2005 Belfast City Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 2005

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 5 May 2005 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.

2005 Belfast City Council election

← 2001 5 May 2005 (2005-05-05) 2011 →
All 51 seats to Belfast City Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP Sinn Féin SDLP Seats won 15 14 8 Seat change 5 0 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party UUP Alliance PUP Seats won 7 4 2 Seat change 4 1 1   Seventh party   Party Independent Seats won 1 Seat change 0
2005 Belfast City Council Election Results, shaded by First Preference Votes.
Lord Mayor before election Tom Ekin Alliance Lord Mayor Wallace Browne DUP

The DUP emerged as the largest party, and Wallace Browne became Lord Mayor.

Election results

Belfast Local Election Result 2005^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	15	5	0	5	29.4	25.8	25,722	7.7
	Sinn Féin	14	1	1	0	27.5	30.6	30,531	2.2
	SDLP	8	0	1	1	15.7	17.1	17,058	0.3
	UUP	7	5	1	4	13.7	13.8	13,756	4.5
	Alliance	4	1	0	1	7.8	6.8	6,808	0.0
	PUP	2	0	1	1	3.9	2.7	2,713	3.1
	Independent	1	0	0	0	2.0	1.0	1,007	2.0
	Green (NI)	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.8	801	New
	Workers' Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.7	698	0.0
	Socialist Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	338	New
	NI Conservatives	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	243	0.0

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Belfast City Council election, 2005
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		Sinn Féin		SDLP		UUP		Alliance		PUP		Others
Balmoral	22.2	2	10.3	0	33.1	2	19.7	1	12.9	1	0.0	0	1.8	0	6
Castle	38.6	2	18.6	1	27.1	2	10.5	1	2.5	0	0.0	0	2.7	0	6
Court	67.7	3	3.3	0	0.0	0	7.7	0	0.0	0	10.7	1	13.9	1	5
Laganbank	15.1	1	17.8	1	31.5	2	18.8	1	9.5	0	0.0	0	7.2	0	5
Lower Falls	0.0	0	85.2	5	11.9	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	3.5	0	5
Oldpark	22.3	1	47.5	3	15.9	1	7.9	1	0.0	0	3.8	0	3.2	0	6
Pottinger	41.7	3	8.9	0	6.3	0	22.0	1	7.5	1	11.0	1	2.5	1	6
Upper Falls	0.0	0	75.2	4	24.8	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	5
Victoria	37.5	3	0.0	0	2.4	0	33.0	2	23.4	2	2.1	0	1.7	0	7
Total	25.8	15	30.6	14	17.1	8	13.8	7	6.8	4	2.7	2	3.2	1	51

District results

Balmoral

2001: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
2005: 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Balmoral - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SDLP	Carmel Hanna*	17.34%	2,030
	SDLP	Bernie Kelly	7.09%	906	908	1,137.84	1,949.84
	Alliance	Tom Ekin*	12.88%	1,508	1,524	1,559.19	1,613.31	1,755.9
	UUP	Bob Stoker*	10.08%	1,180	1,288	1,291.93	1,296.74	1,300.17	1,312.42	2,163.42
	DUP	Jim Kirkpatrick	12.58%	1,473	1,484	1,485.19	1,485.19	1,487.15	1,488.13	1,642.79	1,934.39
	DUP	Ruth Patterson*	9.65%	1,130	1,180	1,180.17	1,183.51	1,183.51	1,184	1,261.66	1,452.46	1,706.11
	Sinn Féin	Stiofán Long	10.26%	1,202	1,204	1,220.15	1,305.88	1,423.48	1,458.27	1,470.98	1,474.58	1,479.92
	UUP	Esmond Birnie	9.61%	1,125	1,137	1,142.95	1,153.16	1,160.51	1,183.05
	SDLP	Mary Kennedy	8.05%	943	943	991.96
	Independent	Thomas Wilson	1.82%	213
Electorate: 18,382   Valid: 11,710 (63.70%)   Spoilt: 192   Quota: 1,673   Turnout: 11,902 (64.75%)

Castle

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2001-2005 Change: No change

Castle - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Nigel Dodds*	28.96%	3,161
	SDLP	Pat Convery*	16.66%	1,818
	UUP	David Browne*	10.52%	1,148	1,454.51	1,563.59
	SDLP	Cathal Mullaghan	10.41%	1,136	1,139.57	1,408.14	1,614.92
	DUP	Ian Crozier*	4.01%	438	1,390.68	1,408.23	1,408.65	2,010.65
	Sinn Féin	Tierna Cunningham	9.43%	1,029	1,032.06	1,066.06	1,087.34	1,109.25	1,133.25	1,163.17
	Sinn Féin	David Kennedy	9.17%	1,001	1,003.04	1,032.55	1,046.41	1,068.4	1,090.4	1,111.4
	DUP	Lydia Patterson	5.66%	618	908.7	918.74	919.16
	Alliance	Marjorie Hawkins	2.47%	270	279.69
	Green (NI)	Shane Ó Heorpa	1.68%	183	183.51
	Workers' Party	John Lavery	1.03%	112	117.61
Electorate: 18,413   Valid: 10,914 (59.27%)   Spoilt: 253   Quota: 1,560   Turnout: 11,167 (60.65%)

Court

2001: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2005: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Court - 5 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	Diane Dodds	55.73%	4,176
	DUP	William Humphrey	9.06%	679	2,320.52
	DUP	Elaine McMillen*	2.95%	221	730.07	1,577.39
	Independent	Frank McCoubrey*	10.60%	794	1,107.11	1,186.23	1,244.66	1,312.41
	PUP	Hugh Smyth*	10.66%	799	1,003.48	1,043.96	1,065.41	1,174.86
	UUP	Chris McGimpsey*	7.67%	575	777.35	860.61	903.08	1,022.96
	Sinn Féin	Francis Hamilton	3.32%	249	266.04	267.42
Electorate: 13,582   Valid: 7,493 (55.17%)   Spoilt: 233   Quota: 1,249   Turnout: 7,726 (56.88%)

Laganbank

2001: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin,
2005: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP
2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Laganbank - 5 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Sinn Féin	Alex Maskey*	17.77%	1,600
	SDLP	Patrick McCarthy*	16.21%	1,459	1,503.8
	SDLP	Peter O'Reilly*	15.28%	1,376	1,402.6	1,489.47	1,609.47
	UUP	Michael McGimpsey*	14.80%	1,332	1,333.68	1,350.82	1,647.82
	DUP	Christopher Stalford	15.13%	1,362	1,362.07	1,367.07	1,417.28	1,512.44
	Alliance	Allan Leonard	9.54%	859	861.94	901.78	1,172.51	1,222.53
	Green (NI)	Andrew Frew	4.10%	369	375.16	467.66
	UUP	Paula Bradshaw	4.04%	364	364.28	366.35
	Socialist Party	James Barbour	1.94%	175	181.86
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	1.19%	107	110.01
Electorate: 15,223   Valid: 9,003 (59.14%)   Spoilt: 205   Quota: 1,501   Turnout: 9,208 (60.49%)

Lower Falls

2001: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2005: 5 x Sinn Féin
2001-2005 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Lower Falls - 5 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Sinn Féin	Janice Austin	19.42%	2,071
	Sinn Féin	Fra McCann*	19.17%	2,045
	Sinn Féin	Tom Hartley*	18.39%	1,962
	Sinn Féin	Máire Cush*	15.33%	1,764	1,797
	Sinn Féin	Marie Moore*	11.67%	1,245	1,253	1,528.1	1,764.42
	SDLP	Margaret Walsh*	11.86%	1,265	1,439	1,449.95	1,476.27
	Workers' Party	John Lowry	2.94%	314
Electorate: 16,334   Valid: 10,666 (65.30%)   Spoilt: 392   Quota: 1,778   Turnout: 11,058 (67.70%)

Oldpark

2001: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP
2005: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP
2001-2005 Change: UUP gain from PUP

Oldpark - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Nelson McCausland*	22.27%	2,642
	Sinn Féin	Danny Lavery*	17.64%	2,093
	Sinn Féin	Margaret McClenaghan*	15.42%	1,829
	SDLP	Alban Maginness*	11.90%	1,411	1,418.03	1,450.33	1,538.39	1,549.17	1,966.17
	UUP	Fred Cobain	7.91%	938	1,594.01	1,594.01	1,652.29	1,652.43	1,663.1	1,685.1
	Sinn Féin	Caral Ni Chuilin	10.47%	1,242	1,243.48	1,468.63	1,495.01	1,585.31	1,600.85	1,657.85
	PUP	Billy Hutchinson*	3.84%	455	690.69	691.45	732.59	732.66	735.22	757.22
	Sinn Féin	Marie Mackessy	3.94%	467	468.85	586.08	600.22	622.2	651.74	715.74
	SDLP	Andrew Harding	4.01%	476	479.33	487.69	539.44	540.07
	Green (NI)	Peter Emerson	2.10%	249	278.6	280.5
	Workers' Party	Paul Treanor	0.51%	60	60.37	62.08
Electorate: 22,444   Valid: 11,862 (52.85%)   Spoilt: 329   Quota: 1,695   Turnout: 12,191 (59.63%)

Pottinger

2001: 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Alliance
2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Sinn Féin
2001-2005 Change: DUP and Alliance gain from UUP and Sinn Féin

Pottinger - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Sammy Wilson*	22.60%	2,385
	UUP	Reg Empey*	18.65%	1,968
	DUP	May Campbell	12.34%	1,302	1,530.29
	PUP	David Ervine*	10.95%	1,156	1,248.87	1,324.71	1,394.99	1,556.39
	DUP	Margaret McKenzie	6.79%	717	1,216.13	1,239.89	1,281.08	1,451.42	1,461.25
	Alliance	Máire Hendron	7.53%	795	800.92	830.92	895.09	1,008.55	1,428.28
	Sinn Féin	Deborah Devenny	8.94%	944	944	947.84	967.84	969.84	1,126.08
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon	6.35%	670	672.22	677.26	743.18	766.22
	UUP	Sonia Copeland	2.62%	277	303.64	524.92	644.92
	Socialist Party	Tommy Black	1.57%	163	165.96	168.36
	Workers' Party	Joseph Bell	0.99%	105	105.74	106.74
	UUP	Henry Wallace	0.68%	72	85.69	180.25
Electorate: 19,621   Valid: 10,554 (53.79%)   Spoilt: 381   Quota: 1,508   Turnout: 10,935 (55.73%)

Upper Falls

2001: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2005: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2001-2005 Change: No change

Upper Falls - 5 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Sinn Féin	Paul Maskey*	23.69%	3,084
	SDLP	Tim Attwood	21.63%	2,815
	Sinn Féin	Gerard O'Neill*	18.81%	2,448
	Sinn Féin	Michael Browne*	17.34%	2,257
	Sinn Féin	Christine Mac Giolla Mhín	10.97%	1,428	2,070.32	2,089.57	2,325.41
	SDLP	Roisin Mulholland	3.17%	413	467.56	1,025.56	1,031.83
	Sinn Féin	Caoimhín Mac Giolla Mhín	4.39%	571	779.54	843.44	863.79
Electorate: 19,767   Valid: 13,016 (65.85%)   Spoilt: 437   Quota: 2,170   Turnout: 13,453 (68.06%)

Victoria

2001: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance
2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance
2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Victoria - 7 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Wallace Browne*	18.60%	2,689
	Alliance	Naomi Long*	17.74%	2,565
	UUP	Jim Rodgers*	16.88%	2,441
	DUP	Robin Newton*	13.86%	2,004
	UUP	Ian Adamson*	12.98%	1,877
	DUP	David Rodway	5.01%	725	1,527.4	1,549.72	1,635.12	1,810.52
	Alliance	Mervyn Jones	5.61%	811	815.42	1,421.47	1,456.75	1,458.85	1,461.82	1,838.82
	UUP	Alan Crowe*	3.17%	459	508.98	582.76	1,041.76	1,050.86	1,099.16	1,366.16
	SDLP	John Ó Doherty	2.35%	340	343.4	374.09	379.69	379.99	380.14
	PUP	John McQuillan	2.10%	303	310.82	321.36	337.88	340.38	340.89
	NI Conservatives	Peter Gray	1.68%	243	252.52	265.23	287.35	288.45	289.53
Electorate: 25,058   Valid: 14,457 (57.69%)   Spoilt: 349   Quota: 1,808   Turnout: 14,806 (59.09%)

References

1. "Belfast Council results". 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
2. "Local Government Results 2005". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.