1989 Ballymena Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1989

1989 Ballymena Borough Council election

17 May 1989 (1989-05-17)
All 23 seats to Ballymena Borough Council 12 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP Ulster Unionist SDLP Seats won 12 7 1 Seat change 3 1 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Alliance Ind. Unionist Independent Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1 0 1

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
	Ulster Unionist	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
	DUP		UUP		SDLP		Alliance		Others
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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				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
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Ulster Unionist	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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Ulster Unionist	Desmond Armstrong*	18.78%	957
	Independent	James Woulahan	17.41%	887
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Ulster Unionist	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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Ulster Unionist	William Brownlees*	20.48%	929
	DUP	Martin Clarke*	16.73%	759
	Ulster Unionist	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		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Roy Gillespie*	19.54%	1,068
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Megaw	4.72%	258	262.2	342.2	402.35
	Ulster Unionist	Sarah McCullough	5.32%	291	293.85	308.85
	Ulster Unionist	John Sutter	2.74%	150	150.45
Electorate: 9,076   Valid: 5,465 (60.21%)   Spoilt: 118   Quota: 911   Turnout: 5,583 (61.51%)