Council election: DUP set to remain biggest party in Ards and North Down, but Alliance hoping to make gains

Alliance have made recent ground in Ards and North Down, taking a seat in each of the seven DEAs in 2014.

Their aim will be to hold on to their seats in each of those seven DEA while also strengthening in Bangor West, Holywood and Clandeboye, and Newtownards where they are fielding two candidates.

Connie Egan is one of the new candidates hoping to boost not just Alliance numbers on council, but also give a better female representation.

In the lead up to the election she tweeted: “Only 16 out of 68 candidates standing for @ANDborough are women. This simply isn’t good enough. @allianceparty candidates in the borough are 50/50, we worked hard as an association to achieve this. More needs to be done to address the barriers women face to entering politics.”

Connie who has campaigned for marriage equality in Northern Ireland said she would love to see the council promoting more LGBT+ events in the borough.

A steady Alliance presence on Ards and North Down council may reflect a more liberal inclination in voters in the area, though it’s hard to see any nationalist other than the SDLP’s Joe Boyle sitting in this unionist dominated chamber.

Ards and North Down is a staunchly Christian council reflected by the fact that meetings begin with prayers.

Veteran politician Mr Boyle has been a mainstay on the council, also running unsuccessfully for MLA since 2003.

The party recognises there are no gains to be made in Ards and North Down as Mr Boyle remains the only candidate they’ve fielded across seven electoral areas.

Sinn Fein similarly aren’t going gung ho to crack the council area, fielding just two candidates – Murdoch McKibbin in Ards Peninsula and Kieran Maxwell in Bangor West.

The DUP currently have 17 seats on Ards and North Down council and few would predict a major change in that power base.

The next highest represented party is the UUP with nine seats and Alliance with seven seats.

Rather than a straight fight between the UUP and Alliance for those 16 seats, it’s likely both parties will retain their numbers and seek to pick up extra seats from Independent candidates and the likes of the Green Party and the TUV.

A total of 68 candidates will be vying for 40 seats in the council area.

Bangor Central will be the most contested DEA within Ards and North Down with 13 councillors vying for six seats.

Given the DUP’s position of power they have been able to field a new candidate for the Bangor Central – politics student James Cochrane, who is running alongside Alistair Cathcart and Wesley Irvine.

Another one to watch in Bangor Central is Noelle Robinson who was elected on to council as a Green Party candidate but has since become an Independent councillor.

She left the party following comments from Green Party leader Steven Agnew when he said that he did not see the point in making it illegal to be a member of a terrorist organisation.

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Ards Peninsula

6 candidates to be elected out of 10

Robert Hugh Adair, DUP

Joe Boyle, SDLP

Angus Carson, UUP

Matt Davey, UKIP

Nigel Edmund, DUP

Lorna McAlpine, Alliance

Murdoch McKibbin, Sinn Fein

Tim Mullen, Cons and Unionist

Michele Anne Strong, Green

Eddie Thompson, DUP

Bangor Central

6 candidates to be elected out of 13

Craig Blaney, UUP

Alistair John Cathcart, DUP

James Cochrane, DUP

Karen Douglas, Alliance

Stephen Dunlop, Green

Ian Henry, UUP

Wesley Graham Irvine, DUP

Maria Lourenco, Independent

Ray McKimm, Independent

John Montogomery, UKIP

Gavan Reynolds, Independent

Noelle Robinson, Independent

Frank Shivers, Cons and Unionist

Bangor West

5 candidates to be elected out of 8

Connie Egan, Alliance

Ben English, Cons and Unionist

Jennifer Mary Gilmour, DUP

Alan Graham, DUP

Barry McKee, Green

Kieran Maxwell, Sinn Fein

Marion Smith, UUP

Scott Wilson, Alliance

Bangor East and Donaghadee

6 candidates to be elected out of 9

Mark Brooks, UUP

David Alan Chambers, UUP

Bill Keery, DUP

Paul Leeman, Cons and Unionist

Janice McArthur, DUP

Peter James Martin, DUP

Hannah Irwin McNamara, Green

Tom Smith, Independent

Gavin Walker, Alliance

Comber

5 candidates to be elected out of 9

Ricky Bamford, Green

Stephen James Cooper, TUV

Trevor Cummings, DUP

Robert Gibson, DUP

Deborah Girvan, Alliance

John Montgomery, DUP

Michael Palmer, UUP

John Sloan, Independent

Philip Smith, UUP

Holywood and Clandeboye

5 candidates to be elected out of 8

Roberta Dunlop, DUP

Stephen Gordon Dunne, DUP

Gillian Greer, Alliance

Tim Lemon, UUP

Carl McClean, UUP

Andrew Muir, Alliance

Andrew Turner, Cons and Unionist

Rachel Elizabeth Woods, Green

Newtownards

7 candidates to be elected out of 11

Naomi Armstrong, DUP

Paul Robert James Corry, UKIP

Ian Dickson, UUP

Colin Kennedy, DUP

Ben King, Independent

Maurice Macartney, Green

Alan Joseph McDowell, Alliance

Stephen McIlveen, DUP

Nick Mathison, Alliance

Jimmy Menagh, Independent

Richard Smart, UUP