1997 Ards Borough Council election

Elections to Ards Borough Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

Election results
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary
!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! %
 * - class="unsortable" align="centre"

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Ards East
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|52.1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|4
 * 23.0
 * 1
 * 15.3
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 9.6
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Ards West
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|56.1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|3
 * 18.8
 * 1
 * 25.1
 * 2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Newtownards
 * 26.6
 * 2
 * 18.6
 * 1
 * 15.4
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * bgcolor="#0077FF"|39.4
 * bgcolor="#0077FF"|2
 * 6
 * align="left"|Peninsula
 * 22.6
 * 1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|29.7
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 28.8
 * 1
 * 18.2
 * 1
 * 0.7
 * 0
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 39.6
 * 10
 * 22.6
 * 5
 * 21.1
 * 5
 * 4.6
 * 1
 * 12.1
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * 12.1
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * }

Ards East
1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1997: 4 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1993-1997 Change: UUP gain from DUP

Ards West
1993: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

1997: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP

1993-1997 Change: No change

Newtownards
1993: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

1997: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1993-1997 Change: Independent Unionist gain from DUP

Peninsula
1993: 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent

1997: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from Alliance and Independent