The 1981 Local Government Elections

See spreadsheet archive.

Results by Party

Party Votes Percentage Councillors
DUP 176816 26.6% 142
UUP 175965 26.4% 151
SDLP 116487 17.5% 104
Alliance 59397 8.9% 38
IIP 25859 3.9% 21
WPRC 12059 1.8% 3
UPUP 7817 1.2% 5
UUUP 4962 0.7% 5
PD 4734 0.7% 2
UPNI 4478 0.7% 2
IRSP 3654 0.5% 2
NILP 3563 0.5% 1
PUP 3057 0.5% 1
NUPRG 2989 0.4% 1
Loy 1935 0.3% 2
Socialist 1884 0.3% 1
N'abbey Labour Party 1113 0.2% 1
Labour League 924 0.1%
Soc Alliance 898 0.1%
Ind Rep 852 0.1%
U Dem 692 0.1%
Labour 665 0.1% 1
Trade U Camp. 439 0.06%
Ind Alliance 323 0.05%
Nat. 247 0.04%
CPI 201 0.03%
Unionist Unity 196 0.03%
UBNF 194 0.03%
Ind Labour 167 0.02%
Ecology Party 142 0.02%
Ind SDLP 85 0.01%
SRP 34 0.01%
UBUPP 28 0.01%
Ind U 3584 0.5% 2
U 4635 0.7% 4
Independents 44427 6.7% 37

This election, held in the middle of the hunger strikes, marked a new high of polarisation between the communities. The DUP built on Paisley's immense personal success in the 1979 European election to overtake the UUP in votes for the first (and so far last) time at local election level. However the UUP benefited from transfers to take more seats. On the Nationalist side, the Irish Independence Party emerged from the remnants of the old Nationalist Party and the Unity movement.

 

Results by Council

Council UUP DUP Oth U Alliance SDLP IIP Rep Clubs Others
Antrim 7- 4+
1- 2++ 1

Ards 3--- 7++++ 2 UPUP 3-- 1

1 NILP
Armagh 8- 3+ 1 UUUP
7

1 Ind
Ballymena 5+ 13++
0-


3 Ind's
Ballymoney 3-- 7++++
1 2-

3 Ind's
Banbridge 8 4+

2

1 Ind
Belfast 13-- 15++++++++ 1 UPNI, 1 NUPRG, 1 PUP, 1 U 7------ 6--
0--- 2 PD, 2 IRSP, 1 Ind, 1 Soc
Carrick 3-- 7++++ 1 Loy, 1 Ind U 3--



Castlereagh 5- 9+++
4---


1 Ind
Coleraine 8-- 6++++
1- 2

3 Ind's
Cookstown 4 3++ 1 UUUP
5

2 Ind's
Craigavon 9- 7+++ 1 UUUP 1-- 5-
2+
Down 6- 3+++
1-- 8--
1+ 1 Labour
Dungannon 8 3+

3--- 1
5 Ind's
Fermanagh 8++ 2++

4--- 4
2 Ind's
Larne 4++ 6+++ 1 Loy 3- 0---

1 Ind
Limavady 6 2

5+++ 1
1 Ind
Lisburn 8- 10++++ 1 UUUP 2- 2


Londonderry 4-- 5+++
0-- 14+ 4

Magherafelt 2-- 4+ 1 UUUP
5 1 0- 2 Ind's
Moyle 4+ 2 1 U
5++

4 Ind's
Newry and Mourne 6- 2+
0--- 16+ 4
2 Ind's
Newtownabbey 9+ 5+ 1 Ind U, 1 U 3---


1 Ind, 1 N'by Lab
North Down 4--- 5++++ 3 UPUP, 1 UPNI, 1 U 6-



Omagh 4---- 4++++
2- 5- 5 0-
Strabane 3-- 4++

4-

4 Ind's
Totals 152 142 22 38 103 21 3 45

I have no differences with Flackes and Elliott on any of the details of party affiliation. Although both the UUUP and UPUP got more seats than the Workers Party-Republican Clubs, the latter have a half-decent subsequent electoral history so for the sake of clarity I've kept them in a separate column while throwing in the UUUP and UPUP with the other small Unionist designations.

See also:

Local council election results from 1973 to 1983: Antrim | Ards | Armagh | Ballymena | Ballymoney | Banbridge | Belfast | Carrickfergus | Castlereagh | Coleraine | Cookstown | Craigavon | Derry | Down | Dungannon | Fermanagh | Larne | Limavady | Lisburn | Magherafelt | Moyle | Newry and Mourne | Newtownabbey | North Down | Omagh | Strabane

Local council election results from 1985 to 1989: Antrim | Ards | Armagh | Ballymena | Ballymoney | Banbridge | Belfast | Carrickfergus | Castlereagh | Coleraine | Cookstown | Craigavon | Derry | Down | Dungannon | Fermanagh | Larne | Limavady | Lisburn | Magherafelt | Moyle | Newry and Mourne | Newtownabbey | North Down | Omagh | Strabane

Other sites based at ARK: ORB (Online Research Bank) | CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) | Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

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This page has been developed with the support of a project grant from the New Initiatives Fund of the Electoral Commission. However, any views expressed on this page or, in particular, other pages of this website are those of the author and not necessarily shared by The Electoral Commission.
Ivo Damkat, October 29, 2003




Disclaimer:© Nicholas Whyte 1998-2004 Last Updated on Wednesday, 12-Jan-2005 12:12