1981 Antrim Borough Council election

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.

1981 Antrim Borough Council election
← 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 Decrease 1 Increase 1 Increase 2

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Alliance Irish Independence Independent
Seats won 1 1 0
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 1 Decrease 2

Election results

edit
Antrim Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party 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

edit
Results of the Antrim Borough Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
UUP DUP SDLP Alliance IIP Others
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

edit

Area A

edit

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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
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

edit

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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
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

edit

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[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
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

edit
  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Antrim". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.