1989 North Down Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1989

Elections to North Down 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 24 councillors.

1989 North Down Borough Council election

← 1985 17 May 1989 (1989-05-17) 1993 →
All 24 seats to North Down Borough Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party NI Conservatives UUP Alliance Seats won 6 5 4 Seat change 6 3 3   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party DUP UPUP Independent Seats won 4 2 2 Seat change 2 0 2   Seventh party   Party Ind. Unionist Seats won 1 Seat change 0

Prior to the election three Ulster Unionist politicians, including George Green, had defected to the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland. The election saw the Conservative presence in North Down doubling, with the Conservatives emerging as the single largest party on the council.

Election results

North Down Borough Council Election Result 1989^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	NI Conservatives	6	6	0	6	25.0	24.9	5,204	New
	UUP	5	0	3	3	20.8	21.7	4,548	10.6
	Alliance	4	0	3	3	16.7	20.7	4,313	5.6
	DUP	4	0	2	3	16.7	15.5	3,234	7.8
	Independent	2	2	0	2	8.3	6.9	1,443	4.2
	UPUP	2	1	1	0	8.3	5.9	1,223	3.8
	Ind. Unionist	1	0	0	0	4.2	2.8	578	1.2
	PUP	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.6	325	0.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the North Down Borough Council election, 1989
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	Conservative		UUP		Alliance		DUP		UPUP		Others
Abbey	19.2	1	12.4	1	12.9	1	25.6	1	29.9	2	0.0	0	6
Ballyholme and Groomsport	27.5	2	25.4	1	24.1	1	12.4	1	0.0	0	10.6	1	6
Bangor West	26.7	2	23.0	2	19.3	1	14.5	1	0.0	0	16.5	1	7
Holywood	24.6	1	24.1	1	25.2	1	11.7	1	0.0	0	14.4	1	5
Total	24.9	6	21.7	5	20.7	4	15.5	4	5.9	2	11.3	3	24

Districts results

Abbey

1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPUP
1989: 2 x UPUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Conservative, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
1985-1989 Change: UPUP and Conservative gain from DUP and UUP

Abbey - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	UPUP	Valerie Kinghan	18.19%	745
	NI Conservatives	George Green*	13.09%	536	546.12	551.66	558.66	752.66
	UPUP	Cecil Braniff*	11.67%	478	560.50	580.36	584.80	587.46
	Alliance	James Magee*	7.30%	299	305.82	308.92	513.80	541.46	605.46
	DUP	Denny Vitty	10.47%	429	438.68	445.34	445.56	448.78	454.78	609.78
	UUP	Irene Cree	8.52%	349	364.40	483.26	483.26	498.92	546.92	571.9
	DUP	Ivy Cooling*	7.89%	323	332.24	337.12	337.12	338.34	349.34	462.10
	NI Conservatives	Shirley McCann	6.10%	250	252.86	254.30	262.30
	Alliance	Mariam Judge	5.57%	228	229.76	229.98
	UUP	Edward Johnston	2.91%	119	128.02
	UUP	Robert Todd	1.03%	42	45.30
Electorate: 11,789   Valid: 4,096 (34.74%)   Spoilt: 188   Quota: 586   Turnout: 4,284 (36.34%)

Ballyholme and Groomsport

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1989: 2 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) gain from UUP and Alliance

Ballyholme and Groomsport - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	UUP	Leslie Cree	15.81%	864
	NI Conservatives	Bruce Mulligan*	11.18%	611	612.35	614.35	621.98	623.25	814.25
	Alliance	Jane Copeland*	13.01%	711	712.53	762.53	768.89	771.16	779.25	779.59	1,159.59
	NI Conservatives	Ivan Thompson	10.49%	573	574.53	582.53	586.89	587.16	672.43	703.71	765.07	877.07
	Ind. Unionist	Edmund Mills*	10.58%	578	580.25	584.25	589.88	593.06	602.42	602.76	630.85	684.85	713.85
	DUP	Alan Leslie*	7.85%	429	432.6	434.6	452.31	686.82	693.09	693.26	697.89	703.89	705.89
	UUP	Samuel Mellon	6.52%	356	375.35	378.35	518.2	532.28	547.09	547.09	575.54	608.54	635.54
	Alliance	Donald Hayes*	8.86%	484	485.44	533.44	535.71	535.89	542.89	543.06
	NI Conservatives	William McLean	5.84%	319	320.44	322.53	326.25	329.34
	DUP	Robert Gordon	4.58%	250	255.22	255.31	269.21
	UUP	Ian Henry	3.04%	166	204.79	207.79
	Alliance	William Johnston	2.25%	123	123.18
Electorate: 14,179   Valid: 5,464 (38.54%)   Spoilt: 150   Quota: 781   Turnout: 5,614 (39.59%)

Bangor West

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UPUP
1989: 2 x Conservative, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent
1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) and Independent gain from Alliance, DUP and UPUP

Bangor West - 7 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	UUP	Hazel Bradford*	10.73%	698	707	710	716	748	880
	DUP	William Baxter	7.10%	462	497	498	502	551	573	575.5	829.5
	Alliance	Brian Wilson*	10.71%	697	699	763	779	789	802	808	817
	Independent	Ann-Marie Hillen	8.25%	537	540	549	701	725	741	742.5	764.5	902.5
	NI Conservatives	Thomas Miskelly	9.62%	626	629	632	643	664	694	695.5	703.5	763.5	794.5
	NI Conservatives	James O'Fee	8.81%	573	579	580	587	597	623	624.5	641.5	717	744
	UUP	Roy Bradford	6.19%	403	408	409	411	443	534	581	650	693	706
	NI Conservatives	Jack Preston	8.25%	537	550	551	556	577	605	605	613	662	673
	Alliance	William Bailie*	6.36%	414	416	471	473	476	491	491.5	493.5
	DUP	Alan Graham*	5.34%	347	398	402	404	429	453	457.5
	UUP	Terence McKeag	6.09%	396	397	398	399	425
	PUP	Thomas O'Brien	4.86%	316	327	328	329
	Independent	Colin Simpson	3.24%	211	212	212
	Alliance	Eileen Bell	2.23%	145	145
	DUP	Elizabeth McMurtry	2.08%	135
	PUP	Samuel Meneely	0.14%	9
Electorate: 15,249   Valid: 6,506 (42.67%)   Spoilt: 147   Quota: 814   Turnout: 6,653 (43.63%)

Holywood

1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
1989: 1 x Alliance, 1 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent
1985-1989 Change: Conservative and Independent gain from UUP and Alliance

Holywood - 5 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	NI Conservatives	Laurence Kennedy	16.14%	775	852
	UUP	Ellie McKay*	12.27%	589	641	694	704.12	1,035.12
	Independent	Dennis Ogborn	14.47%	695	712	755	764.2	804.2
	DUP	Gordon Dunne*	11.68%	561	564	576	578.76	659.28	805.28
	Alliance	Susan O'Brien*	13.74%	660	670	696	701.52	732.96	754.96
	Alliance	Paul De Haan	11.50%	552	559	585	592.36	626.12	659.12
	UUP	John Auld*	9.85%	473	498	549	564.64
	NI Conservatives	Alice Kennedy	5.60%	269	299
	NI Conservatives	Michael Weir	2.81%	135
	UUP	Ian Sinclair*	1.94%	93
Electorate: 10,290   Valid: 4,802 (46.67%)   Spoilt: 116   Quota: 801   Turnout: 4,918 (47.79%)

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1985-1989: North Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1989". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.