2014 Northern Ireland local elections


Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on Thursday 22 May 2014, contesting 462 seats in all, as part of the wider local elections across the United Kingdom. The election took place on the same day as the European Parliament election. 1,243,649 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 51.3% of the electorate turned out.

Voter eligibility

All voters were required to present one piece of photographic ID in order to cast a vote at the polling station. Accepted forms of ID were an electoral identity card, an EEA photographic driving licence, a European Union member-state passport, a Translink 60+ SmartPass, a Translink Senior SmartPass, a Translink Blind Person's SmartPass or a Translink War Disabled SmartPass. Voters lacking an accepted type of photographic ID had until 9 May 2014 to apply for an electoral identity card from the Electoral Office.

Background

The elections represented a milestone in the reform of local government in Northern Ireland, as councillors were elected to 11 new councils. These operated in shadow form until Wednesday 1 April 2015, with the current 26 councils existing in parallel until then.
The 11 new councils, with links to the official lists of candidates standing, are:
  1. Belfast City Council
  2. North Down and Ards District Council
  3. Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council
  4. Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council
  5. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
  6. Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council
  7. Mid and East Antrim District Council
  8. Causeway Coast and Glens District Council
  9. Mid-Ulster District Council
  10. Derry and Strabane District Council
  11. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
The local government reorganisation and electoral administration was mandated by the Local Government Act 2014. Nominations of election candidates closed on 29 April 2014.

Results

Because these elections were contested with new electoral boundaries, the results are not directly comparable with those of the last election. However, psephologist Nicholas Whyte has calculated a baseline by which to judge the parties' relative performance. This baseline is used in the following tables.

Results by council

CouncilCouncillorsWomenAllianceDUPGreenNI21PUPSinn FéinSDLPTUVUKIPUUPIndependentsOther
Antrim & Newtownabbey40841500034201200
Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon411101300086011210
Belfast City602081310319710701
Causeway Coast & Glens401111100176301010
Derry & Strabane40908000161000240
Fermanagh & Omagh40100500017800910
Lisburn & Castlereagh4097200100310800
Mid & East Antrim40123160003151920
Mid-Ulster40100800018600710
Newry, Mourne & Down41924000141401330
North Down & Ards4077173000110920
All eleven councils462116321304141056613388151
% of total10025.16.9328.140.870.220.8722.7314.292.810.6519.053.250.22

Belfast

PartyCandidatesElected
Alliance178
Democratic Unionist Party2113
Éirígí20
Green Party 51
Independents40
Northern Ireland Conservatives30
NI21130
People before Profit Alliance11
Progressive Unionist Party93
Republican Network for Unity20
Sinn Féin2419
Social Democratic & Labour Party157
Socialist Party 20
Traditional Unionist Voice51
UK Independence Party20
Ulster Unionist Party107
The Workers Party60

Results by party