Ards and North Down Borough Council

Ards and North Down Borough Council
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 2015
Preceded byArds Borough Council
North Down Borough Council
Leadership
Mayor
Cllr Jennifer Gilmour, DUP
Deputy Mayor
Cllr Hannah Irwin, Alliance
Structure
Seats40
Political groups
Executive (34)
  DUP (14)
  Alliance (12)
  UUP (8)
Opposition (6)
  Green (2)
  Independent (3)
  SDLP (1)
Elections
Last election
18 May 2023
Meeting place

City Hall, Bangor Castle
Website
http://ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk

Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority took place on 22 May 2014 and, prior to the official creation of the Ards and North Down district on 1 April 2015, it acted as a shadow authority.

The district was originally called "North Down and Ards"[1] but the council was known as "Ards and North Down District Council".[2] Councillors on the transitional shadow authority (prior to the council's official creation) voted on 15 December 2014 to submit an application to the Department of the Environment to change the name to East Coast Borough Council with effect from 1 April 2015.[2] Negative public reaction to the proposed name prompted a rethink.[3] The district name "Ards and North Down" was not finalised until 2016.[4] The transfer of the borough charter from North Down Borough Council was delayed until after the district naming.[1]

Mayoralty

Mayor

From To Name Party
2015 2016 Alan Graham DUP
2016 2017 Deborah Girvan Alliance
2017 2018 Robert Adair DUP
2018 2019 Richard Smart UUP
2019 2020 Bill Keery DUP
2020 2021 Trevor Cummings DUP
2021 2022 Mark Brooks UUP
2022 2023 Karen Douglas Alliance
2023 2024 Jennifer Gilmour DUP
2024 Present Alistair Cathcart DUP

Deputy Mayor

From To Name Party
2015 2016 Carl McClean UUP
2016 2017 William Keery DUP
2017 2018 Gavin Walker Alliance
2018 2019 Eddie Thompson DUP
2019 2020 Karen Douglas Alliance
2020 2021 Nigel Edmund DUP
2021 2022 Robert Adair DUP
2022 2023 Craig Blaney UUP
2023 2024 Hannah Irwin Alliance
2024 Present David Chambers UUP

Councillors

For the purpose of elections the council is divided into seven district electoral areas (DEA):[5]

Area Seats
Ards Peninsula 6
Bangor Central 6
Bangor East and Donaghadee 6
Bangor West 5
Comber 5
Holywood and Clandeboye 5
Newtownards 7

Party strengths

Party Elected
2014 		Elected
2019 		Elected
2023
DUP 17 14 14
Alliance 7 10 12
UUP 9 8 8
Green (NI) 3 3 2
SDLP 1 1 1
TUV 1 1 0
Independent 2 3 3

Councillors by electoral area

Borders of the DEAs within Ards and North Down

For further details see 2023 Ards and North Down Borough Council election.

Current council members
District electoral area Name Party
Ards Peninsula Robert Adair DUP
Lorna McAlpine Alliance
Joe Boyle SDLP
Nigel Edmund DUP
David Kerr DUP
Pete Wray UUP
Bangor Central Alex Harbinson † Alliance
Wesley Irvine Independent
Alistair Cathcart DUP
Craig Blaney UUP
Chris McCraken Alliance
Ray McKimm Independent
Bangor East and Donaghadee Mark Brooks UUP
Hannah Irwin Alliance
James Cochrane DUP
David Chambers UUP
John Hennessy † Alliance
Eddie Thompson † DUP
Bangor West Naomi McBurney † Alliance
Jennifer Gilmour DUP
Stephen Hollywood UUP
Carl McClean † DUP
Barry McKee Green (NI)
Comber Libby Douglas[6] DUP
Philip Smith UUP
Trevor Cummings DUP
Patricia Morgan Alliance
Rachel Ashe Alliance
Holywood and Clandeboye Alan Graham DUP
Linzi McLaren UUP
Martin McRandal Alliance
Lauren Kendall † Green (NI)
Gillian McCollum † Alliance
Newtownards Steven Irvine Independent
Naomi Armstrong DUP
Richard Smart UUP
Alan McDowell Alliance
Stephen McIllveen DUP
Vicky Moore Alliance
Colin Kennedy DUP

Population

The area covered by the new borough has 163,659 residents according to the 2021 Northern Ireland census.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ards and North Down Borough Council". The Belfast Gazette (7794): 33, notice ID 2462059. 15 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b "New name signifies a new beginning for local Council". Ards and North Down Borough Council. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016. In the New Year the Council will formally apply for Borough status and will submit an application to the DoE to change the name to East Coast Borough Council with effect from 1 April 2015; until then the Council will be known as North Down and Ards District Council
  3. ^ Glynn, Niall (15 January 2015). "Northern Ireland super council names spark controversy". BBC News NI. BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Change of District Name (North Down and Ards) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016". STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND 2016 No.10. Legislation.gov.uk. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Current review of district electoral areas" (PDF). webarchive.proni.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Councillor Libby Douglas". Ards and North Down Borough Council.
  7. ^ "Northern Ireland Census". nisra.gov.uk. 2021.