Ards and North Down Borough Council

Ards and North Down Borough Council
Type
Type	District council of Ards and North Down
History
Founded	1 April 2015
Preceded by	Ards Borough Council North Down Borough Council
Leadership
Mayor	Cllr Alistair Cathcart, DUP
Deputy Mayor	Cllr David Chambers, UUP
Structure
Seats	40
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. "Ards and North Down Borough Council". The Belfast Gazette (7794): 33, notice ID 2462059. 15 January 2016.
2. "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.