Balmoral (from the gle, Baile Mhoireil) is the most southern of ten district electoral areas (DEA) in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Northern Ireland. The district elects five members to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

and contains the wards of Belvoir; Finaghy; Malone; Musgrave; Windsor; and Upper Malone. Balmoral, along with neighbouring Botanic, forms the greater part of the Belfast South constituencies for the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

and

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. The district is bounded to the west and south west by the

M1 Motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

, to east and south east by the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. T ...

, to the east and north east by the

Malone Road The Malone Road () is a radial road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, leading from the university quarter southwards to the affluent suburbs of Malone and Upper Malone, each a separate electoral ward. The road runs parallel to the Lisburn Road and i ...

and to the north by

Belfast City Hospital The Belfast City Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Chathair Bhéal Feirste) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block d ...

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and Royal Victoria Hospital. The

Lisburn Road Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the " Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel t ...

is the main arterial route through the centre of the district, which also contains a number of public facilities including: the King's Hall conference and exhibition centre, the

Musgrave Park Hospital Musgrave Park Hospital is a specialist hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in orthopaedics, rheumatology, sports medicine and rehabilitation of patients of all ages. These specialties are spread out across a large site in the ...

Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park The Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a park in South Belfast, Northern Ireland, covering almost and is accessible from the Upper Malone Road. It includes meadows, woodland, riverside fields, formal rose gardens, a walled garden and a Japanese ...

and

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Li ...

, the home ground of the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Fo ...

. It is served by the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Balmoral and Finaghy railway stations.

History

The DEA was created for the 1985 local elections, where it contained five wards. Four of the wards came from the abolished Area C, which it effectively replaced, with the final ward, Blackstaff, coming from Area F. From the 1993 local elections to the 2011 elections, the area contained six wards, following the creation of the Musgrave ward. For the 2014 local elections, it lost the wards of Blackstaff and Windsor and gained the Belvoir ward, which had previously been part of the abolished Castlereagh Borough Council. This was as a result of the 2014 Local Government Reform.

Wards (1985–2011)

Councillors

In May 2011, Councillors

Tom Ekin The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...

, Ruth Patterson and Bob Stoker were appointed as

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

by Belfast City Council. Alderman Ruth Patterson also served as Deputy Lord Mayor, 2011–12, while Mairtin O'Muilleoir is serving as Lord Mayor for 2013–14.

2023 Elections

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Fein 2023: 2019-2023 Change:

2019 Elections

2014: 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Fein, 1 x UUP 2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Fein 2014-2019 Change: DUP gain from UUP

2014 Elections

This election was carried out under new ward boundaries, as a result of local government reform. 2014: 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Fein, 1 x UUP

2011 Elections

References

{{coord, 54.567, -5.967, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Electoral wards of Belfast 1985 establishments in Northern Ireland