Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 15 May 1985 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.
The UUP became the largest party, overtaking the DUP and John Carson became the Lord Mayor.
<small>Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.</small>
|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! % <br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! % <br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> ! %<br /> !Cllrs<br /> !rowspan=2|Total<br />Cllrs<br /> |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">UUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">DUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">Alliance</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">Sinn Féin</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| <span style="color:black;">SDLP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">Workers' Party</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">PUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| <span style="black;">Others</span> |- |align="left"|Balmoral |bgcolor="40BFF5"|41.7 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|2 |25.5 |2 |18.5 |1 |0.0 |0 |10.4 |0 |1.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |2.9 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Castle |bgcolor="40BFF5"|32.7 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|2 |17.1 |1 |9.6 |1 |0.0 |0 |19.6 |1 |3.4 |0 |0.0 |0 |17.6 |1 |6 |- |align="left"|Court |21.6 |2 |17.9 |1 |5.1 |0 |3.5 |0 |0.0 |0 |1.3 |0 |24.2 |1 |bgcolor="#0077FF"|36.1 |bgcolor="#0077FF"|2 |6 |- |align="left"|Laganbank |bgcolor="40BFF5"|30.0 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|2 |22.1 |1 |20.8 |1 |16.9 |1 |5.6 |0 |5.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |2.1 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Lower Falls |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |9.4 |1 |bgcolor="#008800"|57.2 |bgcolor="#008800"|3 |23.4 |1 |9.4 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.6 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Oldpark |17.5 |1 |11.4 |1 |3.7 |0 |bgcolor="#008800"|28.5 |bgcolor="#008800"|2 |16.1 |1 |9.4 |1 |3.0 |0 |10.4 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Pottinger |28.9 |2 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|47.5 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3 |8.3 |1 |4.6 |0 |2.8 |0 |2.4 |0 |3.2 |0 |2.3 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Upper Falls |0.0 |0 |2.9 |0 |7.3 |1 |bgcolor="#008800"|44.1 |bgcolor="#008800"|2 |39.2 |2 |3.1 |0 |0.0 |0 |3.4 |0 |5 |- |align="left"|Victoria |bgcolor="40BFF5"|42.5 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|3 |33.2 |2 |23.1 |2 |0.0 |0 |1.2 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |7 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9" |align="left"| Total |24.4 |14 |19.9 |11 |11.5 |8 |15.6 |7 |14.2 |6 |3.8 |1 |2.2 |1 |8.4 |3 |51 |-
1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Protestant Unionist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1985: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1985: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Workers' Party
1985: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
1985: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1985: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance