2023 Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council election

Main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections

The 2023 election to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after the local elections in England.^[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.^[2]

2023 Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council election

← 2019 18 May 2023 2027 →
All 40 council seats 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jeffrey Donaldson Michelle O'Neill[n 1] Naomi Long Party DUP Sinn Féin Alliance Last election 14 5 7 Seats won 13 9 8 Seat change 1 4 1 Popular vote 16,066 11,613 9,179 Percentage 30.1% 21.7% 17.1% Swing 1.4% 8.6% 1.6%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Doug Beattie Colum Eastwood Party UUP Independent SDLP Last election 9 1 4 Seats won 7 2 1 Seat change 2 1 3 Popular vote 8,358 1,517 2,829 Percentage 15.7% 2.8% 5.3% Swing 4.6% 2.5% 2.5%
Antrim and Newtownabbey 2023 Council Election Results by DEA (Shaded by the plurality of FPVs)
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Democratic Unionist-Ulster Unionist Executive

They returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.

Election results

2023 Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	13	0	1	1	32.50	30.05	16,066	1.42
	Sinn Féin	9	4	0	4	22.50	21.72	11,613	8.66
	Alliance	8	1	0	1	20.00	17.17	9,179	1.52
	UUP	7	0	2	2	17.50	15.63	8,358	4.64
	Independent	2	1	0	1	5.00	2.84	1,517	2.50
	SDLP	1	0	3	3	2.50	5.29	2,829	2.51
	TUV	0	0	0	0	0.00	4.49	2,403	2.81
	Green (NI)	0	0	0	0	0.00	1.80	964	1.09
	PUP	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.46	244	New
	Aontú	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.45	243	New
	NI Conservatives	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.09	49	New
Total		40						53,465

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the 2023 Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council election
by district

District Electoral Area (DEA)	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total cllrs
	DUP		Sinn Féin		Alliance		UUP		SDLP		Independents and others
Airport	22.79	1	36.29	2 1	15.08	1	13.41	1	10.75	0 1	1.67	0	5
Antrim	27.57	2	17.82	1 1	20.87	1	16.64	1 1	9.51	1	7.59	0	6
Ballyclare	36.36	2	1.20	0	13.60	1 1	24.15	1 1	0.00	0	24.84	1	5
Dunsilly	22.57	1	34.94	2 1	12.25	1	11.31	1	9.71	0 1	9.23	0	5
Glengormley Urban	26.06	2	35.29	3 1	16.05	1	10.86	1	6.45	0 1	5.29	0	7
Macedon	32.98	2 1	18.63	1	15.24	1	15.99	1	0.00	0	17.17	1 1	6
Three Mile Water	43.07	3	4.17	0	26.93	2	18.31	1	0.00	0	7.53	0	6
Total	30.05	13 1	21.72	9 4	17.17	8 1	15.63	7 2	5.29	1 3	10.14	2 1	40

District results

Airport

2019: 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Airport - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	Matthew Magill*	22.79%	1,827
	Sinn Féin	Anne-Marie Logue*	19.64%	1,574
	Sinn Féin	Maighréad Ní Chonghaile	16.65%	1,335	1,355
	UUP	Paul Michael* ‡	13.41%	1,075	1,086	1,536.63
	Alliance	Andrew McAuley*	15.08%	1,209	1,281	1,295.58	1,342.02
	SDLP	Thomas Burns*	10.75%	862	889	898.72	1,081.96
	Green (NI)	Terri Johnston	1.67%	134
Electorate: 15,479   Valid: 8,016 (51.79%)   Spoilt: 55   Quota: 1,337   Turnout: 8,071 (52.14%)

Antrim

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from UUP

Antrim - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Sinn Féin	Lucille O'Hagan	17.82%	1,270
	Alliance	Neil Kelly*	15.31%	1,091
	DUP	Paul Dunlop*	13.84%	986	987.05	1,078.05
	DUP	John Smyth*	10.12%	721	722.26	857.26	858.46	905.36	1,168.36
	SDLP	Roisin Lynch*	9.51%	678	851.67	888.34	902.68	903.35	913.35	914.71	1,104.71
	UUP	Leah Smyth*	10.44%	744	746.1	764.31	768.15	770.16	867.16	963.04	1,032.04
	UUP	Jim Montgomery*	6.20%	442	443.47	461.47	463.81	470.51	527.72	576	610
	Alliance	Tommy Monahan	5.56%	396	443.04	482.77	524.59	524.59	536.07	538.79
	TUV	Richard Shields	6.36%	453	454.05	465.05	465.47	467.48
	DUP	Karl McMeekin	3.61%	257	257.21
	Green (NI)	Eleanor Bailey	1.23%	88	101.23
Electorate: 16,652   Valid: 7,126 (42.79%)   Spoilt: 89   Quota: 1,019   Turnout: 7,215 (43.33%)

Ballyclare

2019: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Independent

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Ballyclare - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	Jeannie Archibald*	23.18%	1,655
	DUP	Helen Magill	13.18%	947	1,297.46
	UUP	Vera McWilliam*	15.74%	1,131	1,151.52	1,159.79	1,620.79
	Alliance	Lewis Boyle	13.60%	977	984.02	1,103.02	1,129.29	1,234.29
	Independent	Michael Stewart*	12.92%	928	937.99	990.99	1,041.5	1,153.5
	TUV	Mel Lucas	10.40%	747	791.55	793.82	845.14	1,004.14
	UUP	Norrie Ramsay*	8.41%	604	615.07	619.34
	Green (NI)	Robert Robinson	1.52%	109	109.81
	Sinn Féin	Gerard Magee	1.20%	86	86.27
Electorate: 14,151   Valid: 7,184 (50.77%)   Spoilt: 64   Quota: 1,198   Turnout: 7,248 (51.22%)

Dunsilly

2019: 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Dunsilly - 5 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Sinn Féin	Henry Cushinan*	18.65%	1,390
	Sinn Féin	Annie O'Lone	16.29%	1,214	1,312
	DUP	Linda Clarke*	13.11%	977	986	1,153	1,153.13	1,153.13	1,773.13
	UUP	Stewart Wilson	11.31%	843	843	951	951.78	951.78	1,134.78	1,644.78
	Alliance	Jay Burbank*	12.25%	913	930	935	965.29	969.74	982.74	997.74	1,128.74
	SDLP	Ryan Wilson*	9.71%	724	794	801	907.08	971.16	972.16	977.16	1,000.16
	DUP	Tom Cunningham	9.46%	705	705	846	846.13	846.13
	TUV	Jonathan Campbell	5.97%	445	446
	Aontú	Siobhán McErlean	3.26%	243
Electorate: 13,300   Valid: 7,454 (56.05%)   Spoilt: 69   Quota: 1,243   Turnout: 7,523 (56.56%)

Glengormley Urban

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Glengormley Urban - 7 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Alison Bennington*	16.34%	1,432
	Sinn Féin	Eamonn McLaughlin	14.60%	1,280
	DUP	Paula Bradley*	9.72%	852	1,151.92
	Alliance	Julian McGrath*	11.34%	994	996.76	999.42	1,012.42	1,072.84	1,434.84
	UUP	Mark Cosgrove*	10.86%	952	969.25	969.39	1,041.69	1,069.92	1,104.92
	Sinn Féin	Rosie Kinnear*	11.09%	972	972.23	1,011.43	1,014.8	1,052.22	1,066.64	1,094.64
	Sinn Féin	Michael Goodman*	9.59%	841	841.69	966.57	969.57	994.13	1,008.83	1,030.83
	SDLP	Noreen McClelland*	6.45%	565	567.07	574.35	582.35	632.63	707.03	907.03
	Alliance	Anita Piatek	4.71%	413	413.69	416.63	422.77	532
	Green (NI)	Lesley Veronica	3.57%	313	313.92	315.46	341.06
	Independent	Michael Maguire	1.16%	102	104.07	104.49
	NI Conservatives	Jason Reid	0.56%	49	50.15	50.15
Electorate: 16,445   Valid: 8,765 (53.30%)   Spoilt: 129   Quota: 1,096   Turnout: 8,894 (54.08%)

Macedon

2019: 3 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin

2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Independent gain from DUP

Macedon - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Sinn Féin	Taylor McGrann*	18.63%	1,326
	DUP	Matthew Brady*	17.14%	1,220
	UUP	Robert Foster*	15.99%	1,138
	Alliance	Billy Webb*	15.24%	1,085
	DUP	Ben Mallon*	8.06%	574	576.05	728.21	757.8	848.12	850.01	1,039.01
	Independent	Stafford Ward	6.84%	487	518.16	523.92	552.85	611.8	623.7	683.8	836.19
	DUP	Victor Robinson*	7.78%	553	555.05	571.37	584.9	608.42	610.45	722.49	751.79
	Green (NI)	Ellie Byrne	2.22%	158	420.4	422.16	427.22	443.25	491.76	512.08
	TUV	Norman Boyd	4.68%	333	334.64	345.2	363.79	433.8	435.76
	PUP	Rosemary Bell-McCracken	3.43%	244	250.56	258.24	281.89
Electorate: 14,554   Valid: 7,118 (48.91%)   Spoilt: 85   Quota: 1,017   Turnout: 7,203 (49.49%)

Three Mile Water

2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: No Change

Three Mile Water - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Mark Cooper*	20.19%	1,575
	Alliance	Tom Campbell*	17.82%	1,390
	DUP	Stephen Ross*	15.52%	1,211
	Alliance	Julie Gilmour*	9.11%	711	716.22	955.05	1,057.62	1,328.62
	DUP	Sam Flanagan*	7.36%	574	952.74	954.83	957.83	960.83	963.83	1,206.83
	UUP	Stephen Cosgrove	11.52%	899	931.48	942.12	955.5	966.45	1,007.45	1,081.45
	UUP	Brian Kerr	6.79%	530	542.76	545.61	557.18	562.37	583.37	661.37
	TUV	Trevor Mawhinney	5.45%	425	446.17	446.55	451.93	455.93	460.93
	Sinn Féin	Emmanuel Mullen	4.17%	325	325	328.42	340.56
	Green (NI)	Dylan Loughlin	2.08%	162	162.87	167.81
Electorate: 15,531   Valid: 7,802 (50.24%)   Spoilt: 74   Quota: 1,115   Turnout: 7,876 (50.71%)

‡ Changes in affiliation

Date	Electoral Area	Name	Previous affiliation		New affiliation		Circumstance
21 May 2024	Airport	Paul Michael		UUP		Independent	Left the UUP after criticising the party's decision to line up Mike Nesbitt as Health Minister to replace Robin Swann, and criticising the party's response to the two-day suspension of Steve Aiken from the Assembly.[4]

Notes

1. The leader of Sinn Féin is Mary Lou McDonald, who sits as a TD in the Irish Dáil Éireann for Dublin Central. O'Neill is the leader of the party in Northern Ireland.

References

1. "Local government elections in Northern Ireland". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
2. "NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash". BBC News. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
3. Hughes, Brendan (25 April 2023). "All the NI council election candidates standing in each area". BelfastLive. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
4. "Councillor quits UUP over Mike Nesbitt health role". BBC News. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.