North Down Borough Council

      Coordinates: 54°37′34″N 5°40′23″W / 54.626°N 5.673°W / 54.626; -5.673

      North Down Borough
      NorthDown(UK).jpg
      Sign bearing North Down Borough Council logo
      Geography
      North Down in Northern Ireland.svg
      Area
      - Total
      Ranked 26th of 26
      81 km²
      Admin HQ Bangor
      ISO 3166-2 GB-NDN
      ONS code 95W
      Demographics
      Population
      - Total (2010)
      - Density
      Ranked 7th
      79,900
      980 / km²
      Community Catholic: 13.5%
      Protestant: 73.2%
      Politics
      Control No overall control
      DUP: 11
      Alliance Party: 6
      UUP: 4
      Independent
      Green Party: 1
      MLAs DUP: 3
      Alliance Party: 1
      Green Party: 1
      UUP: 1
      MPs Sylvia Hermon (Independent)
      Meeting place
      Website
      http://www.northdown.gov.uk

      North Down Borough Council is a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland with an overall population of 78,937 according to the 2011 census. Its main town is Bangor, 20 km east of Belfast with a population of approximately 55,000. The Council is headquartered in Bangor. Its secondary centre is the former Urban District of Holywood, 8 km northeast of Belfast with a population of approximately 10,000. Most of the remainder of a total population is in suburban villages along the southern shore of Belfast Lough. The Borough is heavily suburbanised, railway links with Belfast are good and the area has been the domain of Belfast commuters since the mid-19th century. The Borough is often held to be the wealthiest area in Northern Ireland, although there are pockets of deprivation in a string of overspill public housing estates along the Bangor Ring Road.

      The borough consists of 4 electoral areas: Abbey, Ballyholme and Groomsport, Bangor West and Holywood. In the 2011 election 25 members were elected from the following political parties: 11 Democratic Unionist Party, 6 Alliance, 4 Ulster Unionists, 1 Green, and 2 Independents. North Down along with Carrickfergus Borough Council are the only councils in Northern Ireland without Nationalist political party representation.

      The Borough of North Down was formed in 1973 in the local government reorganisation from the old Bangor Urban District, Holywood Urban District, North Down Rural District and part of Castlereagh Rural District.

      In elections for the Westminster Parliament it is part of the slightly larger North Down constituency

      See Also: Districts of Northern Ireland

      Summary of seats won 1973-2011

      1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011
      Ulster Unionist (UUP) 9 7 4 8 5 6 6 8 8 4
      Alliance (APNI) 7 7 6 7 4 5 6 5 6 6
      Vanguard (VUPP) 2 2
      Loyalist (Loy) 2
      Unionist Party of NI (UPNI) 1 1
      United Unionist (UUUP) 1
      Independent Unionist (IU) 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1
      Democratic Unionist (DUP) 5 6 4 3 2 5 8 11
      Popular Unionist (UPUP) 3 2 2 2
      NI Conservatives (Con) 6 4 2
      UK Unionist Party (UKUP) 3 2
      Progressive Unionist (PUP) 2
      Women's Coalition (NIWC) 1
      Green Party (GP) 1 1
      Independent/Other 2 3 3 3 1 2

      Others include Ann Marie Hillen, who stood under the label Better Bangor Campaign in 1989, having been elected earlier that year in a by-election. Of the candidates elected in 1993, one was elected as a Holywood Pool Campaigner and another as Action '93. Alan Chambers, elected at every election from 1993 to 2011, has usually been described on the ballot paper as an Independent, but describes himself on the council website as an Independent Unionist and stood under that label in 1997.[1] He is tallied as Independent Unionist above for all elections.

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      Mayor

      1981/2: Mary O'Fee, Ulster Popular Unionist
      1985/6: Hazel Bradford, Ulster Unionist
      1990/2: Denny Vitty, Democratic Unionist
      1992/3: Leslie Cree, Ulster Unionist
      1993/4: Brian Wilson, Alliance
      1994/5: Roy Bradford, Ulster Unionist
      1995/6: Susan O'Brien, Alliance
      1996/7: Irene Cree, Ulster Unionist
      1997/8: Ruby Cooling, Democratic Unionist
      1998/9: Marsden Fitzsimons, Alliance
      1999/0: Marion Smith, Ulster Unionist
      2000/1: Alan Chambers, Independent
      2001/2: Ian Henry, Ulster Unionist
      2002/3: Alan Graham, Democratic Unionist
      2003/4: Anne Wilson, Alliance
      2004/5: Valerie Kinghan, UK Unionist Party
      2005/6: Roberta Dunlop, Ulster Unionist
      2006/7: Alan Leslie, Democratic Unionist
      2007/8: Stephen Farry, Alliance
      2008/9: Leslie Cree, Ulster Unionist
      2009/0: Tony Hill, Alliance
      2010/1: John Montgomery, Democratic Unionist
      2011/2: James McKerrow, Ulster Unionist
      2012/3: Wesley Irvine, Democratic Unionist
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      Review of Public Administration

      Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Council was due to merge with Ards in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 451 km² and a population of 149,567.[2] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011.[3]

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      Last modified on 26 May 2013, at 21:26