1981 Antrim Borough Council election

Local government election in Northern Ireland

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

← 1977

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)

1985 →

All 15 seats to Antrim Borough Council
8 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	UUP	DUP	SDLP
Seats won	7	4	2
Seat change	1	1	2

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Party	Alliance	Irish Independence	Independent
Seats won	1	1	0
Seat change	1	1	2

Elections to Antrim Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 15 councillors.

Election results

Antrim Borough Council Election Result 1981
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
UUP	7	0	1	1	36.8	38.0	5,945	0.6
DUP	4	1	0	1	21.1	28.1	4,389	9.7
SDLP	2	2	0	2	10.5	10.7	1,670	10.7
Alliance	1	0	1	1	5.3	10.9	1,704	6.0
Irish Independence	1	1	0	1	5.3	6.6	1,040	New
Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	5.1	805	5.1
Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	91	0.6

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Antrim Borough Council election, 1981
by district
Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
Ward	UUP		DUP		SDLP		Alliance		IIP		Others		Total Cllrs
Area A	33.1	2	19.2	1	21.7	1	2.4	0	21.8	1	1.8	0	5
Area B	49.0	3	27.6	1	15.4	1	8.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	5
Area C	34.8	2	34.6	2	0.0	0	18.7	1	0.0	0	11.9	0	5
Total	38.0	7	28.1	4	10.7	2	10.9	1	6.6	1	5.7	0	15

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP
1977-1981 Change: SDLP gain from Independent, Independent Nationalist joins IIP

Antrim Area A - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	UUP	James Graham*	27.13%	1,293
	Irish Independence	John Heffron*	11.27%	537	538.14	540.14	545.14	609.14	609.14	959.14
	DUP	Wilson Clyde	11.18%	533	599.12	643.24	645.62	645.62	654.56	654.56	654.56	1,034.56
	UUP	John Blakeley*	4.34%	207	434.24	455.7	489.88	489.88	660.94	660.94	660.94	734.9	971.64
	SDLP	Robert Loughran	12.65%	603	603.76	605.14	632.52	645.52	648.9	666.9	721.9	722.66	723.54	728.82
	SDLP	Gerard Carolan	9.00%	429	429.38	430.38	442.38	451.38	453.38	492.38	583.38	584.38	584.38	585.26
	DUP	Frew Rainey	7.99%	381	432.68	467.28	470.28	470.28	481.4	481.4	482.4
	Irish Independence	Desmond McAteer	7.11%	339	339	339	340	418	418
	UUP	Mary Marshall	1.59%	76	175.94	187.12	210.92	210.92
	Irish Independence	James Totten	3.44%	164	164	164	167
	Alliance	James McConnell	2.37%	113	121.74	124.88
	Ind. Unionist	Stewart Dunlop*	1.91%	91	120.64
Electorate: 6,381 Valid: 4,766 (74.69%) Spoilt: 135 Quota: 795 Turnout: 4,901 (76.81%)

Area B

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1981: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP
1977-1981 Change: SDLP gain from Alliance

Antrim Area B - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	Edgar Wallace*	16.66%	688	691
	UUP	James Cunningham*	16.56%	684	688	790
	SDLP	Robert Burns	15.45%	638	640	641	699
	UUP	Thomas Grant	9.64%	398	402	501	654	740
	DUP	Roy Thompson	14.21%	587	594	616	638	642	662
	DUP	Allister Lucas*	13.41%	554	556	570	579	582	600
	Alliance	John McCourt*	4.72%	195	302	310
	UUP	Alexander Wilson	6.10%	252	253
	Alliance	George Luke	3.24%	134
Electorate: 5,966 Valid: 4,130 (69.23%) Spoilt: 121 Quota: 689 Turnout: 4,251 (71.25%)

Area C

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Antrim Area C - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	DUP	Samuel Dunlop*	25.47%	1,719
	UUP	Paddy Marks	17.52%	1,182
	DUP	Charles Quinn	9.11%	615	1,120.58	1,124.14	1,156.14
	UUP	Jack Allen*	14.24%	961	999.76	1,019.44	1,151.44
	Alliance	Michael Donoghue	7.87%	531	533.04	533.6	537.28	538.28	539.93	581.61	710.61	993.61
	Alliance	Charles Kinahan*	6.89%	465	468.74	470.22	490.16	491.16	498.31	540.23	657.34	835.34
	Independent Labour	John Gibbons	8.33%	562	565.4	565.52	566.04	567.04	569.24	612.96	643.47
	Alliance	Mary Wallace	3.94%	266	268.04	268.76	278.06	280.06	288.86	324.41
	Independent Labour	Philip Henry	3.60%	243	251.16	251.88	257.5	260.5	267.1
	UUP	Hugh Johnston	3.02%	204	219.3	238.66
Electorate: 14,454 Valid: 6,748 (46.69%) Spoilt: 236 Quota: 1,125 Turnout: 6,984 (48.32%)

References

^ "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Antrim". www.ark.ac.uk.
^ "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.

v t e Council elections in County Antrim
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council	2014 2019 2023
Belfast City Council	1887 1897 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1920 1924 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 2014 2019 2023
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council	2014 2019 2023
Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council	2014 2019 2023
Mid and East Antrim District Council	2014 2019 2023
Antrim Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Ballymena Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Ballymoney Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Carrickfergus Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Larne Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Lisburn City Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Moyle District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Newtownabbey Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Antrim County Council	1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 1920 1924 1927 1930 1933 1937 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 Abolished

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
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Metropolitan counties	Greater Manchester Merseyside South Yorkshire Tyne and Wear West Midlands West Yorkshire
Unicameral area	Greater London
District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Londonderry Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

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