2023 Derry City and Strabane District Council election explained

See main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections.

Election Name:	2023 Derry City and Strabane District Council election
Flag Image:	Flag placeholder.svg
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2019 Derry City and Strabane District Council election
Previous Year:	2019
Next Year:	2027
Seats For Election:	All 40 council seats
Majority Seats:	21
Election Date:	18 May 2023
Leader1:	Michelle O'Neill
Party1:	Sinn Féin
Seats1:	18
Seat Change1:	7
Popular Vote1:	24,658
Percentage1:	38.7%
Swing1:	10.6%
Leader2:	Colum Eastwood
Party2:	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Seats2:	10
Seat Change2:	1
Popular Vote2:	12,689
Percentage2:	19.9%
Swing2:	5.5%
Leader3:	Jeffrey Donaldson
Party3:	Democratic Unionist Party
Seats3:	5
Seat Change3:	2
Popular Vote3:	7,955
Percentage3:	12.5%
Swing3:	2.2%
Leader4:	Doug Beattie
Party4:	Ulster Unionist Party
Seats4:	3
Seat Change4:	1
Popular Vote4:	5,393
Percentage4:	8.5%
Swing4:	1.7%
Party5:	Independent (politician)
Seats5:	3
Seat Change5:	1
Popular Vote5:	4,927
Percentage5:	7.7%
Swing5:	4.9%
Leader6:	Eamonn McCann
Party6:	People Before Profit
Seats6:	1
Seat Change6:	1
Popular Vote6:	3,320
Percentage6:	5.2%
Swing6:	0.7%
Council control
Posttitle:	Council control after election
Before Election:	No overall control
After Election:	Sinn Fein Largest Party
Last Election1:	11
Last Election2:	11
Last Election3:	7
Last Election4:	2
Last Election5:	4
Last Election6:	2

The 2023 election to Derry City and Strabane District Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.^[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.^[2]

The election returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.

Election results

|-| colspan="2" style="background-color:#f2f2f2;text-align:center;margin-bottom:-1px;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:.2em .4em" | | style="text-align:right;" | 40|| |||| style="text-align:right;" | 63,669|Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Independents and others|-|align="left"|Ballyarnett|bgcolor="#008800"|45.4|bgcolor="#008800"|3 1|33.5|3 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |7.5|0 |4.5|0 |9.1|0 1|6|-|align="left"|Derg|bgcolor="#008800"|45.4|bgcolor="#008800"|3 1|8.5|0 1|19.5|1 |16.1|1 |1.3|0 |2.1|0 |7.1|0 |5|-|align="left"|Faughan|bgcolor="#008800"|29.1|bgcolor="#008800"|2 1|18.9|1 |20.3|1 1|15.8|1 1|3.8|0 |8.6|0 1|3.4|0 |5|-|align="left"|Foyleside|bgcolor="#008800"|41.3|bgcolor="#008800"|2 1|35.4|2 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |13.7|1 |3.7|0 |5.9|0 1|5|-|align="left"|Sperrin|bgcolor="#008800"|40.4|bgcolor="#008800"|3 1|11.4|1 |18.3|1 1|4.1|0 |1.9|0 |3.2|0 |20.7|2 |7|-|align="left"|The Moor|bgcolor="#008800"|44.6|bgcolor="#008800"|3 1|16.3|1 |0.0|0 |0.0|0 |7.8|0 1|2.0|0 |29.3|1 |5|-|align="left"|Waterside|bgcolor="#008800"|27.2|bgcolor="#008800"|2 1|19.0|2 |22.8|2 |20.6|1 |3.6|0 |6.9|0 1|0.0|0 |7|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| Total|38.73|18 7|19.93|10 1|12.49|5 2|8.47|3 1|5.22|1 1|4.47|0 2|10.69|3 2|40|-|}

District results

Ballyarnett

2019: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Aontú

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 3 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Aontú

Derg

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

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Faughan

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

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

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and UUP gain from DUP and Alliance

Foyleside

2019: 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit, 1 x Independent

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP, 1 x People Before Profit

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Independent

Sperrin

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

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 2 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from DUP

The Moor

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x People Before Profit, 1 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

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

Waterside

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

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

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Alliance

Changes during the term

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Electoral Area		Outgoing	Co-optee
20 October 2023	Sperrin	Allan Bresland	Gary Wilkinson	Bresland retired.^[3]
29 January 2024	Faughan	Ryan McCready	Janice Montgomery	McCready resigned.^[4]
19 February 2024	Ballyarnett	John McGowan	Amanda Clarke	McGowan resigned.^[5]

‡ Changes in affiliation

Date	Electoral Area	Name	Previous affiliation		New affiliation		Circumstance
30 April 2024	Sperrin	Jason Barr			Left the SDLP following criticisms of the party's process for selecting the next Mayor.^[6]
1 May 2024	Foyleside	Shauna Cusack			Left the SDLP following criticisms of the party's process for selecting the next Mayor.^[7]

Notes and References

Web site: Local government elections in Northern Ireland . 2022-05-19 . www.electoralcommission.org.uk . en.
News: 21 December 2022 . NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash . BBC News . 21 December 2022.
Web site: New Councillor - Sperrin DEA.
Web site: New Councillor - Faughan District Electoral Area.
Web site: New Councillor - Ballyarnett District Electoral Area.
Web site: Lilian Seenoi-Barr set to make history as Derry mayor. BBC News. en. 30 April 2024. 2 May 2024.
Web site: Second SDLP councillor resigns over mayor selection row. BBC News. en. 1 May 2024. 2 May 2024.