Belfast City Council is the largest Local Council serving the largest city in Northern Ireland which has a population of 277,391. The Council is based in Belfast City Hall . Belfast is also the seat of government for Northern Ireland.

The Belfast City Council area consists of 9 electoral areas: Old Park, Castle, Victoria, Pottinger, Laganbank, Balmoral, Upper Falls, Lower Falls and Court. In the 2001 elections, the voters of Belfast elected a total of 51 councillors from the following political parties: 14 Sinn Féin, 11 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 10 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 9 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 3 Alliance Party, 3 Progressive Unionist Party and 1 Ulster Democratic Party. The current Mayor is Councillor Tom Ekin (Alliance) and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor Joe O'Donnell (Sinn Fein).

The next election is due to take place in May 2005.

Belfast has four UK parliamentary and Assembly constituencies - North Belfast, West Belfast, South Belfast and East Belfast. All four extend somewhat beyond the city boundaries into parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn and Newtownabbey districts. In 2001, these elected 2 DUP MPs, 1 Ulster Unionist MP and 1 Sinn Féin MP. In 2003, they elected 6 DUP, 5 Ulster Unionist, 1 PUP, 1 Alliance, 4 SDLP and 7 Sinn Fein members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

See Also: Local Councils in Northern Ireland

External Link: Go To Belfast - Tourism