1981 Coleraine Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Coleraine Borough Council election

←  1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985  →
All 20 seats to Coleraine Borough Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Ulster Unionist DUP Independent Seats won 8 6 3 Seat change 2 4 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party SDLP Alliance Ind. Unionist Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change 0 1 1

Elections to Coleraine 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 20 councillors.

Election results

Coleraine Borough Council Election Result 1981 ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	8	0	2	2	40.0	34.2	7,670	4.0
	DUP	6	4	0	4	30.0	33.2	7,440	15.6
	Independent	3	1	1	0	15.0	10.8	2,421	3.8
	SDLP	2	1	1	0	10.0	11.7	2,620	1.2
	Alliance	1	0	1	1	5.0	6.3	1,417	4.3
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	1	1	0.0	3.1	705	0.3
	Green (NI)	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	142	New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Coleraine Borough Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		DUP		SDLP		Alliance		Others
Area A	34.2	2	26.1	2	28.0	2	1.7	0	10.0	0	6
Area B	43.4	4	34.2	2	10.0	0	11.4	1	1.0	0	7
Area C	27.4	2	38.1	2	0.0	0	6.3	0	28.2	3	7
Total	34.2	8	33.2	6	11.7	2	6.3	1	14.6	3	20

Districts results

Area A

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP
1977-1981 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Independent Unionist

Coleraine Area A - 6 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SDLP	John Dallat *	15.14%	1,061
	SDLP	Gerard O'Kane	12.86%	901	925	975.7
	Ulster Unionist	William King*	12.33%	864	883	883.1	890.15	943.15	1,235.15
	Ulster Unionist	George McIlrath*	9.85%	690	702	702.25	712.25	910.25	1,058.25
	DUP	Thomas Malone	11.17%	783	784	784	983	992	1,026
	DUP	Robert Catherwood*	9.70%	680	682	682	802	827	888	969	998.68
	Ind. Unionist	William Watt*	10.06%	705	725	725.65	745.65	773.65	788.65	898.65	924.41
	Ulster Unionist	James Anderson*	6.36%	446	460	460	464	562
	Ulster Unionist	Mayne Long	5.64%	395	405	405	413
	DUP	Irwin Holmes	5.22%	366	368	368.1
	Alliance	Anne Lambert	1.67%	117
Electorate: 8,960  Valid: 7,008 (78.21%)  Spoilt: 179  Quota: 1,002  Turnout: 7,187 (80.21%)

Area B

1977: 4 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from SDLP and Independent Unionist

Coleraine Area B - 7 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	William Creelman	17.09%	1,119
	Ulster Unionist	William Glenn*	10.29%	674	692.2	695.2	809.72	810.72	819.28
	Ulster Unionist	Albert Clarke*	9.62%	630	637.54	638.54	683.32	697.32	713.1	877.1
	DUP	Matthew Kane	8.25%	540	611.76	614.76	621.02	624.02	777.64	790.16	791.27	1,105.27
	Ulster Unionist	Elizabeth Connolly	6.46%	423	425.6	425.6	508.6	517.6	562.16	630.24	666.13	735.82	808.82
	Alliance	Patrick McGowan	6.92%	453	453.78	466.78	468.3	730.3	731.3	754.08	755.93	761.64	764.64
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Mitchell	7.53%	493	494.82	494.82	508.6	519.6	531.86	583.9	599.07	636.44	718.44
	SDLP	Sean Farren*	10.05%	658	658.52	669.52	669.52	673.52	674.78	678.56	678.93	679.56	679.56
	DUP	Roy Hilldrup	4.15%	272	423.58	426.84	432.4	435.4	520.42	535.5	537.72
	Ulster Unionist	John Earl*	5.08%	333	341.32	341.32	351.58	356.58	357.84
	DUP	William Sweeney	4.72%	309	331.36	332.36	334.36	335.36
	Alliance	Peter Scott	4.47%	293	293	311	316
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Henry	4.44%	291	295.68	295.68
	Green (NI)	Malcolm Samuel	0.93%	61	61.26
Electorate: 10,492  Valid: 6,549 (62.42%)  Spoilt: 166  Quota: 819  Turnout: 6,715 (64.00%)

Area C

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

Coleraine Area C - 7 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	James McClure *	36.16%	3,203
	Ulster Unionist	Robert White*	15.51%	1,374
	Independent	James McFeely*	13.25%	1,174
	Ulster Unionist	Paul Baxter	6.94%	615	800.46	863.35	864.13	872.8	959.61	979.83	1,186.83
	Independent	William McNabb	8.42%	746	909.02	935.24	953.72	968.95	1,007.37	1,018.35	1,096.82	1,116.82
	Independent	Randall Crawford*	5.28%	468	627.72	652.23	658.77	664.87	686.75	707.44	798.61	815.66	1,086.08
	DUP	Robert Bolton	0.78%	69	634.62	637.85	637.85	637.85	643.55	781.35	824.6	847.15	873.36
	DUP	Robert McElfatrick	0.68%	60	588.66	591.32	591.5	594.48	601.63	729.34	764.44	773.79	794.16
	Alliance	William Mathews*	5.64%	500	525.08	545.6	571.34	573.84	663.43	667.94	700.07	709.42
	Ulster Unionist	Matthew Adams*	4.01%	355	469.84	537.29	538.01	541.2	573.36	581.32
	DUP	Elizabeth Gaston	0.44%	39	328.08	329.22	329.4	329.4	336.61
	Ulster Unionist	Antony Alcock	0.54%	48	58.56	90.86	90.86	90.86
	Green (NI)	Avril McCandless	0.91%	81	84.3	84.49	86.77	88.89
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Hunter	0.44%	39	56.82	67.65	67.71	68.77
	Alliance	Margaret Smith	0.61%	54	57.3	58.63	59.95	62.01
	Independent	James Leonard	0.37%	33	43.56	45.46	47.8
Electorate: 12,636  Valid: 8,858 (70.10%)  Spoilt: 215  Quota: 1,108  Turnout: 9,073 (71.80%)

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Coleraine". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 15 July 2021.