Borough Council
The present borough of Ballymena was created in 1973 from the merging of the former municipal borough of Ballymena with most of the surrounding Ballymena Rural District. The new council inherited the 1937 charter of incorporation of the municipal borough, continuing the borough status and mayoralty.
The borough is divided into four electoral areas: Ballymena North, Ballymena South, Bannside, and Braid, from which 24 members are elected. The entire council is elected every four years by proportional representation. The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 2008, Shaun Woodward, 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 As of February 2012, the political composition of the council was:
- 12 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)
- 4 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
- 2 Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV)
- 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)
- 2 Sinn Féin
- 1 Alliance
- 1 Independent. The Mayor of Ballymena for 2011-12 is Councillor Hubert Nicholl (DUP).
Read more about this topic: Ballymena (borough)
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