2023 Belfast City Council election

2023 Belfast City Council election
All 60 council seats; 31 seats needed for a majority
	First preference vote and seat totals by local electoral area. As this is a STV election, seat totals are determined by popular vote and preferences in each district electoral area.
Council control before election; No overall control;	Council control after election ; No overall control;

The 2023 election to Belfast City Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.^[2] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.^[3]

Voters returned 60 members to the council via single transferable vote. Typical for Northern Ireland, the council remained with no overall control but Sinn Féin remained the single largest party, but fell short of a majority despite a net gain of 4 seats. ^[4]

Election results

2023 Belfast local election result
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Sinn Féin	22	4	0	4	36.67	35.39	44,202	7.24
	DUP	14	0	1	1	23.33	21.31	26,621	0.24
	Alliance	11	1	0	1	18.33	15.88	19,841	0.21
	SDLP	5	1	2	1	8.33	7.76	9,690	1.30
	Green (NI)	3	0	1	1	5.00	4.78	5,965	1.23
	UUP	2	0	0	0	3.33	4.10	5,123	2.09
	People Before Profit	1	0	2	2	1.67	3.60	4,492	1.62
	TUV	1	1	0	1	1.67	2.79	3,482	2.49
	Independent	1	1	0	1	1.67	1.84	2,299	0.01
	Aontú	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.86	1,069	0.40
	Irish Republican Socialist	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.66	825	0.66
	PUP	0	0	2	2	0.00	0.54	679	2.52
	Workers' Party	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.46	574	0.23
	NI Conservatives	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.04	52	0.04
Total		60						124,914

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the 2023 Belfast City Council election
by district
District Electoral Area (DEA)	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total cllrs
District Electoral Area (DEA)	Sinn Féin		DUP		Alliance		SDLP		Green		UUP		PBP		TUV		Independents and others		Total cllrs
Balmoral	24.08	1	22.78	1 1	25.54	2 1	18.96	1	3.26	0	5.39	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00	0	5
Black Mountain	72.52	6	0.00	0	1.04	0	10.55	1 1	0.43	0	0.00	0	8.24	0 1	0.00	0	7.23	0	7
Botanic	24.36	1	19.08	1	17.12	1	17.76	1	9.50	1	3.59	0	2.91	0	2.95	0	2.74	0	5
Castle	36.96	2 1	28.02	2	11.31	1	8.51	1	7.96	0 1	4.50	0	2.03	0	0.00	0	0.70	0	6
Collin	71.64	5 1	0.00	0	3.52	0	6.47	0 1	1.63	0	0.00	0	8.54	1	0.00	0	8.19	0	6
Court	28.59	2	45.09	3	2.74	0	1.46	0	0.90	0	0.00	0	3.39	0	8.01	1	9.83	0 1	6
Lisnasharragh	10.28	0	26.24	2	29.03	2	13.19	1	9.66	1	6.85	0	1.67	0	3.07	0	0.00	0	6
Oldpark	50.53	4 1	17.64	1	3.66	0	1.98	0 1	1.20	0	0.00	0	5.66	0 1	4.81	0	14.50	1 1	6
Ormiston	1.22	0	28.24	2	44.27	3	0.74	0	6.99	1	12.95	1	0.82	0	4.76	0	0.00	0	7
Titanic	12.90	1 1	35.79	2	25.20	2	1.30	0	9.42	0	9.72	1	0.00	0	5.67	0	0.00	0 1	6
Total	35.39	22 4	21.31	14 1	15.88	11 1	7.76	5 1	4.78	3 1	4.10	2	3.60	1 2	2.79	1 1	4.40	1 1	60

District results

Balmoral

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin

2023: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin

2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from DUP

Balmoral - 5 seats^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Sinn Féin	Geraldine McAteer*	19.91%	2,037
	SDLP	Donal Lyons*	15.80%	1,616	1,641.28	1,894.28
	Alliance	Tara Brooks	14.88%	1,522	1,530.64	1,555.28	1,729.28
	DUP	Sarah Bunting*	14.79%	1,513	1,513.32	1,514.32	1,523.32	1,524.98	1,722.98
	Alliance	Micky Murray*	10.66%	1,090	1,096.72	1,121.16	1,197.16	1,324.15	1,501.12	1,788.12
	DUP	Gareth Spratt*	7.99%	817	817	818	825	825	940	941
	Sinn Féin	Seán Napier	4.17%	427	699.80	716.72	755	806.46	809.46
	UUP	Joshua Lowry	5.39%	551	551.16	554.16	567.16	574.63
	Green (NI)	Lauren Kendall	3.26%	333	334.60	340.08
	SDLP	Sarah Mulgrew	3.16%	323	332.12
Electorate: 18,691 Valid: 10,229 (54.73%) Spoilt: 147 Quota: 1,705 Turnout: 10,376 (55.51%)

Black Mountain

2019: 6 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit

2023: 6 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: SDLP gain from People Before Profit

Black Mountain - 7 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Sinn Féin	Ciarán Beattie*	14.63%	2,336
	Sinn Féin	Michael Donnelly*	13.51%	2,158
	Sinn Féin	Arder Carson*	12.98%	2,073
	Sinn Féin	Ronan McLaughlin*	10.27%	1,641	1,867.24	1,983.65	1,986.65	2,037.59
	SDLP	Paul Doherty	10.55%	1,685	1,700.96	1,706.77	1,718.05	1,720.72	1,838.15	2,029.15
	Sinn Féin	Áine McCabe*	11.51%	1,838	1,848.50	1,853.12	1,860.40	1,862.65	1,897.79	2,005.79
	Sinn Féin	Róis-Máire Donnelly*	9.62%	1,536	1,575.06	1,589.29	1,594.27	1,597.66	1,643.84	1,730.09	1,762.61
	People Before Profit	Matt Collins*	8.24%	1,316	1,330.14	1,334.13	1,353.13	1,354.57	1,446.13	1,660.80	1,661.40
	Aontú	Gerard Herdman	3.40%	543	544.96	545.66	547.66	547.90	563.18
	Irish Republican Socialist	Dan Murphy	2.67%	426	429.78	431.53	432.53	432.71	454.51
	Workers' Party	Ursula Meighan	1.16%	185	186.82	188.36	188.36	188.54
	Alliance	Ryan Brown	1.04%	166	171.04	171.39	185.53	185.86
	Green (NI)	Stevie Maginn	0.43%	68	68.70	68.77
Electorate: 27,143 Valid: 15,971 (58.84%) Spoilt: 309 Quota: 1,997 Turnout: 16,280 (59.98%)

Botanic

2019: 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Green, 1 x SDLP

2023: 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Green

2019–2023 Change: No change

Botanic - 5 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SDLP	Gary McKeown*	17.76%	1,881
	DUP	Tracy Kelly*	12.95%	1,372	1,372.42	1,382.48	1,525.54	1,529.54	1,717.90	2,342.90
	Alliance	Emmet McDonough-Brown*	10.25%	1,086	1,118.94	1,144.48	1,150.48	1,182.02	1,263.56	1,275.62	1,298.62	1,951.62
	Sinn Féin	John Gormley* †	14.47%	1,533	1,543.80	1,560.22	1,562.22	1,584.28	1,587.34	1,588.46	1,591.46	1,602.18
	Green (NI)	Áine Groogan*	9.50%	1,006	1,023.88	1,080.66	1,089.72	1,299.68	1,343.16	1,355.16	1,394.16	1,544.34
	Sinn Féin	Emma-Jane Faulkner	9.89%	1,048	1,061.08	1,081.44	1,087.50	1,127.86	1,132.92	1,135.92	1,135.92	1,157.06
	Alliance	Chris Ogle	6.87%	728	754.76	768.42	772.42	821.90	880.44	895.50	912.50
	DUP	Darren Leighton	6.13%	649	649.24	656.30	708.30	709.36	765.36
	UUP	Jeffrey Dudgeon	3.59%	380	381.98	399.16	477.28	484.34
	People Before Profit	Sipho Sibanda	2.91%	308	310.58	406.88	408.88
	TUV	Billy Dickson	2.95%	312	312.30	316.36
	Socialist Party	Neil Moore	1.41%	149	150.68
	Workers' Party	Paddy Lynn	0.84%	89	90.62
	NI Conservatives	Idris Maiga	0.49%	52	52.66
Electorate: 23,049 Valid: 10,593 (45.96%) Spoilt: 162 Quota: 1,766 Turnout: 10,755 (46.66%)

Castle

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green

Castle - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5
	Sinn Féin	Brónach Anglin	20.15%	2,479
	Sinn Féin	Conor Maskey*	16.81%	2,068
	DUP	Fred Cobain*	14.43%	1,775
	DUP	Dean McCullough*	13.59%	1,671	1,673.31	1,673.85	2,021.85
	Alliance	Sam Nelson*	11.31%	1,392	1,546.11	1,590.03	1,772.03
	SDLP	Carl Whyte*	8.51%	1,047	1,378.98	1,511.28	1,608.53	1,628.53
	Green (NI)	Malachai O'Hara*	7.96%	979	1,137.73	1,225.75	1,474.88	1,553.88
	UUP	Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston	4.50%	553	555.64	556.72
	People Before Profit	Barney Doherty	2.03%	250	300.16	327.16
	Workers' Party	Lily Kerr	0.70%	86	102.17	111.17
Electorate: 23,442 Valid: 12,479 (53.23%) Spoilt: 179 Quota: 1,758 Turnout: 12,300 (52.47%)

Collin

2019: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit, 1 x SDLP

2023: 5 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Collin - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Sinn Féin	Joe Duffy*	18.33%	2,559
	Sinn Féin	Caoimhín McCann*	16.83%	2,350
	Sinn Féin	Matt Garrett*	13.78%	1,924	2,029.82
	Sinn Féin	Séanna Walsh*	10.89%	1,521	1,910.62	2,186.77
	Sinn Féin	Clíodhna Nic Bhranair	11.81%	1,649	1,671.44	1,700.54	1,880.34	1,892.34	1,900.68	1,923.04	2,024.04
	People Before Profit	Michael Collins*	8.54%	1,193	1,208.40	1,219.95	1,220.95	1,250.55	1,271.55	1,338.14	1,469.95	1,479.69	1,481.45	1,581.67	1,730.09
	SDLP	Gerard McDonald	6.47%	903	913.12	921.97	922.67	931.19	938.71	985.23	1,018.63	1,034.08	1,034.52	1,181.96	1,520.65
	Alliance	Eoin Millar	3.52%	492	496.84	498.94	499.24	504.24	518.24	588.46	617.06	622.01	622.89	647.41
	Aontú	Luke McCann	3.77%	526	529.52	531.92	532.12	537.34	566.34	576.34	594.56	597.11	597.77
	Independent	Julieann McNally	2.64%	368	371.96	384.86	385.36	390.36	425.80	448.32
	Green (NI)	Ash Jones	1.63%	228	230.64	232.29	232.59	238.81	260.81
	Independent	Tony Mallon	1.19%	166	166.66	167.26	167.36	169.36
	Workers' Party	Paddy Crossan	0.59%	83	84.32	86.12	86.12
Electorate: 24,938 Valid: 13,962 (55.99%) Spoilt: 255 Quota: 1,996 Turnout: 14,217 (57.01%)

Court

2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP

2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x TUV

2019–2023 Change: TUV gain from PUP

Court - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	DUP	Frank McCoubrey*	22.00%	2,645
	Sinn Féin	Tina Black*	15.15%	1,822
	DUP	Nicola Verner*	14.83%	1,783
	Sinn Féin	Claire Canavan*	13.44%	1,616	1,616.70	1,697.65	1,698.65	1,698.74	1,712.04	1,780.04
	DUP	Ian McLaughlin	8.26%	993	1,656.25	1,656.25	1,661.30	1,702.37	1,703.40	1,705.46	1,705.46	1,705.46	1,720.5
	TUV	Ron McDowell	8.01%	963	1,090.40	1,090.50	1,093.50	1,098.73	1,098.73	1,101.7	1,101.7	1,104.73	1,130.85	1,156.85
	PUP	Billy Hutchinson*	5.65%	679	789.25	789.35	790.35	795.63	795.63	801.07	803.07	803.07	853.92	906.27
	People Before Profit	Cailín McCaffery	3.39%	408	409.05	411.40	411.40	411.52	436.62	500.92	509.92	631.27	807.62
	Alliance	Ally Haydock	2.74%	329	333.20	333.80	336.80	337.43	337.48	440.33	465.33	477.43
	Irish Republican Socialist	Michael Kelly	3.32%	399	399.00	402.5	402.5	402.53	406.78	422.98	425.98
	SDLP	Olcan McSparron	1.46%	175	176.05	177.55	178.55	178.61	189.66
	Green (NI)	Sara Haller	0.90%	108	110.45	110.8	111.8	111.92	117.97
	Workers' Party	Tony Walls	0.71%	85	85.00	85.85	85.9	85.93
	Independent	Geoffrey Wilson	0.15%	18	19.05	19.10
Electorate: 23,779 Valid: 12,023 (50.56%) Spoilt: 252 Quota: 1,718 Turnout: 12,275 (51.62%)

Lisnasharragh

2019: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2023: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green

2019–2023 Change: No Change

Lisnasharragh - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Davy Douglas	17.39%	2,083
	DUP	Bradley Ferguson	8.85%	1,060	1,391.84	1,649.26	1,992.26
	Alliance	Michael Long*	12.00%	1,437	1,439.21	1,462.21	1,602.57	1,638.57	1,971.57
	Alliance	Eric Hanvey*	9.00%	1,078	1,078.68	1,099.02	1,160.36	1,205.36	1,747.36
	SDLP	Séamas de Faoite*	13.19%	1,580	1,580.17	1,598.34	1,629.51	1,635.51	1,669.51
	Green (NI)	Brian Smyth*	9.66%	1,157	1,158.19	1,273.53	1,422.91	1,491.91	1,588.76
	Sinn Féin	Stevie Jenkins	10.28%	1,231	1,231.17	1,250.17	1,250.17	1,250.17	1,258.17
	Alliance	Anna McErlean	8.03%	961	961.85	965.85	1,037.87	1,054.87
	UUP	Bill Manwaring	6.85%	820	828.67	921.71
	TUV	Stephen Ferguson	3.07%	368	375.14
	People Before Profit	Nick Cropper	1.67%	200	200.34
Electorate: 21,488 Valid: 11,975 (55.73%) Spoilt: 116 Quota: 1,711 Turnout: 12,091 (56.27%)

Oldpark

2019: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x People Before Profit

2023: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and Independent gain from SDLP and People Before Profit

Oldpark - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Sinn Féin	Nichola Bradley*	15.12%	1,870
	Independent	Paul McCusker*	14.13%	1,747	1,764.05	1,835.05
	Sinn Féin	JJ Magee*	13.09%	1,619	1,637.15	1,665.60	1,668.60	1,714.05	1,714.05	1,877.05
	Sinn Féin	Ryan Murphy*	11.56%	1,430	1,472.70	1,493.95	1,497.95	1,524.05	1,526.05	1,704.40
	DUP	Jordan Doran*	10.21%	1,263	1,263.00	1,273.05	1,273.05	1,310.05	1,606.05	1,634.10
	Sinn Féin	Tomás Ó Néill	10.76%	1,330	1,335.35	1,353.45	1,367.45	1,402.70	1,404.70	1,601.55
	DUP	Gillian Simpson	7.43%	919	919.00	924.00	924.00	962.00	1,232.00	1,260.00
	People Before Profit	Fiona Ferguson*	5.66%	700	704.65	830.85	849.85	1,114.15	1,125.15
	TUV	Ann McClure	4.81%	595	595.00	604.00	604.00	624.00
	Alliance	Chris Shannon	3.66%	453	453.75	578.45	597.45
	SDLP	Charlotte Carson	1.98%	245	248.55
	Green (NI)	Ange Cruz	1.20%	149	149.35
	Workers' Party	Fiona McCarthy	0.37%	46	46.30
Electorate: 23,871 Valid: 12,366 (51.80%) Spoilt: 193 Quota: 1,767 Turnout: 12,559 (52.61%)

Ormiston

2019: 3 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green

2023: 3 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green

2019–2023 Change: No change

Ormiston - 7 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Alliance	Christine Bower*	18.61%	2,661
	DUP	James Lawlor	16.75%	2,394
	DUP	Andrew McCormick	11.49%	1,642	1,648.72	2,180.22
	Alliance	Jenna Maghie*	9.09%	1,299	1,681.72	1,684.47	1,688.27	1,797.27
	Alliance	Ross McMullan* †	10.35%	1,480	1,585.28	1,587.03	1,593.63	1,666.83	1,684.59	2,542.59
	Green (NI)	Anthony Flynn*	6.99%	999	1,042.20	1,044.45	1,053.45	1,200.94	1,226.89	1,438.69	1,919.69
	UUP	Jim Rodgers*	7.02%	1,004	1,010.40	1,024.40	1,157.00	1,162.00	1,532.42	1,557.42	1,644.42
	UUP	Carole Howard*	5.93%	847	863.96	881.71	965.51	978.08	1,282.15	1,303.51	1,365.51
	Alliance	Caitlin Sullivan	6.22%	889	1,145.64	1,145.64	1,147.04	1,196.92	1,199.32
	TUV	John Hiddleston	4.76%	680	684.16	710.91	863.91	870.93
	Sinn Féin	Caitríona Mallaghan	1.22%	174	181.04	181.29	181.69
	People Before Profit	Fiona Doran	0.82%	117	132.36	133.11	133.71
	SDLP	Lorcan McGuirk	0.74%	106	111.12	111.12	111.72
Electorate: 26,314 Valid: 14,295 (54.32%) Spoilt: 84 Quota: 1,787 Turnout: 14,379 (54.64%)

Titanic

2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP

2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from PUP

Titanic - 6 seats^[5]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Ruth Brooks	16.98%	1,690
	DUP	Sammy Douglas*	12.20%	1,214	1,216	1,244.35	1,440.35
	Alliance	David Bell	13.66%	1,360	1,392	1,395.75	1,403.75	1,680.75
	Alliance	Fiona McAteer	11.54%	1,149	1,176	1,176.75	1,181.90	1,597.90
	Sinn Féin	Pádraig Donnelly	12.90%	1,284	1,304	1,304.30	1,305.30	1,399.45	1,489.45
	UUP	Sonia Copeland*	9.72%	968	973	995.65	1,162.80	1,254.25	1,325.25
	DUP	George Dorrian*	6.61%	658	660	842.70	1,012.10	1,033.30	1,040.30
	Green (NI)	Gillian Hamilton	9.42%	938	969	970.95	984.10
	TUV	Anne Smyth	5.67%	564	567	577.05
	SDLP	Elly Omondi	1.30%	129
Electorate: 24,018 Valid: 9,954 (41.44%) Spoilt: 209 Quota: 1,423 Turnout: 10,163 (42.31%)

Changes during the term

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Electoral Area	Party		Outgoing	Co-optee	Reason
27 February 2024	Botanic		Sinn Féin	John Gormley	Conor McKay	Gormley resigned.^[7]
16 May 2024	Ormiston		Alliance	Ross McMullan	Hedley Abernethy	McMullan resigned.^[8]

Notes

References

[2]

[3]

[n 1]

[n 2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

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