# 1997 Ards Borough Council election

Elections to Ards 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 23 councillors.

## Election results

Ards Borough Council Election Result 1997 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43.5 | 39.6 | 7,754 | 4.9 |
| DUP | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 21.7 | 22.6 | 4,431 | 5.7 |
| Alliance | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21.7 | 21.1 | 4,138 | 2.3 |
| Ind. Unionist | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8.7 | 6.3 | 1,240 | 0.4 |
| SDLP | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 901 | New |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 337 | 1.8 |
| PUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 441 | 2.3 |
| UK Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 269 | New |
| Ulster Democratic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 55 | New |
| Green (NI) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 33 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ards Borough Council election, 1997 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | DUP | DUP | Alliance | Alliance | SDLP | SDLP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ards East | 52.1 | 4 | 23.0 | 1 | 15.3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 9.6 | 0 | 6 |
| Ards West | 56.1 | 3 | 18.8 | 1 | 25.1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Newtownards | 26.6 | 2 | 18.6 | 1 | 15.4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 39.4 | 2 | 6 |
| Peninsula | 22.6 | 1 | 29.7 | 2 | 28.8 | 1 | 18.2 | 1 | 0.7 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 39.6 | 10 | 22.6 | 5 | 21.1 | 5 | 4.6 | 1 | 12.1 | 0 | 23 |

## Districts results
### Ards East

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1997: 4 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from DUP
Ards East - 6 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 | Thomas Benson* | 17.40% | 882 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Ronald Ferguson* | 13.33% | 676 | 762.4 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Hamilton Gregory | 12.25% | 621 | 628.2 | 629.53 | 656.71 | 811.71 | | | |
| | UUP | John Shields* | 11.95% | 606 | 618.24 | 622.44 | 656.62 | 668.05 | 668.64 | 752.64 | |
| | Alliance | Linda Cleland | 8.24% | 418 | 422.32 | 422.53 | 437.71 | 441.71 | 442.89 | 462.07 | 792.07 |
| | UUP | Jeffrey Magill* | 9.47% | 480 | 508.98 | 533.69 | 582.23 | 616.56 | 621.87 | 680.76 | 694.05 |
| | DUP | St Clair McAlister* | 5.82% | 295 | 299.32 | 299.95 | 309.95 | 369.2 | 447.67 | 509.28 | 518.64 |
| | Alliance | Laurence Thompson* | 6.94% | 352 | 355.06 | 355.48 | 363.48 | 363.48 | 363.48 | 378.66 | |
| | UK Unionist | Thomas Sheridan | 5.31% | 269 | 271.16 | 271.93 | 283.93 | 287.93 | 287.93 | | |
| | DUP | Hamilton Lawther | 4.95% | 251 | 254.96 | 255.87 | 274.87 | | | | |
| | PUP | Georgina McCrory | 4.34% | 220 | 221.26 | 221.33 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 14,904 Valid: 5,070 (34.02%) Spoilt: 114 Quota: 725 Turnout: 5,184 (34.78%) ||||||||||||

### Ards West

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 1993-1997 Change: No change
Ards West - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | UUP | Robert Gibson* | 22.59% | 1,103 | | | | | |
| | UUP | David McNarry | 21.83% | 1,066 | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Kathleen Coulter* | 15.18% | 741 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Margaret Craig* | 11.71% | 572 | 871.52 | | | | |
| | DUP | David Gilmore | 13.00% | 635 | 683.75 | 877.19 | | | |
| | Alliance | Jim McBriar* | 9.85% | 481 | 511.03 | 595.27 | 599.43 | 654.81 | 693.81 |
| | DUP | Lorraine Gilmore | 5.84% | 285 | 311.13 | 398.49 | 552.93 | 649.26 | 650.58 |
| Electorate: 12,917 Valid: 4,883 (37.80%) Spoilt: 70 Quota: 698 Turnout: 4,953 (38.34%) ||||||||||

### Newtownards

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1997: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1993-1997 Change: Independent Unionist gain from DUP
Newtownards - 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 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Wilbert Magill* | 19.41% | 914 | | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Alan McDowell* | 15.37% | 724 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | David Smyth* | 14.65% | 690 | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | George Ennis* | 10.89% | 653 | 692.44 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Thomas Hamilton* | 12.00% | 565 | 628.22 | 635.8 | 651.6 | 656.36 | 666.68 | 728.68 | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Bobby McBride | 6.92% | 326 | 377.33 | 382.33 | 388.83 | 391.38 | 391.78 | 426.07 | 507.6 | 534.6 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Nancy Orr* | 7.15% | 337 | 393.26 | 407.42 | 430.62 | 433.68 | 434.68 | 461.61 | 503.67 | 510.67 |
| | DUP | John Purdy | 4.78% | 225 | 238.63 | 245.08 | 246.28 | 253.76 | 254.62 | 305.39 | | |
| | PUP | Alfred McCrory | 4.69% | 221 | 231.15 | 245.15 | 249.45 | 250.47 | 250.73 | | | |
| | Ulster Democratic | Billy McKeown | 1.17% | 55 | 59.93 | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,942 Valid: 4,710 (36.39%) Spoilt: 120 Quota: 673 Turnout: 4,830 (37.32%) |||||||||||||

### Peninsula

1993: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1997: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP 1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from Alliance and Independent
Peninsula - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | UUP | Paul Carson | 22.57% | 1,114 | | | | |
| | Alliance | Kieran McCarthy* | 21.21% | 1,047 | | | | |
| | DUP | Jim Shannon* | 20.12% | 993 | | | | |
| | DUP | Robert Drysdale | 10.25% | 473 | 687.21 | 696.01 | 849.01 | |
| | SDLP | Daniel McCarthy | 15.60% | 770 | 777.44 | 808.9 | 810.52 | 930.52 |
| | Alliance | William Sheldon* | 3.12% | 154 | 202.98 | 315.62 | 325.16 | 346.72 |
| | Alliance | John Smyth | 4.48% | 221 | 227.82 | 279.3 | 281.82 | 296.02 |
| | SDLP | Iain Bell | 2.65% | 131 | 131 | 141.12 | 141.48 | |
| | Green (NI) | Owen Crawford | 0.67% | 33 | 40.75 | 44.49 | 45.75 | |
| Electorate: 11,165 Valid: 4,936 (44.21%) Spoilt: 101 Quota: 824 Turnout: 5,037 (45.11%) |||||||||