# 2005 Belfast City Council election

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 5 May 2005 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.
The DUP emerged as the largest party, and Wallace Browne became Lord Mayor.

## Election results

Belfast Local Election Result 2005 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 15 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 29.4 | 25.8 | 25,722 | 7.7 |
| Sinn Féin | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27.5 | 30.6 | 30,531 | 2.2 |
| SDLP | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15.7 | 17.1 | 17,058 | 0.3 |
| UUP | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13.7 | 13.8 | 13,756 | 4.5 |
| Alliance | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 6,808 | 0.0 |
| PUP | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 2,713 | 3.1 |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1,007 | 2.0 |
| Green (NI) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 801 | New |
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 698 | 0.0 |
| Socialist Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 338 | New |
| NI Conservatives | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 243 | 0.0 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Belfast City Council election, 2005 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | SDLP | SDLP | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | PUP | PUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Balmoral | 22.2 | 2 | 10.3 | 0 | 33.1 | 2 | 19.7 | 1 | 12.9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1.8 | 0 | 6 |
| Castle | 38.6 | 2 | 18.6 | 1 | 27.1 | 2 | 10.5 | 1 | 2.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2.7 | 0 | 6 |
| Court | 67.7 | 3 | 3.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 7.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 10.7 | 1 | 13.9 | 1 | 5 |
| Laganbank | 15.1 | 1 | 17.8 | 1 | 31.5 | 2 | 18.8 | 1 | 9.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 7.2 | 0 | 5 |
| Lower Falls | 0.0 | 0 | 85.2 | 5 | 11.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Oldpark | 22.3 | 1 | 47.5 | 3 | 15.9 | 1 | 7.9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 3.8 | 0 | 3.2 | 0 | 6 |
| Pottinger | 41.7 | 3 | 8.9 | 0 | 6.3 | 0 | 22.0 | 1 | 7.5 | 1 | 11.0 | 1 | 2.5 | 1 | 6 |
| Upper Falls | 0.0 | 0 | 75.2 | 4 | 24.8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Victoria | 37.5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 2.4 | 0 | 33.0 | 2 | 23.4 | 2 | 2.1 | 0 | 1.7 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 25.8 | 15 | 30.6 | 14 | 17.1 | 8 | 13.8 | 7 | 6.8 | 4 | 2.7 | 2 | 3.2 | 1 | 51 |

## District results
### Balmoral

2001: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 2005: 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Balmoral - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | SDLP | Carmel Hanna* | 17.34% | 2,030 | | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Bernie Kelly | 7.09% | 906 | 908 | 1,137.84 | 1,949.84 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Tom Ekin* | 12.88% | 1,508 | 1,524 | 1,559.19 | 1,613.31 | 1,755.9 | | | | |
| | UUP | Bob Stoker* | 10.08% | 1,180 | 1,288 | 1,291.93 | 1,296.74 | 1,300.17 | 1,312.42 | 2,163.42 | | |
| | DUP | Jim Kirkpatrick | 12.58% | 1,473 | 1,484 | 1,485.19 | 1,485.19 | 1,487.15 | 1,488.13 | 1,642.79 | 1,934.39 | |
| | DUP | Ruth Patterson* | 9.65% | 1,130 | 1,180 | 1,180.17 | 1,183.51 | 1,183.51 | 1,184 | 1,261.66 | 1,452.46 | 1,706.11 |
| | Sinn Féin | Stiofán Long | 10.26% | 1,202 | 1,204 | 1,220.15 | 1,305.88 | 1,423.48 | 1,458.27 | 1,470.98 | 1,474.58 | 1,479.92 |
| | UUP | Esmond Birnie | 9.61% | 1,125 | 1,137 | 1,142.95 | 1,153.16 | 1,160.51 | 1,183.05 | | | |
| | SDLP | Mary Kennedy | 8.05% | 943 | 943 | 991.96 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Thomas Wilson | 1.82% | 213 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 18,382 Valid: 11,710 (63.70%) Spoilt: 192 Quota: 1,673 Turnout: 11,902 (64.75%) |||||||||||||

### Castle

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2001-2005 Change: No change
Castle - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | Nigel Dodds* | 28.96% | 3,161 | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Pat Convery* | 16.66% | 1,818 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | David Browne* | 10.52% | 1,148 | 1,454.51 | 1,563.59 | | | | |
| | SDLP | Cathal Mullaghan | 10.41% | 1,136 | 1,139.57 | 1,408.14 | 1,614.92 | | | |
| | DUP | Ian Crozier* | 4.01% | 438 | 1,390.68 | 1,408.23 | 1,408.65 | 2,010.65 | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Tierna Cunningham | 9.43% | 1,029 | 1,032.06 | 1,066.06 | 1,087.34 | 1,109.25 | 1,133.25 | 1,163.17 |
| | Sinn Féin | David Kennedy | 9.17% | 1,001 | 1,003.04 | 1,032.55 | 1,046.41 | 1,068.4 | 1,090.4 | 1,111.4 |
| | DUP | Lydia Patterson | 5.66% | 618 | 908.7 | 918.74 | 919.16 | | | |
| | Alliance | Marjorie Hawkins | 2.47% | 270 | 279.69 | | | | | |
| | Green (NI) | Shane Ó Heorpa | 1.68% | 183 | 183.51 | | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | John Lavery | 1.03% | 112 | 117.61 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 18,413 Valid: 10,914 (59.27%) Spoilt: 253 Quota: 1,560 Turnout: 11,167 (60.65%) |||||||||||

### Court

2001: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent 2005: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent 2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Court - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | DUP | Diane Dodds | 55.73% | 4,176 | | | | |
| | DUP | William Humphrey | 9.06% | 679 | 2,320.52 | | | |
| | DUP | Elaine McMillen* | 2.95% | 221 | 730.07 | 1,577.39 | | |
| | Independent | Frank McCoubrey* | 10.60% | 794 | 1,107.11 | 1,186.23 | 1,244.66 | 1,312.41 |
| | PUP | Hugh Smyth* | 10.66% | 799 | 1,003.48 | 1,043.96 | 1,065.41 | 1,174.86 |
| | UUP | Chris McGimpsey* | 7.67% | 575 | 777.35 | 860.61 | 903.08 | 1,022.96 |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Hamilton | 3.32% | 249 | 266.04 | 267.42 | | |
| Electorate: 13,582 Valid: 7,493 (55.17%) Spoilt: 233 Quota: 1,249 Turnout: 7,726 (56.88%) |||||||||

### Laganbank

2001: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin,
2005: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP 2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Laganbank - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Sinn Féin | Alex Maskey* | 17.77% | 1,600 | | | | |
| | SDLP | Patrick McCarthy* | 16.21% | 1,459 | 1,503.8 | | | |
| | SDLP | Peter O'Reilly* | 15.28% | 1,376 | 1,402.6 | 1,489.47 | 1,609.47 | |
| | UUP | Michael McGimpsey* | 14.80% | 1,332 | 1,333.68 | 1,350.82 | 1,647.82 | |
| | DUP | Christopher Stalford | 15.13% | 1,362 | 1,362.07 | 1,367.07 | 1,417.28 | 1,512.44 |
| | Alliance | Allan Leonard | 9.54% | 859 | 861.94 | 901.78 | 1,172.51 | 1,222.53 |
| | Green (NI) | Andrew Frew | 4.10% | 369 | 375.16 | 467.66 | | |
| | UUP | Paula Bradshaw | 4.04% | 364 | 364.28 | 366.35 | | |
| | Socialist Party | James Barbour | 1.94% | 175 | 181.86 | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Paddy Lynn | 1.19% | 107 | 110.01 | | | |
| Electorate: 15,223 Valid: 9,003 (59.14%) Spoilt: 205 Quota: 1,501 Turnout: 9,208 (60.49%) |||||||||

### Lower Falls

2001: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP 2005: 5 x Sinn Féin 2001-2005 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
Lower Falls - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Sinn Féin | Janice Austin | 19.42% | 2,071 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Fra McCann* | 19.17% | 2,045 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Tom Hartley* | 18.39% | 1,962 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Máire Cush* | 15.33% | 1,764 | 1,797 | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Marie Moore* | 11.67% | 1,245 | 1,253 | 1,528.1 | 1,764.42 |
| | SDLP | Margaret Walsh* | 11.86% | 1,265 | 1,439 | 1,449.95 | 1,476.27 |
| | Workers' Party | John Lowry | 2.94% | 314 | | | |
| Electorate: 16,334 Valid: 10,666 (65.30%) Spoilt: 392 Quota: 1,778 Turnout: 11,058 (67.70%) ||||||||

### Oldpark

2001: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP 2005: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 2001-2005 Change: UUP gain from PUP
Oldpark - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | Nelson McCausland* | 22.27% | 2,642 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Danny Lavery* | 17.64% | 2,093 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Margaret McClenaghan* | 15.42% | 1,829 | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Alban Maginness* | 11.90% | 1,411 | 1,418.03 | 1,450.33 | 1,538.39 | 1,549.17 | 1,966.17 | |
| | UUP | Fred Cobain | 7.91% | 938 | 1,594.01 | 1,594.01 | 1,652.29 | 1,652.43 | 1,663.1 | 1,685.1 |
| | Sinn Féin | Caral Ni Chuilin | 10.47% | 1,242 | 1,243.48 | 1,468.63 | 1,495.01 | 1,585.31 | 1,600.85 | 1,657.85 |
| | PUP | Billy Hutchinson* | 3.84% | 455 | 690.69 | 691.45 | 732.59 | 732.66 | 735.22 | 757.22 |
| | Sinn Féin | Marie Mackessy | 3.94% | 467 | 468.85 | 586.08 | 600.22 | 622.2 | 651.74 | 715.74 |
| | SDLP | Andrew Harding | 4.01% | 476 | 479.33 | 487.69 | 539.44 | 540.07 | | |
| | Green (NI) | Peter Emerson | 2.10% | 249 | 278.6 | 280.5 | | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Paul Treanor | 0.51% | 60 | 60.37 | 62.08 | | | | |
| Electorate: 22,444 Valid: 11,862 (52.85%) Spoilt: 329 Quota: 1,695 Turnout: 12,191 (59.63%) |||||||||||

### Pottinger

2001: 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Alliance 2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Sinn Féin 2001-2005 Change: DUP and Alliance gain from UUP and Sinn Féin
Pottinger - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | DUP | Sammy Wilson* | 22.60% | 2,385 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Reg Empey* | 18.65% | 1,968 | | | | | |
| | DUP | May Campbell | 12.34% | 1,302 | 1,530.29 | | | | |
| | PUP | David Ervine* | 10.95% | 1,156 | 1,248.87 | 1,324.71 | 1,394.99 | 1,556.39 | |
| | DUP | Margaret McKenzie | 6.79% | 717 | 1,216.13 | 1,239.89 | 1,281.08 | 1,451.42 | 1,461.25 |
| | Alliance | Máire Hendron | 7.53% | 795 | 800.92 | 830.92 | 895.09 | 1,008.55 | 1,428.28 |
| | Sinn Féin | Deborah Devenny | 8.94% | 944 | 944 | 947.84 | 967.84 | 969.84 | 1,126.08 |
| | SDLP | Mary Muldoon | 6.35% | 670 | 672.22 | 677.26 | 743.18 | 766.22 | |
| | UUP | Sonia Copeland | 2.62% | 277 | 303.64 | 524.92 | 644.92 | | |
| | Socialist Party | Tommy Black | 1.57% | 163 | 165.96 | 168.36 | | | |
| | Workers' Party | Joseph Bell | 0.99% | 105 | 105.74 | 106.74 | | | |
| | UUP | Henry Wallace | 0.68% | 72 | 85.69 | 180.25 | | | |
| Electorate: 19,621 Valid: 10,554 (53.79%) Spoilt: 381 Quota: 1,508 Turnout: 10,935 (55.73%) ||||||||||

### Upper Falls

2001: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP 2005: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP 2001-2005 Change: No change
Upper Falls - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Sinn Féin | Paul Maskey* | 23.69% | 3,084 | | | |
| | SDLP | Tim Attwood | 21.63% | 2,815 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Gerard O'Neill* | 18.81% | 2,448 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Michael Browne* | 17.34% | 2,257 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Christine Mac Giolla Mhín | 10.97% | 1,428 | 2,070.32 | 2,089.57 | 2,325.41 |
| | SDLP | Roisin Mulholland | 3.17% | 413 | 467.56 | 1,025.56 | 1,031.83 |
| | Sinn Féin | Caoimhín Mac Giolla Mhín | 4.39% | 571 | 779.54 | 843.44 | 863.79 |
| Electorate: 19,767 Valid: 13,016 (65.85%) Spoilt: 437 Quota: 2,170 Turnout: 13,453 (68.06%) ||||||||

### Victoria

2001: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance 2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance 2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Victoria - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | Wallace Browne* | 18.60% | 2,689 | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Naomi Long* | 17.74% | 2,565 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Jim Rodgers* | 16.88% | 2,441 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Robin Newton* | 13.86% | 2,004 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Ian Adamson* | 12.98% | 1,877 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | David Rodway | 5.01% | 725 | 1,527.4 | 1,549.72 | 1,635.12 | 1,810.52 | | |
| | Alliance | Mervyn Jones | 5.61% | 811 | 815.42 | 1,421.47 | 1,456.75 | 1,458.85 | 1,461.82 | 1,838.82 |
| | UUP | Alan Crowe* | 3.17% | 459 | 508.98 | 582.76 | 1,041.76 | 1,050.86 | 1,099.16 | 1,366.16 |
| | SDLP | John Ó Doherty | 2.35% | 340 | 343.4 | 374.09 | 379.69 | 379.99 | 380.14 | |
| | PUP | John McQuillan | 2.10% | 303 | 310.82 | 321.36 | 337.88 | 340.38 | 340.89 | |
| | NI Conservatives | Peter Gray | 1.68% | 243 | 252.52 | 265.23 | 287.35 | 288.45 | 289.53 | |
| Electorate: 25,058 Valid: 14,457 (57.69%) Spoilt: 349 Quota: 1,808 Turnout: 14,806 (59.09%) |||||||||||