Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and

Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mi ...

in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council. History On 2 December 2021, the councils chief ex ...

. The borough of Ballymena was created in 1973 from the merging of the former

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

of Ballymena with most of the surrounding Ballymena Rural District. The new council inherited the 1937

charter of incorporation A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

of the municipal borough, continuing the borough status and mayoralty.

Makeup

The borough was divided into four electoral areas: Ballymena North, Ballymena South, Bannside, and Braid, from which 24 members were elected. The entire council was elected every four years by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 2008,

Shaun Woodward Shaun Anthony Woodward (born 26 October 1958) is a British politician who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens South from 2001 to 2015. He served in the cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for North ...

, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011. The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the most recent district council elections took place in 2011 In February 2012, the political composition of the council was: *12 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) *4

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

(UUP) *2

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place ...

(TUV) *2

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP) *2

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. The Mayor of Ballymena for 2011-12 was Councillor Hubert Nicholl (DUP).

Population

The area covered by the former Ballymena Borough Council has a population of 64,044 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

References

{{1972 districts of Northern Ireland District councils of Northern Ireland, 1973–2015