Lurgan - Governance

Governance

Lurgan is part of the Upper Bann constituency for the purpose of elections to the UK Parliament at Westminster. This has long been a safe unionist seat and the current MP is David Simpson of the DUP.

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont are elected from six-member constituencies using proportional representation and using the same constituencies as for Westminster.

Lurgan town commissioners were first elected in 1855, and they were replaced by Lurgan Urban District Council following the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. This effectively ended landlord control of local government in Ireland. The town council was abolished when local government was reformed in Northern Ireland in 1973 under the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. These abolished the two-tier system of town and county councils replacing it with the single-tier system still in use today. Lurgan was placed under the jurisdiction of Craigavon Borough Council, and today councillors are elected using proportional representation. The borough is divided into four areas: Portadown, Central, Loughside, and Lurgan. The Lurgan area contains the following wards: Church, Donaghcloney, Knocknashane, Magheralin, Mourneview, Parklake, and Waringstown.

Lurgan Town Hall is owned by Craigavon Borough Council. No Council business is undertaken at the town hall. This is undertaken at Craigavon Civic Centre in Central Craigavon.