See main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections.
| Election Name: | 2023 Mid and East Antrim District Council election |
| Flag Image: | Flag placeholder.svg |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2019 Mid and East Antrim 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: | Jeffrey Donaldson |
| Party1: | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Seats1: | 14 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 15,627 |
| Percentage1: | 30.9% |
| Swing1: | 1.1% |
| Leader3: | Naomi Long |
| Party3: | Alliance Party of Northern Ireland |
| Seats3: | 7 |
| Seat Change3: | 0 |
| Popular Vote3: | 9,571 |
| Percentage3: | 18.9% |
| Swing3: | 3.1% |
| Leader2: | Doug Beattie |
| Party2: | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Seats2: | 8 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 8,764 |
| Percentage2: | 17.3% |
| Swing2: | 0.9% |
| Leader4: | Jim Allister |
| Party4: | Traditional Unionist Voice |
| Seats4: | 5 |
| Seat Change4: | 0 |
| Popular Vote4: | 8,050 |
| Percentage4: | 15.9% |
| Swing4: | 0.7% |
| Leader5: | Michelle O'Neill |
| Party5: | Sinn Féin |
| Seats5: | 4 |
| Seat Change5: | 2 |
| Popular Vote5: | 4,700 |
| Percentage5: | 9.3% |
| Swing5: | 2.9% |
| Leader6: | None |
| Party6: | Independent (politician) |
| Seats6: | 2 |
| Seat Change6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 2,205 |
| Percentage6: | 4.4% |
| Swing6: | 3.8% |
| Council control | |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Election: | No overall control |
| After Election: | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Last Election1: | 15 |
| Last Election2: | 7 |
| Last Election3: | 7 |
| Last Election4: | 5 |
| Last Election5: | 2 |
| Last Election6: | 3 |
The 2023 election to Mid and East Antrim 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]
They returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.
Tyler Hoey was selected as a DUP candidate to contest the 2023 Mid and East Antrim Council elections. In 2020, Hoey 'liked' a social media post commemorating the Greysteel massacre, which stated, "On this day 27 years ago, An Ulster Freedom Fighters Active Service Unit from North Antrim-Londonderry Brigade 'Trick or Treated' its way into the republican Rising Sun bar in Greysteel in order to gain revenge for the Shankill Bombing. Spirit of '93".[3] Following this revelation, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said that Hoey "deeply regrets some of the things that he said in the past" and that he is "entitled to a second chance."[4]
|-| 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;" | 50,571|
|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|District Electoral Area (DEA)! %
!Cllrs
! %
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! %
!Cllrs
! %
!Cllrs
! %
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!rowspan=2|Total
cllrs
|- class="unsortable" align="center"!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | TUV!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Sinn Féin!colspan=2 bgcolor=""| SDLP!colspan=2 bgcolor="white"|
2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent, 1 x TUV, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and UUP gain from SDLP and Independent
2019: 2 x TUV, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin
2023: 2 x TUV, 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: No change
2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x TUV, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from DUP
2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2019–2023 Change: No change
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: No change
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent
2023: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
2019–2023 Change: No change
2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP
2023: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: No change
| Date co-opted | Electoral Area | Party | Outgoing | Co-optee | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2023 | Ballymena | John Hyland | Jack Gibson | Hyland resigned.[5] | ||
| 3 October 2023 | Carrick Castle | Cheryl Brownlee | David Clarke | Brownlee was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[6] | ||
| 23 July 2024 | Bannside | Timothy Gaston | Anna Henry | Gaston was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[7] | ||
| ? July 2024 | Ballymena | Colin Crawford | Brian Thompson | Crawford was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly. | ||
| Date | Electoral Area | Name | Previous affiliation | New affiliation | Circumstance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January 2024 | Carrick Castle | David Clarke | Left the DUP following claims of bullying.[8] | ||||
| 15 March 2024 | Carrick Castle | David Clarke | Joined the TUV.[9] | ||||