1981 Down District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Down District Council election

←  1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985  →
All 20 seats to Down District Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP Ulster Unionist DUP Seats won 9 5 3 Seat change 1 2 3   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Alliance Republican Clubs Independent Labour Seats won 3 1 1 Seat change 2 1 1

Elections to Down 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 20 councillors.

Election results

Down District Council Election Result 1981 ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	9	0	1	1	45.0	42.1	10,233	2.5
	Ulster Unionist	5	0	2	2	25.0	27.3	6,694	4.1
	DUP	3	3	0	3	15.0	13.0	3,188	New
	Alliance	1	0	2	2	5.0	8.4	2,055	3.4
	Republican Clubs	1	1	0	1	5.0	6.5	1,587	3.9
	Independent Labour	1	1	0	1	5.0	2.7	665	2.7
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	74	3.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Down District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		UUP		DUP		Alliance		Workers Party		Others
Area A	24.4	2	43.0	3	24.4	2	7.3	0	0.0	0	0.9	0	7
Area B	50.5	3	17.5	1	0.0	0	9.5	0	14.1	1	8.4	1	6
Area C	51.2	4	20.8	1	13.9	1	8.4	1	5.7	0	0.0	0	7
Total	42.1	9	27.3	5	13.0	3	8.4	1	6.5	1	2.7	1	20

Districts results

Area A

1977: 4 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1981: 3 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 2 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and Alliance

Down Area A - 7 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	DUP	Cecil Harvey	16.52%	1,387
	SDLP	Francis Laverty*	9.63%	809	810.2	820.2	820.2	829.2	829.2	830.2	1,064.2
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Osborne*	11.36%	954	973.92	974.92	977.16	1,007.4	1,012.72	1,038.44	1,041.68	1,078.68
	SDLP	Monica Smyth	8.94%	751	751.48	765.48	765.48	779.48	779.48	703.4	1,021.96	1,272.96
	Ulster Unionist	Dermot Nesbitt	8.72%	732	744.96	744.96	772.96	779.96	785.84	965.48	967.2	999.2	1,018.2	1,036.6
	Ulster Unionist	William Brown *	7.63%	641	652.04	652.04	823.16	828.16	834.36	899.32	899.32	946.56	964.56	969.16
	DUP	Thomas Poole	5.68%	477	619.32	621.32	632.28	633.52	888.76	901.44	902.44	906.44	909.44	909.44
	Ulster Unionist	William Finlay*	7.80%	655	667.72	668.72	704.72	707.72	733.36	822.04	827.04	870.28	882.28	887.8
	Alliance	John Rodgers	3.88%	326	326.48	351.48	353.48	551.48	551.48	552.48	566.72
	SDLP	Thomas Murray	5.82%	489	490.68	500.68	500.92	512.92	513.92	515.92
	Ulster Unionist	James Glover	4.23%	355	361.24	364.24	385.48	386.48	391.92
	DUP	Thomas McKee	2.23%	187	302.2	304.2	307.44	307.44
	Alliance	Wanda Rowan-Hamilton	3.41%	286	286.48	286.48	287.48
	Ulster Unionist	William Cochrane	3.27%	275	280.28	280.28
	Independent	Francis Rice	0.60%	50	50
	Independent	Eileen Rice	0.29%	24	24
Electorate: 11,993  Valid: 8,398 (70.02%)  Spoilt: 216  Quota: 1,050  Turnout: 8,614 (71.83%)

Area B

1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Independent Labour
1977-1981 Change: Republican Clubs and Independent Labour gain from SDLP and Alliance

Down Area B - 6 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SDLP	Eddie McGrady *	21.56%	1,711
	Republican Clubs	Raymond Blaney	14.13%	1,121	1,153.64
	SDLP	Dermot Curran*	11.25%	893	987.52	1,016.9	1,178.9
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Maxwell*	11.03%	875	882.14	894.82	905.5	1,403.5
	SDLP	John Ritchie*	8.15%	647	787.08	803.76	869.48	869.48	874.48	880.48	1,171.48
	Independent Labour	Malachi Curran	8.38%	665	691.86	717.9	763.74	764.74	779.74	788.14	994.8
	Alliance	George Flinn*	5.68%	451	461.2	634.2	652.92	659.92	822.92	823.82	902.56
	SDLP	Sean Quinn*	4.70%	373	552.18	580.86	723.34	724.34	727.34	756.74
	Ulster Unionist	Elizabeth Kennedy	6.46%	513	513	515	515
	SDLP	John Bryce	4.81%	382	455.78	461.46
	Alliance	Michael Healy	3.84%	305	312.82
Electorate: 10,747  Valid: 7,936 (73.84%)  Spoilt: 252  Quota: 1,134  Turnout: 8,188 (76.19%)

Area C

1977: 4 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
1981: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Down Area C - 7 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SDLP	Patrick O'Donoghue *	16.27%	1,328
	DUP	Ethel Smyth*	13.93%	1,137
	Ulster Unionist	Gerald Douglas	11.50%	939	940.15	991.35	994.35	1,097.35
	SDLP	Eamon O'Neill *	10.07%	822	939.53	939.93	949.93	954.41	954.41	1,068.41
	SDLP	James Curry	9.34%	762	828.47	828.47	847.16	856.49	856.49	960.38	1,152.38
	SDLP	James Magee*	10.12%	826	857.05	857.05	861.28	861.28	861.28	900.26	1,099.26
	Alliance	Patrick Forde*	5.97%	487	498.27	500.47	502.47	661.39	670.87	732.48	758.51	810.51	852.51
	Ulster Unionist	Norman Bicker*	7.02%	573	573	595.9	601.33	711.06	776.63	778.09	781.32	784.32	791.32
	SDLP	Stephen McClean	5.39%	440	477.49	477.49	482.72	485.95	486.74	535.18
	Workers' Party	Edward O'Hagan	4.28%	349	376.14	376.34	442.95	447.95	447.95
	Ulster Unionist	William Keown	2.23%	182	182.23	211.63	211.63
	Alliance	Anthony Dickinson	2.45%	200	203.22	203.92	205.92
	Republican Clubs	David Allister	1.43%	117	120.22	120.42
Electorate: 11,077  Valid: 8,162 (73.68%)  Spoilt: 251  Quota: 1,021  Turnout: 8,413 (75.95%)

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 28 July 2021.