Elections to North Down Borough Council were held on 17 May 1989 , coinciding with other local government elections in Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 24 councillors.
Prior to the election three Ulster Unionist politicians, including George Green, defected to the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland. The election resulted in the Conservative presence in North Down doubling, making them the largest party on the council.
<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 /> !rowspan=2|Total<br />Cllrs<br /> |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">Conservative</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">UUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">Alliance</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">DUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | <span style="color:black;">UPUP</span> !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| <span style="black;">Others</span> |- |align="left"|Abbey |19.2 |1 |12.4 |1 |12.9 |1 |25.6 |1 |bgcolor="#FFF2CE"|29.9 |bgcolor="#FFF2CE"|2 |0.0 |0 |6 |- |align="left"| Ballyholme and Groomsport |bgcolor="#0077FF"|27.5 |bgcolor="#0077FF"|2 |25.4 |1 |24.1 |1 |12.4 |1 |0.0 |0 |10.6 |1 |6 |- |align="left"|Bangor West |bgcolor="#0077FF"|26.7 |bgcolor="#0077FF"|2 |23.0 |2 |19.3 |1 |14.5 |1 |0.0 |0 |16.5 |1 |7 |- |align="left"|Holywood |24.6 |1 |24.1 |1 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|25.2 |bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|1 |11.7 |1 |0.0 |0 |14.4 |1 |5 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9" |align="left"| Total |24.9 |6 |21.7 |5 |20.7 |4 |15.5 |4 |5.9 |2 |11.3 |3 |24 |-
1985: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPUP<br /> 1989: 2 x UPUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Conservative, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP<br /> 1985-1989 Change: UPUP and Conservative gain from DUP and UUP
1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist<br /> 1989: 2 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist<br /> 1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) gain from UUP and Alliance
1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP, 1 x UPUP<br /> 1989: 2 x Conservative, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent<br /> 1985-1989 Change: Conservatives (two seats) and Independent gain from Alliance, DUP and UPUP
1985: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP<br /> 1989: 1 x Alliance, 1 x Conservative, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent<br /> 1985-1989 Change: Conservative and Independent gain from UUP and Alliance