1981 Strabane District Council election

Local govt election in Northern Ireland

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

← 1977

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)

1985 →

All 15 seats to Strabane District Council
8 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	SDLP	DUP	Ind. Nationalist
Seats won	4	4	4
Seat change	1	2	1

	Fourth party

Party	UUP
Seats won	3
Seat change	2

Elections to Strabane District 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

Strabane District Council Election Result 1981
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Ind. Nationalist	4	1	0	1	26.7	26.1	4,459	11.2
DUP	4	2	0	2	26.7	25.1	4,287	11.5
SDLP	4	0	1	1	26.7	22.8	3,889	7.7
UUP	3	0	2	1	20.0	20.7	3,545	8.8
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.9	326	3.0
Anti H-Block	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.7	296	New
Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.7	288	1.3

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Strabane District Council election, 1981
by district
Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
Ward	DUP		SDLP		UUP		Others		Total Cllrs
Area A	35.4	2	17.2	1	25.2	1	22.2	1	5
Area B	30.9	2	24.3	1	27.3	1	17.5	1	5
Area C	7.0	0	27.3	2	8.5	1	57.2	2	5
Total	25.1	4	22.8	4	20.7	3	31.4	4	15

Districts results

Area A

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

Strabane Area A - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4
	Ind. Nationalist	Denis McCrory*	22.11%	1,320
	DUP	Thomas Kerrigan	20.46%	1,221
	SDLP	Mary McCrea	17.24%	1,029
	DUP	Robert Anderson	9.72%	580	581	602.6	1,070.22
	UUP	Edward Turner*	13.94%	832	882	892.26	908.42
	UUP	Ernest Young*	11.26%	672	738	747.36	754.62
	DUP	David Baird	5.28%	315	321	497.22
Electorate: 7,833 Valid: 5,969 (76.20%) Spoilt: 193 Quota: 995 Turnout: 6,162 (78.67%)

Area B

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

Strabane Area B - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2
	SDLP	John Gallagher*	18.92%	1,101
	Ind. Nationalist	Francis McConnell*	17.44%	1,015
	UUP	Mary Britton*	16.91%	984
	DUP	Samuel Rogers*	16.72%	973
	DUP	George McIntyre*	14.21%	827	832
	UUP	Henry Henderson*	10.43%	607	624
	SDLP	Mary McAleer	5.38%	313
Electorate: 7,050 Valid: 5,820 (82.55%) Spoilt: 177 Quota: 971 Turnout: 5,997 (85.06%)

Area C

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP

Strabane Area C - 5 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Ind. Nationalist	James O'Kane	27.52%	1,459
	Ind. Nationalist	John O'Kane*	7.89%	418	818.98	826.8	836.62	857.54	890.18
	SDLP	Paul O'Hare	11.32%	600	659.45	666.27	670.27	682.91	688.32	836.83	902.83
	SDLP	William Flanagan	10.90%	578	599.73	601.14	605.14	610.55	619.78	727.29	790.16	807.96	886.96
	UUP	Robert Fleming*	8.49%	450	450.82	451.82	467.23	472.23	473.23	473.23	475.64	475.94	555.35	562.35
	DUP	Desmond Monteith	7.00%	371	371.41	371.41	377.41	385.41	394.41	394.41	394.41	394.41	397.41	399.41
	Anti H-Block	William Gallagher	5.58%	296	305.84	313.84	313.84	315.84	331.25	333.25	382.89	385.49	385.49
	Alliance	Patrick Wallace	5.43%	288	304.4	308.81	319.22	339.86	343.86	349.09	370.14	374.04
	Ind. Nationalist	John McCrory	4.66%	247	264.63	272.04	276.04	289.09	303.91	312.32
	SDLP	Jane O'Donnell	5.06%	268	280.3	280.71	281.71	288.94	294.94
	Independent	Michael Dunne	2.17%	115	119.92	123.92	131.92	131.92
	Independent	David Fleming	1.81%	96	108.71	109.71	110.71
	Independent	William Crichton	1.36%	72	73.64	73.64
	Independent	John Tracey	0.81%	43	46.28
Electorate: 7,630 Valid: 5,301 (69.48%) Spoilt: 146 Quota: 884 Turnout: 5,447 (71.39%)

References

^ "Local Government Election 1973-1981: Strabane". www.ark.ac.uk.
^ "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

v t e Council elections in County Tyrone
Derry City and Strabane District Council	2014 2019 2023
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council	2014 2019 2023
Mid Ulster District Council	2014 2019 2023
Cookstown District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Omagh District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Strabane District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
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Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

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