Belfast City Council
"[11] The Queen's University Students' Union Rag Week publication PTQ derives its name from the first three words of the motto.The top (chief) of the shield is silver (argent), and has a point-down triangle (a pile) with a repeating blue-and-white pattern that represents fur (vair).[12] A large stained glass window in the City Hall displays the arms, where an explanation suggests that the seahorse and the ship refer to Belfast's significant maritime history.However, as the PR-STV voting system requires multi-seat constituencies, the 60 wards are grouped into ten district electoral areas (DEA) which elect between five and seven councillors each:The current members are: The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council and is elected annually by the council to serve a one-year term.The Local Government (Modification of Borough Charters) Order (Northern Ireland) 1973 entitles the council to appoint up to twelve of its members to the honorary position of alderman.[20] The present Alderman are:[21] The High Sheriff of Belfast is a largely ceremonial position currently held by Sammy Douglas who took office on 1 January 2024.Appointments are made on annual basis by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who asks the outgoing High Sheriff and the council to suggest the names of three people who are deemed suitable to hold the position.[4] The new electoral areas are Balmoral, Black Mountain, Botanic, Castle, Collin, Court, Lisnasharragh, Oldpark, Ormiston and Titanic.[25] Belfast has four coterminous constituencies for the UK Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly, which extend somewhat beyond the city boundaries into parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn and Newtownabbey districts.The posts of chairman and deputy chairman of committees are allocated on the basis of the d'Hondt system of proportionality: Minutes of meetings of council committees and subcommittees are available at Belfast City Council (searchable) and at Belfast NI Gov Wiki (unofficial site).The area covered by the current Belfast City Council has a population of 333,871 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.The area covered by the old Belfast City Council before the 2015 local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland had a population of 280,962 residents according to the same census.[26] In the 2011 census the distributions of population, religion, national identity and proportion of immigrants within the Belfast City Council area were as follows.On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Belfast Local Government District was 333,871 accounting for 18.44% of the NI total.
Coat of armsDistrict councilLord MayorAlliance Party of Northern IrelandDeputy Lord MayorDemocratic Unionist Party18 May 2023Belfast City Halllocal authorityBelfastNorthern IrelandBelfast Metropolitan Areacommuter towns2014/2015 reformfirst elections to the expanded city councilHistory of BelfastPlantation of UlsterProtestantUlsterCity Hallcounty boroughQueen VictoriaCounty AntrimCounty DownRiver LaganRoman CatholicUlster ProtestantunionistsIrish nationalistsSinn FéinSocial Democratic and Labour PartyCoat of arms of BelfastVulgate BibleQueen's UniversityRag WeekKing James ISir Arthur Chichesterlatest election to Belfast City CouncilAllianceGreen (NI)People Before ProfitIndependentelection in 1973Ulster Unionist PartyAlliance PartyGreen Party Northern IrelandTraditional Unionist VoiceUlster Democratic PartyIndependent UnionistWorkers' PartyProtestant UnionistPeople's DemocracyIrish Republican Socialist PartyUnionist Party of Northern IrelandIndependent SocialistAnti H-BlockRepublican ClubsNorthern Ireland Labour Party2023 Belfast City Council election60 electoral wardsPR-STVmulti-seat constituenciesBalmoralBlack MountainBotanicCastleCollinLisnasharraghOldparkOrmistonTitanic Sinn Féin Alliance Alliance Sinn Féin Green (NI)Fred CobainSéanna Walsh People Before ProfitFrank McCoubreyTina BlackMichael Long IndependentJim RodgersSammy DouglasBelfast City Coat of ArmsThe Right HonourableTerm lengthSir Daniel DixonLord Mayor of BelfastDublinSenate of Northern Irelandpartition of IrelandDavid CookIrish nationalistAlban MaginnessD'Hondt systemaldermanJim Rodgers OBEOrminstonHigh SheriffSecretary of StateHigh Sheriff of BelfastLord LieutenantLocal Government (Ireland) Act 1898Secretary of State for Northern IrelandLord Lieutenant of BelfastMarquess of Londonderryreformed in 20155 May 201122 May 2014UK ParliamentNorthern Ireland AssemblyCastlereaghLisburnNewtownabbey2019 UK general electionBelfast NorthJohn FinucaneBelfast EastGavin RobinsonBelfast SouthClaire HannaBelfast WestPaul MaskeyNorthern Ireland Assembly election