# 1989 Ballymena Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymena Borough Council were held on 17 May 1989 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

Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1989 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 52.2 | 44.8 | 9,435 | 10.8 |
| UUP | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30.4 | 30.8 | 6,491 | 2.2 |
| SDLP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 | 9.2 | 1,926 | 2.9 |
| Alliance | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 1,280 | 6.1 |
| Ind. Unionist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 1,033 | 0.7 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 887 | 0.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1989 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ballymena Town | 26.8 | 2 | 23.7 | 2 | 21.8 | 1 | 14.0 | 1 | 13.7 | 1 | 7 |
| Braid Valley | 40.9 | 2 | 41.7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 17.4 | 1 | 5 |
| Kells Water | 58.7 | 4 | 36.5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.8 | 0 | 6 |
| The Main | 56.6 | 4 | 23.7 | 1 | 11.4 | 0 | 8.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 44.8 | 12 | 30.8 | 7 | 9.2 | 1 | 6.1 | 1 | 9.1 | 2 | 23 |

## Districts results
### Ballymena Town

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist 1989: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1985-1989 Change: Alliance gain from DUP
Ballymena Town - 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 |
| | SDLP | Patrick McAvoy* | 15.06% | 897 | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Gareth Williams | 13.97% | 832 | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Samuel Henry* | 13.67% | 814 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | James Alexander | 10.60% | 631 | 631.17 | 651.32 | 668.06 | 750.12 | | | |
| | DUP | Maurice Mills* | 8.14% | 485 | 485 | 488.12 | 495.14 | 501.99 | 724.64 | 969.75 | |
| | UUP | Robert Coulter* | 9.99% | 595 | 595 | 612.55 | 631.54 | 738.14 | 743.49 | 784.65 | |
| | DUP | John Wilson | 7.42% | 442 | 442 | 445.51 | 447.94 | 451.88 | 466.06 | 592.47 | 783.26 |
| | SDLP | Declan O'Loan | 6.77% | 403 | 553.45 | 573.34 | 576.04 | 580.65 | 581.65 | 582.65 | 585.65 |
| | DUP | John Carson | 6.87% | 409 | 409 | 410.69 | 413.12 | 416.87 | 433.05 | | |
| | DUP | Vera Mills | 4.38% | 261 | 261.34 | 261.99 | 263.52 | 264.01 | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Simpson | 3.12% | 186 | 186 | 204.2 | 220.13 | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,831 Valid: 5,955 (46.41%) Spoilt: 130 Quota: 745 Turnout: 6,085 (47.42%) ||||||||||||

### Braid Valley

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1989: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1985-1989 Change: Independent gain from DUP
Braid Valley - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | UUP | Desmond Armstrong* | 18.78% | 957 | | | | | |
| | Independent | James Woulahan | 17.41% | 887 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Margaret Alexander* | 15.60% | 795 | 848.02 | 864.49 | | | |
| | DUP | John Armstrong* | 10.00% | 510 | 526.39 | 527.2 | 528.82 | 852.94 | |
| | DUP | Samuel Hanna* | 13.19% | 672 | 676.07 | 677.96 | 677.96 | 697.89 | 790.39 |
| | DUP | Agnes McLeister | 9.95% | 507 | 507.66 | 507.66 | 508.2 | 537.18 | 625.5 |
| | UUP | William Owens | 7.30% | 372 | 394 | 406.15 | 413.71 | 430.64 | |
| | DUP | Robert Robinson | 7.75% | 395 | 399.73 | 404.32 | 404.32 | | |
| Electorate: 8,336 Valid: 5,095 (61.12%) Spoilt: 116 Quota: 850 Turnout: 5,211 (62.51%) ||||||||||

### Kells Water

1985: 5 x DUP, 1 x UUP 1989: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1985-1989 Change: UUP gain from DUP
Kells Water - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | UUP | William Brownlees* | 20.48% | 929 | | | |
| | DUP | Martin Clarke* | 16.73% | 759 | | | |
| | UUP | James Currie | 16.07% | 729 | | | |
| | DUP | Ronald Fry | 11.28% | 512 | 581.66 | 661.01 | |
| | DUP | David McClintock* | 11.22% | 509 | 556.3 | 565 | 623.12 |
| | DUP | James McCosh | 11.00% | 499 | 536.41 | 546.16 | 585.25 |
| | DUP | Andrew McKendry | 8.40% | 381 | 410.24 | 416.39 | 489.44 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Melvyn McKendry | 4.83% | 219 | 315.32 | 318.92 | |
| Electorate: 10,142 Valid: 4,537 (44.73%) Spoilt: 138 Quota: 649 Turnout: 4,675 (46.10%) ||||||||

### The Main

1985: 4 x DUP, 1 x UUP 1989: 4 x DUP, 1 x UUP 1985-1989 Change: No change
The Main - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | Roy Gillespie* | 19.54% | 1,068 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Ian Johnston* | 10.94% | 598 | 608.5 | 628.65 | 780.8 | 1,072.25 | | |
| | DUP | Sandy Spence* | 13.76% | 752 | 773.75 | 788.05 | 816.8 | 857.45 | 918.75 | |
| | DUP | Tommy Nicholl* | 13.71% | 749 | 761.15 | 770.15 | 791.45 | 811.75 | 819.75 | 891.9 |
| | DUP | Hubert Nicholl* | 9.61% | 525 | 626.7 | 628.7 | 649.6 | 673.65 | 694.65 | 777.45 |
| | SDLP | Seamus Laverty | 11.45% | 626 | 626 | 626 | 632 | 632.15 | 632.15 | 691.3 |
| | Alliance | David Alderdice | 8.20% | 448 | 451 | 458 | 465.15 | 481.6 | 517.6 | |
| | UUP | Robert Megaw | 4.72% | 258 | 262.2 | 342.2 | 402.35 | | | |
| | UUP | Sarah McCullough | 5.32% | 291 | 293.85 | 308.85 | | | | |
| | UUP | John Sutter | 2.74% | 150 | 150.45 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 9,076 Valid: 5,465 (60.21%) Spoilt: 118 Quota: 911 Turnout: 5,583 (61.51%) |||||||||||