# 1997 Ballymena Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymena Borough Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 24 councillors.

## Election results

Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1997 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 45.8 | 38.3 | 8,639 | 0.4 |
| DUP | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33.3 | 36.7 | 8,639 | 5.0 |
| SDLP | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12.5 | 17.5 | 3,951 | 5.6 |
| Ind. Unionist | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 1,233 | 0.2 |
| Alliance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 447 | 3.4 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1997 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | DUP | DUP | SDLP | SDLP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ballymena North | 36.8 | 3 | 22.0 | 1 | 16.8 | 1 | 7.8 | 1 | 16.6 | 1 | 7 |
| Ballymena South | 36.6 | 3 | 40.9 | 3 | 17.6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.9 | 0 | 7 |
| Bannside | 32.9 | 2 | 50.7 | 3 | 16.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Braid | 47.7 | 3 | 32.7 | 1 | 19.6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 38.3 | 11 | 36.7 | 8 | 17.5 | 3 | 2.0 | 1 | 5.5 | 1 | 24 |

## Districts results
### Ballymena North

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1993-1997 Change: No change
Ballymena North - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SDLP | Patrick McAvoy* | 16.84% | 975 | | | | | |
| | UUP | William Wright* | 16.46% | 953 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Samuel Henry* | 12.58% | 728 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Joseph McKernan* | 10.88% | 630 | 669.9 | 785.34 | | | |
| | UUP | James Alexander* | 9.45% | 547 | 551.8 | 620.92 | 675.52 | 778.52 | |
| | DUP | Maurice Mills* | 10.54% | 610 | 610.3 | 624.46 | 626.15 | 650.28 | 768.28 |
| | Alliance | Jayne Dunlop | 7.72% | 447 | 641.4 | 645 | 645.91 | 700.61 | 703.09 |
| | DUP | John Stewart | 7.20% | 417 | 417.3 | 428.1 | 429.4 | 439.14 | 562.22 |
| | DUP | David Warwick | 4.27% | 247 | 247.3 | 253.78 | 253.91 | 269.15 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Herbert Park | 4.06% | 235 | 242.2 | 246.28 | 247.58 | | |
| Electorate: 12,239 Valid: 5,789 (47.30%) Spoilt: 81 Quota: 724 Turnout: 5,870 (47.96%) ||||||||||

### Ballymena South

1993: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist 1997: 3 x DUP, 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP 1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from Independent Unionist
Ballymena South - 7 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 | Declan O'Loan* | 17.56% | 967 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | James Currie* | 16.67% | 918 | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | David Tweed | 15.11% | 832 | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Martin Clarke* | 10.37% | 571 | 576.6 | 581.02 | 604.99 | 614.81 | 655.29 | 896.29 | | |
| | DUP | Hubert Nicholl | 9.70% | 534 | 535.68 | 544 | 575.45 | 585 | 622.43 | 714.87 | | |
| | UUP | Peter Brown | 6.85% | 377 | 425.72 | 478.24 | 481.64 | 524.27 | 548.93 | 559.69 | 583.69 | 586.41 |
| | UUP | Malcolm Gilmour | 6.63% | 365 | 390.76 | 472.66 | 479.63 | 495.69 | 538.51 | 556.29 | 577.29 | 580.86 |
| | UUP | John Scott* | 6.48% | 357 | 410.2 | 473.9 | 479.51 | 499.95 | 534.81 | 546.52 | 565.52 | 567.56 |
| | DUP | John Carson | 5.72% | 315 | 316.68 | 320.84 | 369.63 | 379.16 | 397.12 | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Agnes McLeister | 3.34% | 184 | 196.32 | 203.6 | 219.75 | 240.93 | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Samuel Balmer | 1.56% | 86 | 210.32 | 214.74 | 216.1 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,043 Valid: 5,506 (45.72%) Spoilt: 116 Quota: 689 Turnout: 5,622 (46.68%) |||||||||||||

### Bannside

1993: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1997: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1993-1997 Change: No change
Bannside - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | DUP | Roy Gillespie* | 18.75% | 1,110 | | | | |
| | DUP | Tommy Nicholl* | 17.70% | 1,048 | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Coulter* | 17.13% | 1,014 | | | | |
| | DUP | Sandy Spence* | 14.27% | 845 | 949.28 | 1,004.6 | | |
| | UUP | Ian Johnston* | 15.81% | 936 | 948.43 | 953.71 | 972.89 | 987.89 |
| | SDLP | Seamus Laverty | 16.33% | 967 | 967.33 | 967.39 | 967.55 | 967.67 |
| Electorate: 9,931 Valid: 5,920 (59.61%) Spoilt: 115 Quota: 987 Turnout: 6,035 (60.77%) |||||||||

### Braid

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP 1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1993-1997 Change: SDLP gain from DUP
Braid - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | SDLP | Margaret Gribben | 19.57% | 1,042 | | | | |
| | UUP | David Clyde* | 18.05% | 961 | | | | |
| | UUP | Desmond Armstrong* | 15.33% | 816 | 919.48 | | | |
| | DUP | Samuel Hanna* | 11.70% | 623 | 632.36 | 1,029.36 | | |
| | UUP | Lexie Scott | 14.37% | 765 | 794.12 | 812.2 | 814.72 | 878.48 |
| | DUP | Samuel Gaston | 11.78% | 627 | 629.08 | 690.72 | 826.8 | 833.92 |
| | DUP | David McClintock* | 9.20% | 490 | 497.8 | | | |
| Electorate: 9,081 Valid: 5,324 (58.63%) Spoilt: 91 Quota: 888 Turnout: 5,415 (59.63%) |||||||||