BELFAST CITY COUNCIL

'Belfast City Council' is the largest local council serving the largest city in Northern Ireland which had an estimated population of in Belfast City Hall. Belfast was also the first seat of government for Northern Ireland. The council was created on its current boundaries following the local council elections of May 1973. Originally it was intended that there would be 52 wards. However, local enquiries meant that the proposed Tullycarnet ward became instead the Castlereagh Borough Council wards of Tullycarnet and Gilnahirk.

Contents

Electoral areas

1997 Election results

2005 Election results

Lord Mayor, High Sheriff

Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies

Assets

Councillors

Parks and Open Spaces

See also

References

External links

Electoral areas

The current Belfast City Council area consists of 9 electoral areas: Old park, Castle, Victoria, Pottinger, Laganbank, Balmoral, Upper Falls, Lower Falls and Court. In the 2005 local government elections, the voters of Belfast elected a total of 51 councillors from the following political parties: 15 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 14 Sinn Féin, 8 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 7 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party, 2 Progressive Unionist Party and 1 Independent who was previously a member of the (Unionist) Ulster Democratic Party.
In 2006, the local government boundary commission published proposals to extend Belfast into the neighbouring districts of Castlereagh and Lisburn, as well as adding a small part of North Down. The proposed extension mostly comprises the communities of Poleglass, Twin brook, Dunmurry, Lagmore, Belvoir, Cregagh, Braniel, Gilnahirk and Tullycarnet. However some have suggested extending the council further into Castlereagh and Newtownabbey councils and these proposals have recently been discussed at a local enquiry.^[1]

1997 Election results

In 1997, Unionists lost overall control of Belfast City Council for the first time in its history, with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland gaining the balance of power between Nationalists and Unionists. This position was confirmed in the council elections of 2001 and 2005. Since then it has had three Nationalist mayors, two from the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and one from Sinn Féin.

2005 Election results

In the 2005 local government elections, the voters of Belfast elected fifty-one councillors to Belfast City Council from the following political parties: 15 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 14 Sinn Féin, 8 Social Democratic and abour Party (SDLP), 7 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party, 2 Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and 1 Independent.^[2] The Independent is Frank McCoubrey who is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group, the successor to the Ulster Democratic Party.

Party		seats	change +/-
•	Democratic Unionist Party	15	+5
•	Sinn Féin	14	=
•	Social Democratic and Labour Party	8	-1
•	Ulster Unionist Party	7	-4
•	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	4	+1
•	Progressive Unionist Party	2	-1
•	Independent	1	=

Lord Mayor, High Sheriff

The city of Belfast has a mayoral form of municipal government. The City's elected officials are the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and High Sheriff who are drawn from fifty one elected councillors. The first Lord Mayor of Belfast was Daniel Dixon, who was elected in 1892.^[3] As of June 2007, the Lord Mayor of Belfast is Ulster Unionist Party politician, Jim Rodgers, who previously served in the same office in 2001. His duties, as mayor of Belfast, include presiding over meetings of the council, receiving distinguished visitors to the city, and representing and promoting the city on the national and international stage.
His deputy is Councillor Bernie Kelly (SDLP). The city council also (uniquely amongst Northern Ireland's councils) elects a High Sheriff, who acts as the Queen's representative in the city; the current holder of that office is Councillor Jim Kirkpatrick (DUP).

Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies

Belfast has four UK parliamentary and Assembly constituencies - North Belfast, West Belfast, South Belfast and East Belfast. All four extend somewhat beyond the city boundaries into parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn and Newtownabbey districts. In 2007, the people of Belfast elected 8 Sinn Féin, 7 DUP, 3 Ulster Unionist, 4 SDLP, 1 PUP and 2 Alliance members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. In the 2005 general election, they elected 2 DUP MPs, 1 SDLP MP and 1 Sinn Féin MP.

Assets

The council owns a number of buildings and parks in Belfast, including Belfast Castle and Belfast Botanic Gardens.

Councillors

Year	APNI	DUP	PUP	SF	SDLP	UDP	UPNI	UUP	Workers	Others
1973	8	2	-	-	7	-	-	25	2	7
1977	13	7	-	-	8	-	2	15	1	2
1981	7	15	1	-	6	-	1	13	0	8
1985	8	11	1	7	6	-	-	14	1	3
1989	6	8	1	8	8	-	-	14	1	5
1993	5	9	1	10	9	-	-	15	0	2
1997	6	7	3	13	7	1	-	13	0	1
2001	3	10	3	14	9	-	-	11	0	1
2005	4	15	2	14	8	-	-	7	0	1

Parks and Open Spaces

Belfast City Council is also responsible for the City's Parks. They maintain the city's green spaces and organising park events and activities. They also work to promote some of Belfast’s biggest tourist attractions, like Belfast Zoo and Malone House.

See also

★ Local Councils in Northern Ireland

★ List of parks in Northern Ireland

References

1. Written Representations
2. Belfast City Council Elections 1993-2005
3. Councillors: Lord Mayor

External links

★ Go To Belfast - Tourism

★ Belfast City Council Minutes — unofficial wiki with annotated and cross-referenced minutes of meetings of Belfast City Council

★ Belfast City Council, 1993 - 2005