730.88	752.44
	SDLP	Mel Byrne	10.40%	534	536.94	577.34	577.45	577.45	771.45
	DUP	Cyril Vage	11.31%	581	639.31	641.41	644.6	646.3	675.26
	UUP	Ian Burns*	6.99%	359	460.92	462.02	472.47	487.47	571.21
	Alliance	Frank McQuaid*	8.24%	423	444.56	469.96	472.05	473.15
Electorate: 10,351   Valid: 5,136 (49.62%)   Spoilt: 79   Quota: 734   Turnout: 5,215 (50.38%)

Dromore

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

Dromore - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	UUP	William McCracken*	28.77%	1,358
	UUP	Thomas Gribben	14.13%	667	919.84
	UUP	William Martin*	15.02%	709	876.16
	DUP	David Herron*	16.31%	770	836.36
	SDLP	Cassie McDermott*	15.44%	729	732.78	735.98	816.98
	Ind. Unionist	Robert Hill	6.06%	286	349	467.8	539.36
	Alliance	Julian Crozier	4.28%	202	209.98	218.78
Electorate: 8,457   Valid: 4,721 (55.82%)   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 787   Turnout: 4,787 (56.60%)

Knockiveagh

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

Knockiveagh - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	UUP	John Ingram*	18.22%	1,129
	DUP	Wilfred McFadden*	17.80%	1,103
	SDLP	Seamus Doyle*	15.26%	946
	UUP	John Hanna*	12.89%	799	862.14	900.14
	UUP	Violet Cromie*	10.83%	671	844.14	880.78	1,082.03
	Ind. Nationalist	Malachy McCartan	11.16%	692	694.42	769.64	781.64	799.64
	SDLP	Oliver Moore	10.66%	661	661.22	692.22	694.22	697.72
	Alliance	Mary Cook	3.18%	197	200.52
Electorate: 9,460   Valid: 6,198 (65.52%)   Spoilt: 75   Quota: 886   Turnout: 6,273 (66.31%)