The 2014 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland

Map by Conal Kelly

The Elections

The elections for Northern Ireland's new 11 local councils took place on 22 May, 2014, simultaneously with the European Parliament election. Councillors are elected for a four-year term by Single Transferable Vote from local electoral areas returning five, six or seven councillors. These were the first elections to take place on the new District Electoral Areas for the new councils.

The Results

This graph contrasts the first preference votes across the whole of Northern Ireland with those cast in the local government elections of 2014, 2011, 2005, 2001, 1997, 1993, 1989, 1985, 1981, 1977 and 1973.

Details of distribution of seats on the 11 new District Councils

The New Local Government Districts

This was the first local government elections to the newly established eleven “super councils”. The new councils superseded the twenty-six local government districts established in 1973, which formed the basis of ten elections between 1973 and 2011. You can look at all the local election results since 1973 here, and compare specifically with the 2011 elections here, the 2005 elections here, the 2001 elections here, the 1997 elections here and the 1993 elections here. (See spreadsheet archive.)

The reform of local government had been a protracted process with the initial proposal for seven councils being made in 2005 by then Secretary of State Peter Hain. This was later supplanted by proposals brought forward by the Executive in March 2008 recommending eleven councils. In June 2012, the Northern Ireland Assembly finally approved the draft Order specifying the new eleven districts with names and boundaries as outlined in the map above.

The New Electoral Wards

The ward is the primary unit of electoral geography and represents the building blocks for the new local government districts. A ward cannot be divided between districts and must be contiguous to at least one other ward within the district (except where the ward consists of an island). The new structure sees a reduction in the number of local government wards from 582 to 462. The number of wards designated per district is as follows: Belfast has 60 wards; Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district and Newry, Mourne and Down district both have 41 wards; the remaining eight districts have 40 wards each. The number of wards a distrct has is the equivalent of the number of councillors to be elected. The map of the new electoral wards is outlined below:

Map by Conal Kelly

The New District Electoral Areas

The District Electoral Area (DEA) is a distinct territorial subdivision of the local government district. It is comprised of between five and seven wards and is the focus of separate electoral contests. Under the new local governemnt model, 80 DEAs have been established. They comprise 34 five ward areas; 30 six ward areas; and 16 seven ward areas encompassing all 462 wards. Each of the new local government districts consists of seven DEAs with the exception of Belfast which has ten. The map of the new district electoral areas is outlined below:

Map by Conal Kelly

Mapping New to Old

• Belfast includes the old Belfast City Council and parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn, and North Down
• Antrim and Newtownabbey incorpates the old districts of Antrim and Newtownabbey
• Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon includes all of the old districts of Armagh and Craigavon and much of Banbridge (with the exception of parts of Ballyward, Katesbridge, and Gransha), and parts of the wards of Killyman and Moy in Dungannon
• Causeway Coast and Glens includes all of the old districts of Limavady, Coleraine, Ballymoney and Moyle
• Derry and Strabane incorpates the old districts of Derry City Council and Strabane
• Fermanagh and Omagh incorpates the old districts of Fermanagh and Omagh
• Lisburn and Castlereagh incorpates the old districts of Lisburn (less much of Collin Glen, Poleglass, Lagmore, Twinbrook, Kilwee and Dunmurry) and Castlereagh (less much of Gilnahirk, Tullycarnet, Braniel, Castlereagh, Merok, Cregagh, Wynchurch, Glencregagh and Belvoir)
• Mid and East Antrim incorpates the old districts of Ballymena, Larne and Carrickfergus
• Mid Ulster incorpates the old districts of Cookstown, Magherfelt and Dungannon (with the exception of parts of the wards of Killyman and Moy)
• Newry, Mourne and Down includes all of the old districts of Newry and Mourne and Down, as well as parts of the Banbridge wards of Ballyward, Katesbridge, and Gransha
• North Down and Ards includes the old districts of Ards and North Down (with the exception a small part of Loughview)

See also:

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Your comments, please! Send an email to me at nicholas.whyte@gmail.com.

Nicholas Whyte, 1 January 2015. Updated by Conal Kelly, 4 January 2015.