1981 Cookstown District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

Elections to Cookstown 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.

1981 Cookstown District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Cookstown District Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP Ulster Unionist DUP Seats won 5 4 3 Seat change 0 0 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party UUUP Independent Nationalist Independent Republican Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 2 0 0

Election results

Cookstown District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	5	0	0	0	33.3	31.4	5,098	1.2
	Ulster Unionist	4	1	1	0	26.7	24.7	4,002	3.7
	DUP	3	2	0	2	20.0	24.3	3,945	18.4
	UUUP	1	0	2	2	6.7	2.9	470	11.9
	Independent Nationalist	1	0	0	0	6.7	6.6	1,073	0.8
	Independent Republican	1	0	0	0	6.7	5.9	964	0.5
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	4.2	679	4.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Cookstown District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		UUP		DUP		UUUP		Others
Area A	25.8	1	21.5	1	21.8	1	9.4	1	21.5	1	5
Area B	28.2	2	22.6	2	23.5	1	0.0	0	25.7	1	6
Area C	41.4	2	30.7	1	27.9	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	4
Total	31.4	5	24.7	4	24.3	3	2.9	3	16.7	2	15

Districts results

Area A

1977: 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: No change

Cookstown Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	Kenneth Loughrin	21.81%	1,087
	Independent Nationalist	Laurence Loughran*	21.52%	1,073
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Glasgow*	21.46%	1,070
	UUUP	Samuel Parke*	9.43%	470	711.96	719.55	950.93
	SDLP	Patrick Bradley	14.48%	722	723.38	822.05	822.74
	SDLP	Peter Kelly*	11.29%	563	565.07	692.49	692.95
Electorate: 5,876   Valid: 4,985 (84.84%)   Spoilt: 164   Quota: 831   Turnout: 5,149 (87.63%)

Area B

1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Republican
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Republican
1977-1981 Change: UUP and DUP gain from UUUP (two seats)

Cookstown Area B - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	William McIntyre*	23.51%	1,502
	SDLP	Paddy Duffy*	18.74%	1,197
	Independent Republican	Michael McIvor*	15.09%	964
	Ulster Unionist	Victor McGahie*	11.29%	721	1,142.98
	Ulster Unionist	James Howard*	11.27%	720	881.07	882.03	1,109.29
	SDLP	Joseph Davidson*	9.47%	605	605.78	834.74	835.18	838.04
	Independent	Edward Hagan	10.63%	679	679.39	731.71	731.71	734.35
Electorate: 7,342   Valid: 6,388 (87.01%)   Spoilt: 147   Quota: 913   Turnout: 6,535 (89.01%)

Area C

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

Cookstown Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	DUP	Alan Kane	27.91%	1,356
	SDLP	Brigid Neeson*	22.21%	1,079
	Ulster Unionist	Espie Donaldson*	19.14%	930	1,175.63
	SDLP	Margaret Laverty*	19.18%	932	932.87	933.35	934.64	1,038.84
	Ulster Unionist	John Warwick*	6.75%	328	432.98	557.54	863.63	864.83
	Ulster Unionist	Alexander McConnell	4.80%	233	263.74	337.66
Electorate: 5,782   Valid: 4,858 (84.02%)   Spoilt: 88   Quota: 972   Turnout: 4,946 (85.54%)