1997 Down District Council election

Elections to Down District 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

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Sinn Féin !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | NIWC !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Ballynahinch
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|46.8
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 24.0
 * 1
 * 24.9
 * 1
 * 4.3
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Downpatrick
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|61.0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|5
 * 13.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 10.8
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 15.0
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Newcastle
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|47.2
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 17.6
 * 1
 * 9.4
 * 0
 * 14.2
 * 1
 * 7.4
 * 1
 * 4.2
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Rowallane
 * 26.6
 * 1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|43.9
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|3
 * 15.1
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 14.4
 * 0
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 46.0
 * 12
 * 24.1
 * 6
 * 11.9
 * 2
 * 7.6
 * 2
 * 1.9
 * 1
 * 8.5
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * 8.5
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * }

Ballynahinch
1993: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP

1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP

1993-1997 Change: SDLP gain from UUP

Downpatrick
1993: 6 x SDLP, 1 x UUP

1997: 5 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP

1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Newcastle
1993: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP

1997: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Women's Coalition

1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin and Women's Coalition gain from SDLP and DUP

Rowallane
1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

1993-1997 Change: No change