Ards West (District Electoral Area)

Ards West was one of the four district electoral areas in Ards, Northern Ireland which existed from 1985 to 2014. The district elected seven members to Ards Borough Council, and formed part of Strangford constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.

Ards West DEA (1993-2014) within Ards

It was created for the 1985 local elections, replacing Ards Area C which had existed since 1973, and contained the wards of Ballygowan, Comber North, Comber South, Comber West, Killinchy and West Winds. It was abolished for the 2014 local elections and replaced by the Comber DEA.

Councillors

Election	Councillor (party)		Councillor (party)		Councillor (party)		Councillor (party)		Councillor (party)		Councillor (party)
2011		Deborah Girvan (Alliance)		Philip Smith (UUP)		James Fletcher (UUP)		Trevor Cummings (DUP)		Mervyn Oswald (DUP)		Robert Gibson (DUP)/ (UUP)
2005		Jim McBriar (Alliance)		Margaret Craig (DUP)/ (UUP)				William Montgomery (DUP)
2001						Philip Smith (UUP)				David Gilmore (DUP)
1997						David McNarry (UUP)		Kathleen Coulter (Alliance)
1993						Stanley McCoy (UUP)				Simpson Gibson (DUP)
1989				Bobby McBride (UUP)/ (DUP)		Edward Archdale (UUP)		David McKibbin (DUP)		John Hamilton (DUP)
1985						Stanley McCoy (UUP)		Thomas Gourley (DUP)

2011 election

2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2011: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2005-2011 change: No change

Ards West - 6 seats^[1]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Robert Gibson*	23.10%	1,519
	DUP	Trevor Cummings	16.13%	1,061
	DUP	Mervyn Oswald*	13.20%	868	1,300.12
	UUP	James Fletcher*	13.40%	881	929.75	1,063.31
	UUP	Philip Smith	7.16%	471	497.91	615.72	663.56	767.51	935.53
	Alliance	Deborah Girvan	11.60%	763	775.87	804.22	832.61	833.24	872.75
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	8.24%	542	572.03	600.38	619.77	623.55	661.78
	TUV	Jack Allister	5.22%	343	358.21	400.42	412.81	414.07
	NI Conservatives	Bill McKendry	1.96%	129	133.68	138.72
Electorate: 13,199   Valid: 6,577 (49.83%)   Spoilt: 115   Quota: 941   Turnout: 6,692 (50.70%)

2005 election

2001: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2005: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

2001-2005 change: No change

Ards West - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	Margaret Craig*	17.51%	1,227
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	15.27%	1,070
	UUP	Robert Gibson*	14.04%	984	1,003.26
	UUP	James Fletcher	11.36%	796	804.1	1,154.1
	DUP	William Montgomery*	13.69%	959	994.28	1,021.28
	DUP	Mervyn Oswald	12.56%	880	893.14	915.04	981.04
	DUP	David Gilmore*	9.21%	645	784.14	798.04	851.04
	UUP	Philip Smith*	6.37%	446	449.78
Electorate: 12,766   Valid: 7,007 (54.89%)   Spoilt: 140   Quota: 1,002   Turnout: 7,147 (55.98%)

2001 election

1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

2001: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1997-2001 change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and Alliance

Ards West - 6 seats^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Robert Gibson*	30.56%	2,454
	DUP	Margaret Craig*	15.32%	1,230
	UUP	Philip Smith	7.78%	625	1,516.55
	DUP	William Montgomery	12.94%	1,039	1,098.95	1,100.56	1,117.89	1,124.49	1,175.49
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	9.41%	756	835.75	840.35	866.23	867.07	1,023.47
	DUP	David Gilmore*	8.63%	693	789.25	794.08	810.63	873.15	1,001.09
	Alliance	Kathleen Coulter*	9.12%	732	791.4	795.08	842.96	843.92	965.11
	UUP	Arthur Spence	3.87%	311	412.75	762.35	829.73	830.93
	NI Conservatives	Christopher Connolly	2.37%	190	205.4	207.01
Electorate: 13,602   Valid: 8,030 (59.04%)   Spoilt: 223   Quota: 1,148   Turnout: 8,253 (60.67%)

1997 election

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

1993-1997 change: No change

Ards West - 6 seats^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Robert Gibson*	22.59%	1,103
	UUP	David McNarry	21.83%	1,066
	Alliance	Kathleen Coulter*	15.18%	741
	UUP	Margaret Craig*	11.71%	572	871.52
	DUP	David Gilmore	13.00%	635	683.75	877.19
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	9.85%	481	511.03	595.27	599.43	654.81	693.81
	DUP	Lorraine Gilmore	5.84%	285	311.13	398.49	552.93	649.26	650.58
Electorate: 12,917   Valid: 4,883 (37.80%)   Spoilt: 70   Quota: 698   Turnout: 4,953 (38.34%)

1993 election

1989: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

1989-1993 change: Alliance gain from DUP

Ards West - 6 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	UUP	Robert Gibson*	26.41%	1,318
	DUP	Simpson Gibson*	14.75%	736
	UUP	Margaret Craig	12.92%	645	906.6
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	12.70%	634	671.44	684.15	750.15
	Alliance	Kathleen Coulter	12.34%	616	628.48	637.91	712.68
	UUP	Stanley McCoy	5.39%	269	472.52	604.13	674.94
	DUP	Richard Finlay	9.64%	481	542.44	571.55	611.56
	NI Conservatives	Robert Darnley	5.85%	292	307.84	315.22
Electorate: 12,414   Valid: 4,991 (40.20%)   Spoilt: 118   Quota: 714   Turnout: 5,109 (41.16%)

1989 election

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1989: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1985-1989 change: UUP gain from DUP

Ards West - 6 seats^[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Robert Gibson*	23.16%	1,375
	UUP	Edward Archdale	13.73%	815	930.05
	UUP	Bobby McBride*	13.02%	773	856.46
	DUP	David McKibbin	10.43%	619	698.17	702.09	759.48	887.48
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	11.12%	660	692.37	696.57	700.57	706.8	1,072.8
	DUP	John Hamilton*	10.97%	651	684.15	689.47	727.47	817.61	822.78
	UUP	William Elliott	4.60%	273	427.05	488.37	497.65	515	530.07
	Alliance	Alan McDowell	6.52%	387	393.24	394.08	400.08	402.08
	DUP	Glynn Moore	3.20%	190	205.21	207.45	268.12
	DUP	Andrew Marks	3.27%	194	195.17	196.01
Electorate: 13,303   Valid: 5,937 (44.63%)   Spoilt: 136   Quota: 849   Turnout: 6,073 (45.65%)

1985 election

1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

Ards West - 6 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Thomas Gourley*	24.29%	1,493
	UUP	Robert Gibson	24.13%	1,483
	DUP	John Hamilton*	9.58%	589	1,040.82
	Alliance	Jim McBriar*	13.00%	799	816.63	851.07	854.37	1,098.37
	UUP	Stanley McCoy	10.27%	631	666.26	801.92	809.72	899.72
	DUP	Bobby McBride	9.08%	558	626.88	658.38	798.93	830.63	860.63
	UUP	Trevor Hussey	2.80%	172	187.58	529.46	534.56	625.38	716.38
	Alliance	Alan McDowell	4.03%	248	249.23	257.63	257.78
	UUP	Arthur Spence	2.13%	131	135.92	166.58	167.93
	Independent	Johnston Haire	0.70%	43	53.66	70.46	71.06
Electorate: 12,416   Valid: 6,147 (49.51%)   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 879   Turnout: 6,290 (50.66%)