# 1997 Craigavon Borough Council election

Elections to Craigavon 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 26 councillors.

## Election results

Craigavon Borough Council Election Result 1997 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42.3 | 39.7 | 12,107 | 1.4 |
| SDLP | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26.9 | 19.0 | 5,787 | 5.9 |
| DUP | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11.5 | 14.6 | 4,439 | 1.5 |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.7 | 12.2 | 3,717 | 3.0 |
| Ind. Nationalist | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7.7 | 6.2 | 1,905 | 6.2 |
| Alliance | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 1,366 | 1.7 |
| Labour Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 817 | New |
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 281 | 0.9 |
| NI Women's Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 84 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Craigavon Borough Council election, 1997 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | DUP | DUP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Craigavon Central | 43.6 | 3 | 15.2 | 1 | 13.8 | 1 | 13.4 | 1 | 6.9 | 1 | 7.1 | 0 | 7 |
| Loughside | 7.2 | 0 | 47.0 | 4 | 1.3 | 0 | 35.3 | 1 | 0.9 | 0 | 8.3 | 0 | 5 |
| Lurgan | 64.6 | 5 | 7.6 | 1 | 17.8 | 1 | 4.3 | 0 | 4.9 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 7 |
| Portadown | 37.7 | 3 | 11.0 | 1 | 22.9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.6 | 0 | 23.8 | 2 | 7 |
| Total | 39.7 | 11 | 19.0 | 7 | 14.6 | 3 | 12.2 | 2 | 4.5 | 1 | 10.0 | 2 | 26 |

## District results
### Craigavon Central

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance 1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance 1993-1997 Change: No change
Craigavon Central - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | UUP | Kenneth Twyble* | 20.15% | 1,576 | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | William Allen* | 13.79% | 1,079 | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Francis Murray | 13.40% | 1,048 | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Patricia Mallon* | 12.89% | 1,008 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Samuel McCammick* | 9.42% | 737 | 965 | 991 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Sean Hagan* | 6.92% | 541 | 563.42 | 564.52 | 565.87 | 566.96 | 568.19 | 708.84 | 914.04 |
| | UUP | Frederick Crowe* | 9.23% | 722 | 831.82 | 883.32 | 883.32 | 883.32 | 883.32 | 890.24 | 910.03 |
| | UUP | Cyril McLoughlin | 4.82% | 377 | 591.7 | 610.8 | 610.8 | 614.8 | 614.89 | 625.49 | 636.44 |
| | Labour Coalition | Alan Evans | 4.97% | 389 | 395.08 | 395.68 | 417.82 | 425.73 | 426.63 | 541.63 | |
| | SDLP | Philip Mallon | 2.33% | 182 | 182 | 182 | 217.01 | 224.37 | 250.86 | | |
| | NI Women's Coalition | Chris Moffat | 1.07% | 84 | 88.56 | 88.76 | 89.93 | 90.93 | 91.17 | | |
| | Workers' Party | Peter Smyth* | 0.70% | 55 | 56.14 | 56.44 | 60.04 | 61.67 | 62.27 | | |
| | Labour Coalition | William McAvoy | 0.32% | 25 | 25 | 25.1 | 28.07 | | | | |
| Electorate: 15,325 Valid: 7,823 (51.05%) Spoilt: 159 Quota: 978 Turnout: 7,982 (52.08%) ||||||||||||

### Loughside

1993: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Workers' Party 1997: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin 1993-1997 Change: SDLP gain from Workers' Party
Loughside - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | Sinn Féin | John O'Dowd* | 35.26% | 2,320 | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Sean McCavanagh* | 22.80% | 1,500 | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Dolores Kelly* | 10.52% | 692 | 926.96 | 1,019.03 | 1,021.79 | 1,030.94 | 1,077.05 | 1,134.05 | |
| | SDLP | Mary McAlinden | 8.54% | 562 | 830.4 | 922.2 | 929.14 | 942.59 | 979.61 | 1,022.58 | 1,125.58 |
| | SDLP | Kieran McGeown | 5.15% | 339 | 755.24 | 923.18 | 931 | 938.03 | 974.87 | 1,015.23 | 1,065.23 |
| | UUP | Thomas Crozier | 7.16% | 471 | 471 | 471.54 | 471.54 | 487.54 | 566.54 | 572.54 | 575.54 |
| | Workers' Party | Tom French | 3.44% | 226 | 358.88 | 371.3 | 378.97 | 391.15 | 406.95 | 491.98 | |
| | Labour Coalition | Hugh Casey* | 3.09% | 203 | 258.44 | 270.86 | 274.04 | 279.04 | 294.83 | | |
| | Labour Coalition | Mark McKavanagh | 1.54% | 101 | 161.72 | 173.33 | 179.12 | 186 | | | |
| | DUP | Anne Hanlon | 1.35% | 89 | 90.76 | 90.76 | 90.76 | 90.76 | | | |
| | Alliance | Adrian McKinney | 0.94% | 62 | 77.84 | 80.27 | 84.15 | | | | |
| | Labour Coalition | Mary Sheen | 0.21% | 14 | 47.44 | 50.14 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,783 Valid: 6,579 (55.83%) Spoilt: 109 Quota: 1,097 Turnout: 6,688 (56.76%) ||||||||||||

### Lurgan

1993: 5 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1997: 5 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1993-1997 Change: No change
Lurgan - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | UUP | Samuel Gardiner | 22.45% | 1,802 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | George Savage | 17.08% | 1,371 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Meta Crozier* | 8.61% | 691 | 1,034.2 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Jonathan Bell | 8.16% | 655 | 778.64 | 873.68 | 877.56 | 878.56 | 887.62 | 980.98 | 1,069.98 |
| | UUP | Sydney Cairns* | 5.41% | 434 | 526.84 | 619.72 | 623.97 | 623.97 | 630.51 | 742.26 | 961.02 |
| | SDLP | Mary McNally* | 7.65% | 614 | 615.76 | 616.3 | 634.3 | 877.3 | 877.33 | 953.87 | 959.29 |
| | DUP | Ruth Allen* | 10.00% | 803 | 840.4 | 866.59 | 868.86 | 868.86 | 870.09 | 889.36 | 922.32 |
| | DUP | Frederick Baird | 7.76% | 623 | 689.88 | 719.85 | 721.56 | 721.56 | 722.91 | 740.31 | 775.19 |
| | UUP | William McCullough | 2.86% | 230 | 335.6 | 438.74 | 442.55 | 444.99 | 449.46 | 485.06 | |
| | Alliance | Wilson Freeburn | 4.86% | 390 | 399.68 | 405.62 | 435.04 | 442.04 | 442.13 | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Bernadette O'Hagan | 4.35% | 349 | 349.44 | 349.44 | 350.44 | | | | |
| | Labour Coalition | Gillian Kirk | 0.61% | 49 | 51.2 | 53.9 | | | | | |
| | Labour Coalition | James Devlin | 0.21% | 17 | 18.32 | 18.59 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,526 Valid: 8,028 (55.27%) Spoilt: 136 Quota: 1,004 Turnout: 8,164 (56.20%) ||||||||||||

### Portadown

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance 1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1993-1997 Change: Independent Nationalist (two seats) gain from DUP and Alliance
Portadown - 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 |
| | DUP | Mervyn Carrick* | 21.22% | 1,713 | | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Breandán Mac Cionnaith | 18.49% | 1,493 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | James Gillespie* | 14.90% | 1,203 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Joseph Trueman* | 11.38% | 919 | 994.85 | 994.85 | 996.26 | 1,053.54 | | | | |
| | SDLP | Ignatius Fox* | 11.02% | 890 | 891.64 | 928.76 | 934.17 | 934.65 | 1,025.65 | | | |
| | UUP | Mark Neale | 6.38% | 515 | 636.77 | 636.77 | 637.18 | 747.58 | 830.97 | 845.61 | 849.32 | 1,049.84 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Joe Duffy | 5.10% | 412 | 413.23 | 840.43 | 840.43 | 840.43 | 861.27 | 861.27 | 870.28 | 870.28 |
| | UUP | David Thompson | 5.00% | 404 | 447.46 | 447.46 | 448.46 | 465.42 | 566.36 | 591.68 | 593.8 | 820.12 |
| | DUP | John Tate* | 1.64% | 132 | 564.96 | 564.96 | 566.37 | 570.05 | 584.42 | 586.22 | 586.75 | |
| | Alliance | William Ramsay* | 4.62% | 373 | 382.43 | 387.87 | 395.19 | 397.11 | | | | |
| | Labour Coalition | Carol Lindsay | 0.24% | 19 | 20.64 | 20.96 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 13,916 Valid: 8,073 (58.01%) Spoilt: 169 Quota: 1,010 Turnout: 8,242 (59.23%) |||||||||||||