# 1997 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymoney Borough 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 16 councillors.

## Election results

Ballymoney Borough Council Election Result 1997 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37.5 | 32.7 | 3,102 | 1.8 |
| UUP | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 37.5 | 26.0 | 2,467 | 7.5 |
| SDLP | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18.8 | 23.7 | 2,249 | 4.8 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12.5 | 9.8 | 927 | 1.9 |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 5.3 | 508 | 2.1 |
| PUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 180 | New |
| NI Women's Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 66 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ballymoney Borough Council election, 1997 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ballymoney Town | 28.5 | 2 | 20.9 | 2 | 9.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 41.4 | 2 | 5 |
| Bann Valley | 35.2 | 2 | 24.6 | 2 | 27.4 | 1 | 12.8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bushvale | 33.1 | 2 | 33.0 | 1 | 32.7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 1.2 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 32.7 | 6 | 26.0 | 6 | 23.7 | 3 | 5.3 | 1 | 12.3 | 2 | 16 |

## Districts results
### Ballymoney Town

1993: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1997: 2 x Independent, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP 1993-1997 Change: Independent gain from UUP
Ballymoney Town - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | DUP | Cecil Cousley* | 17.90% | 493 | | | | |
| | Independent | Robert McComb* | 15.72% | 433 | 435 | 469 | | |
| | UUP | Tom McKeown* | 12.09% | 333 | 334 | 370 | 422 | 438 |
| | Independent | Bill Williamson | 9.48% | 261 | 265 | 274 | 340 | 413 |
| | DUP | Samuel McConaghie* | 10.64% | 293 | 293 | 326 | 344 | 346 |
| | UUP | James Simpson* | 8.79% | 242 | 242 | 263 | 326 | 336 |
| | SDLP | Joan McCaffrey | 9.26% | 255 | 269 | 272 | 294 | |
| | Independent | Colin McVicker | 8.46% | 233 | 239 | 260 | | |
| | PUP | Jeffrey Balmer | 6.54% | 180 | 181 | | | |
| | NI Women's Coalition | Mary McCusker | 1.13% | 31 | | | | |
| Electorate: 5,905 Valid: 2,754 (46.64%) Spoilt: 53 Quota: 460 Turnout: 2,807 (47.54%) |||||||||

### Bann Valley

1993: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP 1997: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin 1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
Bann Valley - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | UUP | Joe Gaston* | 18.09% | 719 | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Malachy McCamphill* | 17.76% | 706 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Robert Halliday* | 15.30% | 608 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Robert Wilson* | 11.09% | 441 | 454.44 | 454.63 | 482.35 | 743.35 | | |
| | UUP | John Watt* | 6.54% | 260 | 382.85 | 382.85 | 385.07 | 463.49 | 578.49 | |
| | Sinn Féin | Martin O'Neill | 12.78% | 508 | 508.21 | 519.42 | 519.42 | 519.42 | 519.42 | 519.42 |
| | SDLP | Mary McPoland | 9.61% | 382 | 382 | 502.27 | 502.27 | 503.27 | 503.27 | 504.27 |
| | DUP | John Finlay | 8.83% | 351 | 361.29 | 361.29 | 367.11 | | | |
| Electorate: 6,991 Valid: 3,975 (56.86%) Spoilt: 80 Quota: 568 Turnout: 4,055 (58.00%) |||||||||||

### Bushvale

1993: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP 1997: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 1993-1997 Change: SDLP gain from UUP
Bushvale - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SDLP | Harry Connolly* | 26.17% | 725 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Frank Campbell* | 17.08% | 473 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Bill Kennedy* | 15.99% | 443 | 443.38 | 450.5 | 455.52 | 491.52 | | |
| | UUP | William Logan* | 12.64% | 350 | 351.52 | 351.98 | 356.76 | 456.68 | 473.68 | |
| | SDLP | Francis McCluskey | 6.53% | 181 | 429.14 | 429.16 | 445.96 | 445.98 | 445.98 | 445.98 |
| | UUP | John Ramsay* | 12.31% | 341 | 341 | 341.56 | 346.56 | 425.28 | 433.28 | 444.92 |
| | UUP | William Johnston | 8.01% | 222 | 222.76 | 223.88 | 225.88 | | | |
| | NI Women's Coalition | Joan Cosgrove | 1.26% | 35 | 42.6 | 42.64 | | | | |
| Electorate: 5,387 Valid: 2,770 (51.42%) Spoilt: 49 Quota: 462 Turnout: 2,819 (52.33%) |||||||||||