Belfast City Council
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Belfast City | |
 |
|
| Geography | |
| Area - Total - % Water |
Ranked 23rd 115 km² ? % |
|---|---|
| Admin HQ | Belfast |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-BFS |
| ONS code | 95Z |
| Demographics | |
| Population - Total (2005) - Density |
Ranked 1st 267,999 2,333 / km² |
| Community | Protestant: 48.6% Catholic: 47.2% |
| Politics | |
| Belfast City Council http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ |
|
| MPs | Gerry Adams Nigel Dodds Peter Robinson Alasdair McDonnell |
Belfast City Council is the largest local council serving the largest city in Northern Ireland which had an estimated population of 267,999 in 2005. It is the central council for the Belfast Metropolitan Area which has a population of c.650,000. The Council is based in Belfast City Hall. Belfast is also the (sometime) 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.
The council was originally Unionist dominated with the 1973 council elections electing 32 Unionists against 8 Alliance, 2 NI Labour Party, 7 SDLP and 2 Republican Clubs. However over time the Unionist lead was eroded and finally disappeared after the elections of 1997 when Unionists were reduced to 25 seats from the 51 available.
Contents |
[edit] Electoral areas
The current Belfast City Council area consists of 9 electoral areas: Oldpark, 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.
[edit] Lord Mayor, High Sheriff
The current Lord Mayor is Councillor Pat McCarthy (SDLP) elected on 1st June 2006. The city council also (uniquely amongst Northern Ireland's councils) elects a High Sheriff, who acts as the Queens representative in the city, the current holder of that office is Councillor William Humprey (DUP).
[edit] 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 2003, they elected 7 Sinn Féin, 6 DUP, 5 Ulster Unionist, 4 SDLP, 1 PUP and 1 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.
[edit] Assets
The council owns a number of buildings and parks in Belfast, including Belfast Castle and Belfast Botanic Gardens.
[edit] Councillors
| Year | APNI | DUP | PUP | SF | SDLP | UDP | UUP | Workers | Ind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 8 | 11 | - | 7 | 6 | - | 14 | 1 | 4 |
| 1989 | 6 | 8 | - | 8 | 8 | - | 14 | 1 | 6 |
| 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 |
[edit] See also
[edit] 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
| Districts of Northern Ireland |  |
|---|---|
| Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 | |
| Antrim | Ards | Armagh | Ballymena | Ballymoney | Banbridge | Belfast | Carrickfergus | Castlereagh | Coleraine | Cookstown | Craigavon | Derry | Down | Dungannon and South Tyrone | Fermanagh | Larne | Limavady | Lisburn | Magherafelt | Moyle | Newry and Mourne | Newtownabbey | North Down | Omagh | Strabane | |
