The electoral wards of Belfast are subdivisions of the city, used primarily for statistics and elections. Belfast had 51 wards from May 1973, which were revised in May 1985 and again in May 1993. The number of wards was increased to 60 with the 2014 changes in local government. Wards are the smallest administrative unit in Northern Ireland and are set by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner and reviewed every 8–12 years.[1]
Wards are used to create constituencies for local government authorities, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. In elections to Belfast City Council, the 60 wards are split into ten District Electoral Areas, each of which contains between five and seven wards, with the number of councillors it elects equal to the number of wards it contains. The constituencies for elections to the House of Commons and the Assembly are coterminous and are created by amalgamating wards into larger areas, with the city's wards split between the four 'Belfast' constituencies, although these also contain wards from bordering local authorities.
The use of wards for statistical purposes by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has changed since the creation of 'Census Output Areas' (5022 in total) and 'Super Output Areas' (890 in total), which were created to address the variance in size of the 582 wards across Northern Ireland.[2] Each ward contains several Super Output Area, which in turn are made up of a number of Census Output Areas.
The wards were redrawn for the 2014 elections.[3]
From 1928 until May 1973, Belfast was divided into 15 wards, each represented by a total of four aldermen or councillors. The 15 wards were Duncairn, Dock, Clifton, Shankill, Court, Woodvale, Smithfield, Falls, Saint Anne's, Saint George's, Windsor, Cromac, Ormeau, Pottinger and Victoria.
By the early 1970s, population shifts had resulted in significant differences in the electorates of the wards. Although the wards continued to have four representatives on Belfast City Council, electorates varied from less than 5,000 in the smallest ward, Smithfield, to almost 40,000 in the largest ward, Victoria. The review of local government which took place in the early 1970s expanded Belfast to take in some of the newer housing estates on the fringes of the city and attempted to equalise electorates. Initially, Belfast was to have been divided into 52 wards. Following a public review, one ward, Tullycarnet, was excluded from Belfast and became instead the Castlereagh wards of Tullycarnet and Gilnahirk. The remaining 51 wards were intended to elect one member each using the first past the post electoral system. The reintroduction of the single transferable vote method of election meant that a different system was required. The 51 wards were therefore grouped into 8 electoral areas, distinguished by letters, with each electoral area returning either 6 or 7 councillors.
By the early 1980s, population shifts, demolition of some the older housing estates and residential flight caused by the Troubles had again led to substantial disparities in the electorates of the wards. Some wards in inner city Belfast such as Crumlin had lost over 70% of their population. The review of local government which took place from 1982 to 1984 created 51 wards, many new or substantially different from their namesakes. The initial proposals, published in 1983, survived unchanged with a few exceptions. The proposed Peter's Hill ward was renamed Saint Anne's. The Donegall ward, one of the few unchanged wards, was renamed Blackstaff. In inner south Belfast, the Saint George's, university and Cromac wards were to have been replaced with an eastern ward, to be called Linenhall, and a western ward, to be called College. Following public inquiries, the wards were replaced with a southern ward, Botanic, and a northern ward, Shaftesbury, which merged the former Cromac and Saint George's wards. As in 1973, these wards were grouped into electoral areas electing between 5 and 7 councillors.
A further review took place in 1991–1992 and compared to the review of the 1980s, saw minor changes. In the Court electoral area, the existing Shankill ward was split between three other wards. One of these three wards which gained territory, Saint Anne's, having lost its eponymous area to the Duncairn ward, assumed the Shankill name. Initially, the number of wards was to have been cut to 50, however after a public inquiry, a new 51st ward was created. Most of the existing Finaghy ward was renamed Musgrave, while a new Finaghy ward was created from the southern parts of the older Finaghy ward and the Upper Malone ward, which compensated by gaining territory from Malone and Stranmillis wards.
The table below shows the divisions from 1993 to 2013.
| Map | width = 110px | District Electoral Area ! | width = 80px | Councillors/ Wards! | Population (2011 Census) | Catholic | width = 90px | Protestant ! | width = 90px | Otherreligions | No religion | Area | width = 80px | Density ! | width = 110px | NI Assembly ! | width = 110px | UK Parliament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balmoral | 6 | 32,017 | 43.8% | 44.8% | 3.1% | 8.3% | 13.71 km2 | 2,335/km2 | Belfast South | |||||||||
| Castle | 6 | 29,366 | 50.3% | 41.5% | 1.4% | 6.9% | 19 km2 | 1,546/km2 | Belfast North | |||||||||
| Court | 5 | 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) | ||||||||
| Laganbank | 5 | 36,790 | 51.9% | 33.3% | 3.8% | 11% | 8.27 km2 | 4,449/km2 | Belfast South | |||||||||
| Lower Falls | 5 | 26,588 | 91.1% | 5.8% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 5.93 km2 | 4,484/km2 | Belfast West | |||||||||
| Oldpark | 6 | 34,131 | 65.6% | 29.2% | 0.8% | 4.4% | 13.68 km2 | 2,495 /km2 | Belfast North | |||||||||
| Pottinger | 6 | 33,057 | 25.3% | 61.2% | 1.8% | 11.7% | 6.17 km2 | 5,358 /km2 | Belfast East (4) Belfast South (2) | Belfast East (4) Belfast South (2) | ||||||||
| Upper Falls | 5 | 28,840 | 92.2% | 5.5% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 15.83 km2 | 1,822/km2 | Belfast West | |||||||||
| Victoria | 7 | 38,287 | 12.4% | 75% | 1.7% | 10.8% | 23.14 km2 | 1,655 /km2 | Belfast East | |||||||||
| 51 | 280,962 | 49.2% | 42.0% | 1.6% | 7% | 114.85 km2 | 2,446 /km2 | |||||||||||
Note: data for DEAs in the above table is based on aggregating the referenced figures for the relevant wards in the table below.
| width=120px | Ward ! | width=110px | District Electoral Area ! | Population (2011 Census) | Catholic | width=90px | Protestant ! | width=90px | Other religions | No religion | Area | width=110px | Density ! | width=120px | NI Assembly ! | width=120px | UK Parliament ! | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andersonstown | 4,907 | 94.5% | 3.6% | 0.3% | 1.6% | 1.08 km2 | 4,544/km2 | [4] | ||||||||||
| Ardoyne | 5,987 | 92.8% | 5.1% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 0.58 km2 | 10,322/km2 | [5] | ||||||||||
| Ballyhackamore | 5,939 | 17.2% | 68.2% | 1.9% | 12.7% | 1.15 km2 | 5,164/km2 | [6] | ||||||||||
| Ballymacarrett | 4,908 | 51.4% | 41.2% | 1.4% | 6.2% | 0.78 km2 | 6,292/km2 | [7] | ||||||||||
| Ballynafeigh | 5,928 | 57.0% | 27.1% | 2.9% | 13.1% | 0.67 km2 | 8,848/km2 | [8] | ||||||||||
| Ballysillan | 5,626 | 7.8% | 83.3% | 1.4% | 7.5% | 1.11 km2 | 5,068/km2 | [9] | ||||||||||
| Beechmount | 5,485 | 90.8% | 6.1% | 0.6% | 2.5% | 0.84 km2 | 6,530/km2 | [10] | ||||||||||
| Bellevue | 4,910 | 63.7% | 29.3% | 1.1% | 6% | 2.96 km2 | 1,659/km2 | [11] | ||||||||||
| Belmont | 6,165 | 8.6% | 80.6% | 1% | 9.8% | 1.79 km2 | 3,444/km2 | [12] | ||||||||||
| Blackstaff | 3,998 | 15% | 71.5% | 1.8% | 11.7% | 1.92 km2 | 2,082/km2 | [13] | ||||||||||
| Bloomfield | 5,453 | 16.1% | 69.7% | 1.7% | 12.5% | 0.74 km2 | 7,369/km2 | [14] | ||||||||||
| Botanic | 8,945 | 60.8% | 23.3% | 3.9% | 12% | 1.3 km2 | 6,881/km2 | [15] | ||||||||||
| Castleview | 4,722 | 38.1% | 54.2% | 1.2% | 6.5% | 1.41 km2 | 3,349/km2 | [16] | ||||||||||
| Cavehill | 4,820 | 57.1% | 37.7% | 0.9% | 4.3% | 3.41 km2 | 1,413/km2 | [17] | ||||||||||
| Cherryvalley | 5,920 | 14.5% | 75.3% | 0.8% | 9.4% | 1.99 km2 | 2,975/km2 | [18] | ||||||||||
| Chichester Park | 5,452 | 74.3% | 17.2% | 1.6% | 6.9% | 0.95 km2 | 5,739/km2 | [19] | ||||||||||
| Cliftonville | 5,330 | 71% | 23.6% | 0.7% | 4.7% | 1.18 km2 | 4,517/km2 | [20] | ||||||||||
| Clonard | 4,975 | 90.5% | 6.4% | 0.6% | 2.6% | 0.61 km2 | 8,156/km2 | [21] | ||||||||||
| Crumlin | 4,582 | 11.3% | 82.3% | 0.6% | 5.9% | 0.83 km2 | 5,520/km2 | [22] | ||||||||||
| Duncairn | 4,901 | 23.6% | 63.9% | 2.2% | 10.3% | 9.24 km2 | 530/km2 | [23] | ||||||||||
| Falls | 5,184 | 87.6% | 7.5% | 2.3% | 2.6% | 1.2 km2 | 4,320/km2 | [24] | ||||||||||
| Falls Park | 5,343 | 94.4% | 3.3% | 0.7% | 1.6% | 2.35 km2 | 2,274/km2 | [25] | ||||||||||
| Finaghy | 4,555 | 49.2% | 42.6% | 2.6% | 5.6% | 2.59 km2 | 1,759/km2 | [26] | ||||||||||
| Fortwilliam | 4,561 | 41.3% | 50.3% | 1.2% | 7.2% | 1.03 km2 | 4,428/km2 | [27] | ||||||||||
| Glen Road | 5,573 | 95.1% | 3.3% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 1.57 km2 | 3,550/km2 | [28] | ||||||||||
| Glencairn | 3,749 | 17.5% | 75.5% | 0.9% | 6.1% | 4.1 km2 | 914/km2 | [29] | ||||||||||
| Glencolin | 6,498 | 93.2% | 5.1% | 0.2% | 1.5% | 9.54 km2 | 681/km2 | [30] | ||||||||||
| Highfield | 5,651 | 9.5% | 82.6% | 0.9% | 7% | 2.69 km2 | 2,101/km2 | [31] | ||||||||||
| Island | 5,014 | 13.9% | 69.8% | 4.6% | 11.8% | 3.81 km2 | 1,316/km2 | [32] | ||||||||||
| Knock | 4,827 | 9.1% | 79.7% | 1.2% | 10% | 1.12 km2 | 4,310/km2 | [33] | ||||||||||
| Ladybrook | 6,519 | 85.3% | 10.9% | 0.6% | 3.1% | 1.29 km2 | 5,053/km2 | [34] | ||||||||||
| Legoniel | 6,409 | 48.2% | 45.4% | 0.8% | 5.6% | 8.82 km2 | 727/km2 | [35] | ||||||||||
| Malone | 5,555 | 61.2% | 30.3% | 2.3% | 6.3% | 2.18 km2 | 2,548/km2 | [36] | ||||||||||
| Musgrave | 4,927 | 60.6% | 32.9% | 1.7% | 4.8% | 1.78 km2 | 2,768/km2 | [37] | ||||||||||
| New Lodge | 4,950 | 89.2% | 7.5% | 0.9% | 2.3% | 0.72 km2 | 6,875/km2 | [38] | ||||||||||
| Orangefield | 5,619 | 11% | 77% | 1.4% | 10.6% | 1.46 km2 | 3,849/km2 | [39] | ||||||||||
| Ravenhill | 6,041 | 39.7% | 46.9% | 2% | 11.5% | 1.88 km2 | 3,213/km2 | [40] | ||||||||||
| Rosetta | 6,564 | 59% | 30.6% | 2% | 8.4% | 1.6 km2 | 4,103/km2 | [41] | ||||||||||
| Shaftesbury | 7,214 | 35.3% | 47.3% | 6.7% | 10.7% | 2.23 km2 | 3,235/km2 | [42] | ||||||||||
| Shankill | 3,816 | 7.9% | 84.5% | 0.7% | 6.9% | 0.93 km2 | 4,103/km2 | [43] | ||||||||||
| Stormont | 5,548 | 12.9% | 75.6% | 1.3% | 10.2% | 7.04 km2 | 788/km2 | [44] | ||||||||||
| Stranmillis | 8,139 | 47.3% | 38.7% | 3.1% | 11% | 2.47 km2 | 3,295/km2 | [45] | ||||||||||
| Sydenham | 4,874 | 9.9% | 76% | 1.8% | 12.3% | 6.24 km2 | 781/km2 | [46] | ||||||||||
| The Mount | 5,591 | 16.1% | 68.3% | 1.3% | 14.3% | 0.75 km2 | 7,455/km2 | [47] | ||||||||||
| Upper Malone | 4,841 | 29.4% | 60.1% | 2.5% | 8.1% | 4.32 km2 | 1,121/km2 | [48] | ||||||||||
| Upper Springfield | 5,250 | 93.5% | 4.6% | 0.3% | 1.6% | 2.5 km2 | 2,100/km2 | [49] | ||||||||||
| Water Works | 5,829 | 87.6% | 7.1% | 0.9% | 4.4% | 1.27 km2 | 4,590/km2 | [50] | ||||||||||
| Whiterock | 5,694 | 93.1% | 4.7% | 0.3% | 1.8% | 0.78 km2 | 7,300/km2 | [51] | ||||||||||
| Windsor | 8,141 | 41.6% | 40.7% | 5.8% | 11.8% | 0.92 km2 | 8,849/km2 | [52] | ||||||||||
| Woodstock | 5,445 | 19.4% | 63.3% | 2.8% | 14.5% | 0.56 km2 | 9,723/km2 | [53] | ||||||||||
| Woodvale | 4,088 | 6% | 87% | 0.6% | 6.4% | 0.57 km2 | 7,172/km2 | [54] | ||||||||||
| 280,962 | 49.2% | 42.0% | 1.6% | 7% | 114.85 km2 | 2,446/km2 | ||||||||||||
| Ward | Electoral area | Boundaries | Population (1971)[55] ! Population (1981)[56] | Westminster constituency(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosetta | A | Upper Ormeau Road and Rosetta areas | 7,633 | 6,628 | |
| Ballynafeigh | A | Ballynafeigh | 6,674 | 5,231 | |
| Ormeau | A | Areas around Ravenhill Road from Park Road to Albert Bridge Road | 6,710 | 4,718 | |
| Willowfield | A | Areas bordering Woodstock and Cregagh Roads to city boundary | 7,417 | 6,292 | |
| Orangefield | A | Orangefield | 7,921 | 6,801 | |
| The Mount | A | Bordered by Ravenhill Rd, My Lady's Rd, Willowfield St, Clara St, Beersbridge Rd, Connswater and Albertbridge Rd | 8,765 | 4,640 | |
| Ballymacarrett | A | Areas between Newtownards Rd and Albertbridge Rd | 8,743 | 4,472 | |
| Island | B | Areas north of Newtownards Rd and between rivers Connswater and Lagan | 8,665 | 4,100 | |
| Sydenham | B | Bordered by Connswater, Newtownards Rd, Holywood Rd and Belfast Rd | 7,931 | 6,606 | |
| Belmont | B | Bordered by Holywood Rd, Belmont Rd and city boundary | 8,948 | 7,825 | |
| Bloomfield | B | Bordered by Bloomfield walkway, Connswater, Abetta Parade, Dunraven Gardens, North Rd and Grand Parade | 6,455 | 5,510 | |
| Ballyhackamore | B | Bordered by Bloomfield walkway, Belmont Road, Belmont Church Rd, Knock Parkand area north of Orangefield Rd and Sandhill Gardens | 7,493 | 6,434 | |
| Shandon | B | Knock, Shandon and Cherryvalley areas | 8,715 | 7,985 | |
| Stormont | B | Areas north of Upper Newtownards Rd, east of Belmont Church Rd and south and east of Belmont Road | 8,778 | 7,675 | |
| C | Finaghy | 7,376 | 6,599 | ||
| Upper Malone | C | Upper Malone and Taughmonagh areas | 7,920 | 7,038 | |
| Malone | C | 6,775 | 6,462 | ||
| Windsor | C | Windsor | 9,925 | 6,600 | |
| C | Stranmillis | 7939 | 6541 | ||
| University | C | Areas around Queen's University and Lower Ormeau Road | 7,830 | 4,609 | |
| Saint James | D | Beechmount and Saint James areas | 9,202 | 8,043 | |
| Whiterock | D | 10,861 | 6,847 | ||
| Milltown | D | areas around Milltown Cemetery and Falls Park | 9,864 | 7,291 | |
| D | Andersonstown and Glen Road areas | 8,433 | 6,406 | ||
| Suffolk | D | Glencolin and Suffolk areas | 11,031 | 9,396 | |
| Ladybrook | D | 11,044 | 10,085 | ||
| Legoniel | E | 7,218 | 5,504 | ||
| Ballysillan | E | Ballysillan | 8,181 | 5,967 | |
| E | Ardoyne and Glenbryn areas | 9,547 | 5,902 | ||
| Ballygomartin | E | Ballygomartin and Glencairn areas | 7,734 | 8,467 | |
| Highfield | E | Highfield | 8,516 | 5,703 | |
| Woodvale | E | Woodvale | 7,628 | 5,889 | |
| Falls | F | Lower Falls Road around Divis tower | 5,655 | 2,645 | |
| Clonard | F | Clonard | 8,491 | 5,463 | |
| Grosvenor | F | Areas around Grosvenor Road | 7,385 | 2,239 | |
| Donegall | F | Areas currently between Westlink and Railway line, southern boundary Stockman's Lane | 7,789 | 6,227 | |
| Saint Georges | F | Sandy Row and The Village | 7,690 | 2,931 | |
| Cromac | F | Donegall Pass and The Markets | 6,991 | 2,446 | |
| G | Bordered by Antrim Road, Duncairn Gardens, North Queen Street and Clifton Street | 8,090 | 5,097 | ||
| Central | G | Barrack St and John St, Brown Square, City Centre, Docks including all areas between Motorway and Belfast Lough, Henry St and Lancaster St areas, Smithfield, Unity Flats | 7,085 | 2,132 | |
| Shankill | G | Areas between Shankill and Crumlin Roads, east of Cambrai St as far as western half of Crimea St | 8,337 | 5,811 | |
| Crumlin | G | Bounded by Flax St, Ardoyne Ave, Oldpark Ave, Cliftonville Rd, Antrim Rd and Crumlin Rd | 12,414 | 3,250 | |
| Court | G | From Carlisle Circus, down the Westlink, up Divis Street, along Northumberland Street, the Shankill Road, Crimea Street and then down the Crumlin Road to Carlisle Circus | 7,345 | 3,325 | |
| North Howard | G | Starting from the Falls Rd, along North Howard St, Cupar Way and Lanark Way, down the Shankill Rd and along Northumberland St and the Falls Rd | 6,957 | 1,883 | |
| Bellevue | H | Bellevue | 7,530 | 6,256 | |
| Castleview | H | Innisfayle, Downview and Parkmount areas | 7,653 | 6,766 | |
| Grove | H | Areas from Skegoniell Avenue to Mountcollyer Street and Lower Cavehill Road to Kansas Avenue | 6,230 | 4,635 | |
| Duncairn | H | 8,408 | 4,196 | ||
| Fortwilliam | H | Fortwilliam | 6,690 | 5,879 | |
| Cavehill | H | Cavehill Road and areas to Kansas Avenue | 8,430 | 8,239 | |
| Cliftonville | H | Cliftonville, Torrens and Brookvale areas | 9,637 | 7,537 | |