# 1985 Ards Borough Council election

Elections to Ards Borough Council were held on 15 May 1985 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 20 councillors.

## Election results

Ards Borough Council Election Result 1985 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40.0 | 39.3 | 8,069 | 2.2 |
| UUP | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 30.0 | 30.5 | 6,257 | 8.8 |
| Alliance | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 12.4 | 2,537 | 0.1 |
| NI Labour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 1,156 | 0.9 |
| UPUP | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 999 | 8.0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 851 | 0.7 |
| SDLP | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 448 | 2.1 |
| Labour Party NI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 188 | New |
| Ulster Liberal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 35 | 0.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1985 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | NILP | NILP | UPUP | UPUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ards Peninsula | 31.3 | 2 | 27.7 | 2 | 10.1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 13.7 | 1 | 17.2 | 1 | 7 |
| Ards West | 42.9 | 3 | 39.3 | 2 | 17.1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.7 | 0 | 6 |
| Newtownards | 44.3 | 3 | 25.7 | 2 | 10.6 | 1 | 16.3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 3.1 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 39.3 | 8 | 30.5 | 6 | 12.4 | 3 | 5.6 | 1 | 4.9 | 1 | 7.3 | 1 | 20 |

## District results
### Ards Peninsula

1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x UPUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent
Ards Peninsula - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | UPUP | Gladys McIntyre* | 13.68% | 999 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Ambrose* | 11.46% | 837 | 849.4 | 928.4 | | | | |
| | Independent | Thomas Byers | 11.07% | 808 | 808.4 | 826.48 | 830.56 | 1,058.56 | | |
| | Alliance | Kieran McCarthy | 6.22% | 454 | 455.76 | 466 | 667.92 | 816.92 | 944.92 | |
| | UUP | John Shields | 8.34% | 609 | 625.16 | 641.28 | 668.24 | 669.32 | 669.32 | 1,036.32 |
| | DUP | Jim Shannon | 11.46% | 837 | 844.36 | 858.32 | 863.64 | 863.64 | 863.64 | 899 |
| | DUP | Oliver Johnston* | 11.11% | 811 | 819.8 | 822.2 | 823.36 | 827.36 | 828.36 | 867.12 |
| | DUP | Joseph Thompson* | 8.72% | 637 | 642.68 | 649.68 | 651.76 | 651.84 | 651.84 | 672.24 |
| | UUP | John Scott* | 5.70% | 416 | 428.88 | 468.8 | 505.16 | 505.16 | 505.16 | |
| | SDLP | Patrick Doherty* | 4.92% | 359 | 359.24 | 415.24 | 419.32 | | | |
| | Alliance | James Muirhead | 3.93% | 287 | 292.04 | 298.44 | | | | |
| | UUP | Samuel McKeown | 2.16% | 158 | 165.12 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Seamus O'Neill | 1.22% | 89 | 89.16 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,998 Valid: 7,301 (48.68%) Spoilt: 220 Quota: 913 Turnout: 7,521 (50.15%) |||||||||||

### Ards West

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
Ards West - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | DUP | Thomas Gourley* | 24.29% | 1,493 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Gibson | 24.13% | 1,483 | | | | | |
| | DUP | John Hamilton* | 9.58% | 589 | 1,040.82 | | | | |
| | Alliance | Jim McBriar* | 13.00% | 799 | 816.63 | 851.07 | 854.37 | 1,098.37 | |
| | UUP | Stanley McCoy | 10.27% | 631 | 666.26 | 801.92 | 809.72 | 899.72 | |
| | DUP | Bobby McBride | 9.08% | 558 | 626.88 | 658.38 | 798.93 | 830.63 | 860.63 |
| | UUP | Trevor Hussey | 2.80% | 172 | 187.58 | 529.46 | 534.56 | 625.38 | 716.38 |
| | Alliance | Alan McDowell | 4.03% | 248 | 249.23 | 257.63 | 257.78 | | |
| | UUP | Arthur Spence | 2.13% | 131 | 135.92 | 166.58 | 167.93 | | |
| | Independent | Johnston Haire | 0.70% | 43 | 53.66 | 70.46 | 71.06 | | |
| Electorate: 12,416 Valid: 6,147 (49.51%) Spoilt: 143 Quota: 879 Turnout: 6,290 (50.66%) ||||||||||

### Newtownards

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x NILP, 1 x Alliance
Newtownards - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | DUP | Simpson Gibson* | 22.50% | 1,596 | | | | | | | | | |
| | NI Labour | Robert Gaw* | 16.30% | 1,156 | | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | John Elliott* | 14.47% | 1,026 | | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Thomas Benson | 13.96% | 990 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Owen Dorrian* | 7.74% | 549 | 568.8 | 638.64 | 640.07 | 645.07 | 666.67 | 848.2 | 1,002.2 | | |
| | UUP | David Smyth | 7.29% | 517 | 552.1 | 595.06 | 597.79 | 613.79 | 641.15 | 656.35 | 665.87 | 678.87 | 922.87 |
| | DUP | William Gilmore | 3.41% | 242 | 701.9 | 741.26 | 845.65 | 852.15 | 859.57 | 860.63 | 866.49 | 869.49 | 891.94 |
| | DUP | Joseph Patterson | 3.95% | 280 | 425.35 | 443.83 | 458.39 | 460.79 | 467.97 | 470.45 | 472.65 | 473.65 | 489.95 |
| | UUP | David Jeffers | 3.34% | 237 | 263.1 | 301.5 | 307.48 | 369.38 | 412.86 | 420.88 | 427.76 | 443.76 | |
| | Labour Party NI | Hugh McMullan | 2.65% | 188 | 190.25 | 217.85 | 217.98 | 218.18 | 230.86 | 235.34 | | | |
| | Alliance | Laurence Thompson | 2.82% | 200 | 201.8 | 214.76 | 215.15 | 215.95 | 219.29 | | | | |
| | UUP | James McKernon | 1.07% | 76 | 84.1 | 89.38 | 90.94 | 95.24 | | | | | |
| | Ulster Liberal | Michael McGuigan | 0.49% | 35 | 36.35 | 40.43 | 40.43 | 40.83 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 15,487 Valid: 7,092 (45.79%) Spoilt: 157 Quota: 887 Turnout: 7,249 (46.81%) ||||||||||||||