| Court | |
| Type: | Belfast City Council DEA |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Seats: | 6 (1985–1993) 5 (1993–2014) 6 (2014–) |
| Members Label: | Councillors |
Court is one of the ten district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the north and west of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Ballygomartin, Clonard, Falls, Forth River, Shankill, and Woodvale. Court is split between the Belfast North and Belfast West constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
The DEA was created for the 1985 local elections. It initially contained six wards, three of which came from the abolished Area E, with the remainder from Area G. From the 1993 through 2011 local elections, it contained five wards, namely Crumlin, Glencairn, Highfield, Shankill and Woodvale, following the abolition of the Saint Anne's ward. For the 2014 local elections, the Crumlin ward was abolished, the Glencairn ward was replaced by Forth River ward and the Highfield ward was replaced by Ballygomartin ward. These four wards were joined by the Falls and Clonard wards, which had previously been part of the abolished Lower Falls DEA.
| Map | width = 110px | Ward ! | width = 100px | Population (2011 Census) ! | width = 90px | Catholic ! | width = 90px | Protestant ! | width = 90px | Other ! | width = 100px | No Religion ! | width = 100px | Area ! | width = 80px | Density ! | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crumlin | 4,582 | 11.3% | 82.3% | 0.6% | 5.9% | 0.83 km2 | 5,520/km2 | [1] | ||||||||||
| 2 | Glencairn | 3,749 | 17.5% | 75.5% | 0.9% | 6.1% | 4.1 km2 | 914/km2 | [2] | ||||||||||
| 3 | Highfield | 5,651 | 9.5% | 82.6% | 0.9% | 7% | 2.69 km2 | 2,101/km2 | [3] | ||||||||||
| 4 | Shankill | 3,816 | 7.9% | 84.5% | 0.7% | 6.9% | 0.93 km2 | 4,103/km2 | [4] | ||||||||||
| 5 | Woodvale | 4,088 | 6% | 87% | 0.6% | 6.4% | 0.57 km2 | 7,172/km2 | [5] | ||||||||||
| Court | 21,886 | 10.3% | 82.5% | 0.7% | 6.5% | 9.12 km2 | 2,400/km2 | Belfast North (2) Belfast West (3) | Belfast North (2) Belfast West (3) | ||||||||||
| Election | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | Councillor (Party) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Frank McCoubrey (DUP)/ (Independent)/ (UDP) | Ian McLaughlin (DUP) | Nicola Verner (DUP) | Ron McDowell (TUV) | Tina Black (Sinn Féin) | Claire Canavan (Sinn Féin) | ||||||
| June 2022 Co-Option | Naomi Thompson (DUP) | Billy Hutchinson (PUP) | ||||||||||
| 2019 | Brian Kingston (DUP) | |||||||||||
| December 2018 Co-Option | Jolene Bunting (TUV)/ (Independent) | |||||||||||
| January 2018 Co-Option | Mary McConville (Sinn Féin) | |||||||||||
| February 2017 Defection | Jim McVeigh (Sinn Féin) | |||||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||||||
| 2011 | William Humphrey (DUP) | Hugh Smyth (PUP) | Naomi Thompson (DUP) | 5 seats 1993-2014 | ||||||||
| 2005 | Elaine McMillen (DUP) | Diane Dodds (DUP) | ||||||||||
| 2001 | Chris McGimpsey (UUP) | Eric Smyth (DUP) | ||||||||||
| 1997 | Fred Cobain (UUP) | |||||||||||
| 1993 | Joseph Coggle (Independent Unionist) | |||||||||||
| 1989 | Herbert Ditty (UUP) | Elizabeth Seawright (Protestant Unionist) | ||||||||||
| 1985 | Frederick Ashby (DUP) | George Seawright (Protestant Unionist) | ||||||||||
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
2014: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP, 1 x TUV
2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP
2014-2019 Change: DUP gain from TUV
This election was carried out under new ward boundaries, as a result of local government reform.
2011: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2014: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP, 1 x TUV
2011-2014 Changes: Sinn Féin (two seats) and TUV gain from DUP (two seats) and due to the addition of one seat, Independent joins DUP
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
2001: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2005: 3 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
2001-2005 Change: DUP gain from UUP
1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x UDP
2001: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent
1997-2001 Change: DUP gain from UUP, UDP becomes Independent
1993: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UDP
1993-1997 Change: UDP gain from Independent Unionist
1989: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Protestant Unionist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1993: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1989-1993 Change: Protestant Unionist loss due to the reduction of one seat
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Protestant Unionist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1989: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Protestant Unionist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1985-1989 Change: No change
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Protestant Unionist, 1 x Independent Unionist