1997 Down District Council election
# 1997 Down District Council election

Elections to Down District Council were held on 21 May 1997 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

Down District Council Election Result 1997 :

| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| SDLP | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 52.2 | 46.0 | 10,481 | 5.2 |
| Ulster Unionist | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26.1 | 24.1 | 5,507 | 4.4 |
| DUP | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.7 | 11.9 | 2,724 | 2.0 |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 1,724 | 4.4 |
| NI Women's Coalition | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 430 | New |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 850 | 0.1 |
| Ind. Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 521 | 2.3 |
| Labour Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 327 | New |
| Workers' Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 132 | 0.0 |
| Green (NI) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 113 | 0.5 |

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Down District Council election, 1997 by district :

| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ward | SDLP | SDLP | UUP | UUP | DUP | DUP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | NIWC | NIWC | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Ballynahinch | 46.8 | 3 | 24.0 | 1 | 24.9 | 1 | 4.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Downpatrick | 61.0 | 5 | 13.2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 10.8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 15.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Newcastle | 47.2 | 3 | 17.6 | 1 | 9.4 | 0 | 14.2 | 1 | 7.4 | 1 | 4.2 | 0 | 6 |
| Rowallane | 26.6 | 1 | 43.9 | 3 | 15.1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 14.4 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 46.0 | 12 | 24.1 | 6 | 11.9 | 2 | 7.6 | 2 | 1.9 | 1 | 8.5 | 0 | 23 |

## Districts results

### Ballynahinch

1993: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP 1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP 1993-1997 Change: SDLP gain from UUP

### Downpatrick

1993: 6 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 1997: 5 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

### Newcastle

1993: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP 1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Women's Coalition 1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin and Women's Coalition gain from SDLP and DUP

### Rowallane

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1993-1997 Change: No change

