Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Ards and North Down has the 2nd-highest average rates bill in Northern Ireland
Comber is run by Ards and North Down Borough Council, its only council: Northern Ireland has one tier of local government. No party holds a majority; DUP has the most seats, 14 of 40. Its MP is Jim Shannon (DUP), member for Strangford. At Stormont, Strangford elects five MLAs: 2 DUP, 2 Alliance and 1 UUP.
May 2027
Council and Assembly elections are both due.
Electoral Office for Northern Ireland ↗How Comber is run, in three numbers
No party holds a majority
In May 2023 DUP won the most seats on Ards and North Down Borough Council, 14 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs. It ran 17 candidates across the council’s seven district electoral areas and 14 were elected. Who’s in charge ↓
One council area
All of Comber is in the Comber district electoral area. Comber elected 2 DUP, 2 Alliance and 1 UUP from 9 candidates; Cory Quinn (Green), John Sloan (Independent), Sam Patterson (TUV), Stephen Cooper (Independent) were not elected. Turnout there was 49%, 67th of Northern Ireland’s 80 areas. Councillors ↓
Rates up 23% since 2020–21
The average home in Ards and North Down paid £1,286 in rates in 2025–26, 23% more than the £1,049 of 2020–21 (Northern Ireland: 24%). About 44% of a bill is the council’s district rate; the rest is the Executive’s regional rate, which rose faster this year. Rates ↓
Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results, the UK Parliament Members API, and Land & Property Services and Department of Finance rates.
No party holds a majority on Ards and North Down Borough Council
Seats on Ards and North Down Borough Council, as elected in May 2023, and how the other ten councils compare.
- DUP1417 stood
- Alliance1216 stood
- UUP89 stood
- Independent311 stood
- Green27 stood
- SDLP13 stood
As elected on 18 May 2023, with each party’s candidates.
A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. No party has that: DUP is largest with 14. Northern Ireland’s councils share out the chair, deputy chair and committee chairs among the parties in proportion to their seats, so the council is run by several parties together. Alliance is second with 12 seats, from 16 candidates.
Northern Ireland’s 11 councils
Seats by party as elected in May 2023, largest party named. Only one of the 11 has a single-party majority.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), who was elected at each count. A councillor who stands down is replaced by co-option from the same party.
One council, and Stormont for the rest
Comber has no county council and no town or parish council: since 2015 Northern Ireland has had 11 councils, each the only council for its area.
Bins and recycling, leisure centres, parks and cemeteries, local planning, building control, environmental health, licensing, tourism and local economic development, and the community plan.
www.ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk ↗Its departments run what English county councils do and more: schools (the Education Authority), health and social care, roads and street lighting (DfI Roads), and housing (the Northern Ireland Housing Executive). It also sets the regional rate.
northernireland.gov.uk ↗NI Water supplies water and sewerage (paid for through the rates, not a separate bill), Libraries NI runs the libraries, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland the police, overseen by the Policing Board.
Who to ask
Green: the council. Gold: a Stormont department or one of its agencies. Gray: another public body. The police district shares the council’s boundary, so Ards and North Down’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership covers the same ground as the council.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Comber, from the most recent elections.
- 1Ards and North Down Borough Council1 district electoral area · 5 councillorsDUP 2 · Alliance 2 · UUP 1 · all 5
- 2Northern Ireland AssemblyStrangford · 5 MLAsHarry HarveyKellie ArmstrongMichelle McIlveenMike NesbittNick Mathison
- 3House of CommonsStrangford
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own.
5 councillors represent Comber
- Libby Douglas
- Patricia Morgan
- Philip Smith
- Rachel Ashe
- Trevor Cummings
Also stood: Cory Quinn (Green), John Sloan (Independent), Sam Patterson (TUV), Stephen Cooper (Independent).
Each district electoral area elects five to seven councillors by single transferable vote: voters number the candidates in order, and a candidate who reaches the quota is elected, with spare votes passed on to the next preference. An area can reach beyond the town. A councillor who stands down is replaced by their party (co-option), so the names can change without an election.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), who stood and who was elected on 18 May 2023. Democracy Club. First-preference votes and turnout: How Comber voted ↓
First preferences in Comber, May 2023
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,215. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party
The tick is the party’s share across all 80 areas in 2023.
7,381 of Comber’s 15,112 voters turned out, 48.8%, 3rd of Ards and North Down’s seven areas (council 46.6%) and 67th of Northern Ireland’s 80 (average 54.7%). With 7,286 valid votes and five seats the quota was 1,215. Libby Douglas, Philip Smith and Trevor Cummings passed it on first preferences; transfers filled the other seats.
Electoral Office for Northern Ireland: 2023 result sheets and turnout by district electoral area (Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Votes are first preferences at the first count.
Who stood, and who was elected
Every candidate for Ards and North Down Borough Council, by party: the light bar is candidates, the solid bar those elected.
Share of candidates elected, Northern Ireland
Parties with 10 or more candidates across all 11 councils.
73 candidates stood for 40 seats across Ards and North Down Borough Council in May 2023, 1.8 for each seat (Northern Ireland: 1.75). By candidates per seat, Comber ranked 27th (9 for 5) of Northern Ireland’s 80 areas, where 1st is the most contested. DUP elected 14 of its 17 candidates; Alliance won 12 of 16 and UUP won 8 of 9.
The 2023 council election: same source as Councillors, above. Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0): candidates and who was elected, 18 May 2023, all 80 district electoral areas.
Comber is in Strangford for the Assembly
Five MLAs for each of 18 constituencies, elected by single transferable vote. A party replaces an MLA who stands down, so names may have changed. The Assembly’s constituencies are the Westminster ones as they were before 2024.
Also stood (7): Ben King (Independent), Conor Houston (SDLP), Maurice Macartney (Green), Peter Weir (DUP), Philip Smith (UUP), Róisé McGivern (Sinn Féin), Stephen Cooper (TUV).
Strangford elected 2 DUP, 2 Alliance and 1 UUP from 12 candidates. Across Northern Ireland Sinn Féin won the most seats (27), the first time a nationalist party had done so, ahead of the DUP (25) and Alliance (17). The Executive is formed by the parties in proportion to their seats, and the First Minister and deputy First Minister, from the largest parties on each side, hold equal power.
- Sinn Féin27
- DUP25
- Alliance17
- UUP9
- SDLP8
- Independent2
- TUV1
- People Before Profit1
First preferences in Strangford, May 2022
41,345 of 70,775 voters turned out, 58.4%, 18th of 18 (Northern Ireland 63.6%). The quota for five seats was 6,811. Only Kellie Armstrong passed it on first preferences; transfers filled the other seats. Nick Mathison (Alliance) was 7th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Stephen Cooper (TUV), 3rd on first preferences.
Assembly: same source as Councillors, above. Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), candidates and who was elected, 5 May 2022, all 18 constituencies; first preferences and turnout: Electoral Office for Northern Ireland result sheets (Crown copyright, OGL v3.0); constituencies: ONS Westminster constituencies, December 2022 boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Comber is in Strangford constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result. Westminster elections are first past the post, so these have vote shares.
38,909 votes for candidates · majority 5,131
DUP, MP since 6 May 2010.
turnout in July 2024: 38,909 votes from 74,525 registered voters. Northern Ireland: 57%.
Majority 5,131 of 38,909 votes (13.2%): the 8th-narrowest of Northern Ireland’s 18.
On more than one ballot
- Assembly 2022: not elected
- Council 2023 · Comber: elected
1 person stood for more than one of Comber’s three tiers between 2022 and 2024.
Turnout, July 2024
Votes cast over the electorate, Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies (average 57%).
MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate. Other ballots: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0).
An average rates bill of £1,347 in Ards and North Down
The 10th-lowest average of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils for 2026–27.
Where an average bill goes
Homes in Northern Ireland pay domestic rates, not council tax: the home’s capital value (what it would have sold for in January 2005) times the rate poundage. In Ards and North Down for 2026–27 that’s 0.9994p in the pound, so the average bill of £1,347 is a home valued at about £135,000. The council sets the district rate (0.4435p, the 4th-lowest of the 11) and the Executive the regional rate (0.5559p, the same everywhere). This year the district rate rose 4.5% and the regional rate 5%.
Rates paid per home since 2020–21
Rates paid per home in Ards and North Down rose from £1,049 in 2020–21 to £1,286 in 2025–26, 23%, against 24% across Northern Ireland. The rates also pay for water and sewerage; there is no separate water bill. Housing Benefit and Rate Relief cover some or all of a bill on a low income, and Lone Pensioner Allowance takes 20% off for people 70 or over living alone.
2026–27 bill by the home’s 2005 value
Homes valued over £400,000 pay on £400,000. Land & Property Services publishes every home’s capital value.
Rates bills in Northern Ireland’s 11 councils
Average domestic rates bill per home, 2026–27 (2025–26 payments at 2026–27 poundages).
Land & Property Services, domestic rates paid by council area 2020–21 to 2025–26; Department of Finance rate poundages (Open Government Licence v3.0). Not available as open data: what each council spends by service.
Having a say in how Comber is run
It takes about five minutes online; in Northern Ireland you need photo ID to vote at a polling station.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors, its MLAs and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗Potholes and broken pavements go to DfI Roads, not the council: nidirect has the form.
nidirect ↗Search applications near you on the Northern Ireland Planning Portal; commenting needs a free account.
nidirect ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk ↗The council’s Policing and Community Safety Partnership holds public meetings with the local police.
ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk ↗Polling stations, postal votes and the free Electoral Identity Card.
Electoral Office for NI ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council and Assembly candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Comber is run
Which council runs Comber?
Comber is run by Ards and North Down Borough Council, one of Northern Ireland’s 11 councils. There is no county or town council; schools, health, roads and housing are run by the Executive’s departments and agencies.
Who controls Ards and North Down Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected in May 2023, DUP 14 · Alliance 12 · UUP 8 · Independent 3 · Green 2 · SDLP 1 of 40 seats. Top posts are shared among the parties by size.
Who are Comber’s councillors?
Comber is in the Comber district electoral area, which elected Libby Douglas (DUP), Patricia Morgan (Alliance), Philip Smith (UUP), Rachel Ashe (Alliance), Trevor Cummings (DUP), all in May 2023.
Who is the MP for Comber?
Jim Shannon (DUP) is the MP for Strangford, which covers Comber.
Is Strangford a marginal seat?
No. The 2024 majority was 13.2% of votes cast, the 8th-narrowest of Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies.
Who are the MLAs for Comber?
In May 2022 Strangford elected Harry Harvey (DUP), Kellie Armstrong (Alliance), Michelle McIlveen (DUP), Mike Nesbitt (UUP) and Nick Mathison (Alliance). A party replaces an MLA who stands down, so check the Assembly’s website for who sits now.
Is there council tax in Comber?
No. Homes in Northern Ireland pay domestic rates, based on the home’s value in 2005; the average bill in Ards and North Down is about £1,347 a year for 2026–27, and it includes water.
How much are rates on a £100,000 home in Comber?
A home valued at £100,000 in January 2005 pays £999 a year in 2026–27: £444 to the council and £556 to the Executive.
How many candidates stood in Comber in 2023?
9 candidates stood for 5 seats in Comber.
When are the next elections in Comber?
The next council and Assembly elections are both due in May 2027. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029.
Sources: NISRA Census 2021 data zones and ONS constituency boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates and results (CC BY 4.0) · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · Land & Property Services and Department of Finance domestic rates (OGL v3.0). Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.