# 1997 Banbridge District Council election

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 |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | DUP | DUP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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%) |||||||||