Local elections were held in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
on Thursday 22 May 2014, contesting 462 seats in all, as part of the wider
local elections across the United Kingdom. The election took place on the same day as the
European Parliament election
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until 2019, 751 ...
.
1,243,649 people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote, and 51.3% of the electorate turned out.
Voter eligibility
All voters were required to present one piece of
photographic ID in order to cast a vote at the
polling station
A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English, British English and Canadian English although a polling place is the building and polling station is the specific ...
. Accepted forms of ID were an
electoral identity card, an
EEA photographic
driving licence
A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, car ...
, a
European Union member-state passport, a
Translink 60+ SmartPass, a Translink Senior SmartPass, a Translink Blind Person's SmartPass or a Translink War Disabled SmartPass. Voters lacking an accepted type of photographic ID had until 9 May 2014 to apply for an electoral identity card from the
Electoral Office.
Background
The elections represented a milestone in the
reform of local government in Northern Ireland
Reform of local government in Northern Ireland saw the replacement of the twenty-six districts created in 1973 with a smaller number of "super districts". The review process began in 2002, with proposals for either seven or eleven districts made ...
, as councillors were elected to 11 new councils. These operated in shadow form until Wednesday 1 April 2015, with the current 26 councils existing in parallel until then.
The 11 new councils, with links to the official lists of candidates standing ("statements of persons nominated"), are:
#
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...
Candidates
# North Down and Ards District Council Candidates
# Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council Candidates
# Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council Candidates
#Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin'') is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Down District Council and Newry and ...
Candidates
# Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council Candidates
# Mid and East Antrim District Council Candidates
# Causeway Coast and Glens District Council Candidates
# Mid-Ulster District Council Candidates
#Derry and Strabane District Council
Derry City and Strabane District Council (; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie & Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') is the local authority for Derry and Strabane district in Northern Ireland. It was created as part of the 2014 Northern Ireland local go ...
Candidates
#Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (; Ulster-Scots: ''Districk Cooncil o Fermanagh an Omey'') is a local authority in Northern Ireland and was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Fermanagh District Council and Omagh District Council an ...
Candidates
The local government reorganisation and electoral administration was mandated by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014. Nominations of election candidates closed on 29 April 2014.
Results
Because these elections were contested with new electoral boundaries, the results are not directly comparable with those of the last election. However, psephologist Nicholas Whyte has calculated a baseline by which to judge the parties' relative performance.
Largest Party by Council
Results by Council
Belfast
Results by party
Councils
Antrim and Newtownabbey
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon
Belfast
Causeway Coast and Glens
Derry and Strabane
Fermanagh and Omagh
Lisburn and Castlereagh
Mid and East Antrim
Mid Ulster
Newry, Mourne and Down
North Down and Ards
References
{{United Kingdom local elections, 2014
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...