2011 Belfast City Council election explained

See main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 2011.

Election Name:	2011 Belfast City Council election
Country:	Northern Ireland
Flag Image:	Flag of Belfast.svg
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2005 Belfast City Council election
Previous Year:	2005
Next Election:	Belfast City Council election, 2014
Next Year:	2014
Seats For Election:	All 51 seats to Belfast City Council
Majority Seats:	26
Party1:	Sinn Féin
Seats1:	16
Seat Change1:	2
Party2:	Democratic Unionist Party
Seats2:	15
Seat Change2:	0
Party3:	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Seats3:	8
Seat Change3:	0
Party4:	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Seats4:	6
Seat Change4:	2
Party5:	Ulster Unionist Party
Seats5:	3
Seat Change5:	4
Party6:	Progressive Unionist Party
Seats6:	2
Seat Change6:	0
Party7:	Independent (politician)
Seats7:	1
Seat Change7:	0
Lord Mayor
Before Election:	Pat Convery
Before Party:	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Posttitle:	Lord Mayor
After Election:	Niall Ó Donnghaile
After Party:	Sinn Féin

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 5 May 2011 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.

Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party, and Niall Ó Donnghaile became Lord Mayor.^[1]

Election results

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Others|-|align="left"|Balmoral|14.7|1|19.6|1|bgcolor="#99FF66"|29.0|bgcolor="#99FF66"|2|17.6|1|15.1|1|0.0|0|3.9|0|6|-|align="left"|Castle|26.6|2|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|30.5|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2|22.4|1|6.9|0|11.8|1|0.0|0|1.7|0|6|-|align="left"|Court|2.8|0|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|64.4|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3|1.5|0|1.2|0|6.0|0|9.7|1|14.4|1|5|-|align="left"|Laganbank|17.3|1|14.1|1|bgcolor="#99FF66"|27.4|bgcolor="#99FF66"|2|19.0|1|11.5|0|0.0|0|10.8|0|5|-|align="left"|Lower Falls|bgcolor="#008800"|75.4|bgcolor="#008800"|4|0.0|0|10.2|1|0.0|0|0.0|0|0.0|0|14.4|0|5|-|align="left"|Oldpark|bgcolor="#008800"|53.1|bgcolor="#008800"|3|25.4|2|11.2|1|2.9|0|5.1|0|0.0|0|5.0|0|6|-|align="left"|Pottinger|11.3|1|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|36.8|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3|4.8|0|19.9|1|8.3|0|10.7|1|8.1|0|6|-|align="left"|Upper Falls|bgcolor="#008800"|67.8|bgcolor="#008800"|4|1.4|0|18.1|1|1.3|0|0.0|0|0.0|0|11.3|0|5|-|align="left"|Victoria|0.0|0|32.6|3|1.5|0|bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|36.5|bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|3|17.9|1|6.5|0|5.1|0|7|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| Total|30.9|16|23.4|15|13.8|8|12.6|6|8.6|3|2.8|2|8.0|1|51|-|}

District results

Balmoral

2005: 2 x SDLP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
2011: 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin
2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from DUP

Castle

2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP
2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Court

2005: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2011: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2005-2011 Change: No change

Laganbank

2005: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP
2011: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
2005-2011 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Lower Falls

2005: 5 x Sinn Féin
2011: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2005-2011 Change: SDLP gain from Sinn Féin

Oldpark

2005: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP
2011: 3 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP
2005-2011 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Pottinger

2005: 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Alliance
2011: 3 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP
2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from UUP

Upper Falls

2005: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2011: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2005-2011 Change: No change

Victoria

2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance
2011: 3 x Alliance, 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP
2005-2011 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Notes and References

Web site: Niall Ó Donnghaile's year in mayoral chains. 3 November 2012. 23 February 2014.