The 2023 election to Belfast City Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England. The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.
Voters returned 60 members to the council via single transferable vote. Typical for Northern Ireland, the council remained with no overall control but Sinn Féin remained the single largest party, but fell short of a majority despite a net gain of 4 seats.
Election results
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#f2f2f2;text-align:center;margin-bottom:-1px;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:.2em .4em" | Total | style="text-align:right;" | 60
| style="text-align:right;" | 124,914 |<noinclude>
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.
Districts summary
|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|District Electoral Area (DEA) ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs !rowspan=2|Totalcllrs |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Sinn Féin !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Green !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | PBP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | TUV !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Independents and others |- |align="left"|Balmoral |24.08 |1 |22.78 |1 1 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|25.54 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|2 1 |18.96 |1 |3.26 |0 |5.39 |0 |0.00 |0 |0.00 |0 |0.00 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Black Mountain |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|72.52 |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|6 |0.00 |0 |1.04 |0 |10.55 |1 1 |0.43 |0 |0.00 |0 |8.24 |0 1 |0.00 |0 |7.23 |0 |7 |- |align="left"|Botanic |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|24.36 |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|1 |19.08 |1 |17.12 |1 |17.76 |1 |9.50 |1 |3.59 |0 |2.91 |0 |2.95 |0 |2.74 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Castle |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|36.96 |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|2 1 |28.02 |2 |11.31 |1 |8.51 |1 |7.96 |0 1 |4.50 |0 |2.03 |0 |0.00 |0 |0.70 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Collin |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|71.64 |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|5 1 |0.00 |0 |3.52 |0 |6.47 |0 1 |1.63 |0 |0.00 |0 |8.54 |1 |0.00 |0 |8.19 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Court |28.59 |2 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|45.09 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3 |2.74 |0 |1.46 |0 |0.90 |0 |0.00 |0 |3.39 |0 |8.01 |1 |9.83 |0 1 |6 |- |align="left"|Lisnasharragh |10.28 |0 |26.24 |2 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|29.03 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|2 |13.19 |1 |9.66 |1 |6.85 |0 |1.67 |0 |3.07 |0 |0.00 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Oldpark |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|50.53 |bgcolor="#008800" style="color:#fff;"|4 1 |17.64 |1 |3.66 |0 |1.98 |0 1 |1.20 |0 |0.00 |0 |5.66 |0 1 |4.81 |0 |14.50 |1 1 |6 |- |align="left"|Ormiston |1.22 |0 |28.24 |2 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|44.27 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|3 |0.74 |0 |6.99 |1 |12.95 |1 |0.82 |0 |4.76 |0 |0.00 |0 |7 |- |align="left"|Titanic |12.90 |1 1 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|35.79 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |25.20 |2 |1.30 |0 |9.42 |0 |9.72 |1 |0.00 |0 |5.67 |0 |0.00 |0 1 |6 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9" |align="left"| Total |35.39 |22 4 |21.31 |14 1 |15.88 |11 1 |7.76 |5 1 |4.78 |3 1 |4.10 |2 |3.60 |1 2 |2.79 |1 1 |4.40 |1 1 |60
District results
Balmoral
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin
2023: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin
2019–2023 Change: Alliance gain from DUP
Black Mountain
2019: 6 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit
2023: 6 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP
2019–2023 Change: SDLP gain from People Before Profit
Botanic
2019: 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Green, 1 x SDLP
2023: 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Green
2019–2023 Change: No change
Castle
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green
2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green
Collin
2019: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit, 1 x SDLP
2023: 5 x Sinn Féin, 1 x People Before Profit
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
Court
2019: 3 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x PUP
2023: 3 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x TUV
2019–2023 Change: TUV gain from PUP
Lisnasharragh
2019: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green
2023: 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green
2019–2023 Change: No Change
Oldpark
2019: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x People Before Profit
2023: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and Independent gain from SDLP and People Before Profit
Ormiston
2019: 3 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green
2023: 3 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Green
2019–2023 Change: No change
Titanic
2019: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x PUP
2023: 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from PUP
Changes during the term † Co-options Date co-optedElectoral AreaPartyOutgoingCo-opteeReason 27 February 2024 Botanic John Gormley Conor McKay Gormley resigned. 16 May 2024 Ormiston Ross McMullan Hedley Abernethy McMullan resigned. 13 August 2024 Balmoral Geraldine McAteer Natasha Brennan McAteer resigned. 6 January 2025 Collin Clíodhna Nic Bhranair Siobhán McCallin Resigned to focus on job in Stormont. 5 September 2025 Castle Conor Maskey Luke Meenehan Maskey resigned.
‡ Changes in affiliation DateElectoral AreaNamePrevious affiliationNew affiliationCircumstance4 November 2024OldparkJJ Magee Suspended from Sinn Féin over allegations of inappropriately messaging a minor.25 January 2025OldparkJJ Magee Had whip restored following standards commissioner decision.25 April 2026Black MountainPaul Doherty Resigned from party following their abstention on a vote to take down a statue of Bobby Sands.2 June 2026LisnasharraghEric Hanvey Resigned from Alliance over disagreements including joining the Northern Ireland Executive rather than opposition.
Notes
References