1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

←  1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985  →
All 23 seats to Lisburn Borough Council 12 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP Ulster Unionist Alliance Seats won 10 8 2 Seat change 4 2 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party SDLP UUUP Unionist Party NI Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change 0 0 1

Elections to Lisburn Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

Election results

Lisburn Borough Council Election Result 1981 ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	10	4	0	4	43.5	42.7	13,867	16.1
	Ulster Unionist	8	0	2	2	34.8	32.2	10,471	2.2
	Alliance	2	0	1	1	8.7	12.2	3,976	8.2
	SDLP	2	0	0	0	8.7	5.9	1,918	0.3
	UUUP	1	1	1	0	4.3	2.0	659	3.9
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.3	740	1.5
	Republican Clubs	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.4	462	0.2
	Unionist Party NI	0	0	1	1	0.0	0.7	232	5.2
	NI Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.3	107	0.3
	Communist Party	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	72	0.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Lisburn Borough Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		UUP		Alliance		SDLP		UUUP		Others
Area A	30.2	1	51.8	2	0.0	0	18.0	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	4
Area B	43.7	3	39.7	2	10.6	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	6.0	0	5
Area C	54.3	3	20.6	1	11.9	1	0.0	0	5.9	0	7.3	0	5
Area D	49.6	2	27.3	2	18.5	1	0.0	0	1.8	0	2.8	0	5
Area E	30.0	1	28.7	1	15.3	0	15.9	1	1.6	1	8.5	0	4
Total	42.7	10	32.2	8	12.2	2	5.9	2	2.0	1	5.0	0	23

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Lisburn Area A - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Ulster Unionist	Ronald Campbell*	25.81%	1,299
	DUP	Jim Wells	19.95%	1,004
	Ulster Unionist	Jim Dillon*	18.20%	916	1,129.21
	SDLP	John Clenaghan*	17.98%	905	913.97	915.65	915.86	932.28
	DUP	Charles Woodburne*	10.23%	515	527.19	537.55	548.68	842.47
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Stewart	7.83%	394	429.65	539.13	545.01
Electorate: 7,983  Valid: 5,033 (63.05%)  Spoilt: 109  Quota: 1,007  Turnout: 5,142 (64.41%)

Area B

1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP
1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Lisburn Area B - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Charles Poots *	25.09%	1,469
	Ulster Unionist	William Bleakes *	20.87%	1,222
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Lilburn*	11.19%	655	697.57	843.77	965.88	1,356.88
	DUP	Samuel Dorman*	10.59%	620	789.62	825.22	850.59	891.39	956.39
	DUP	James McCann	8.01%	469	688.45	697.05	760.62	827.96	891.96
	Alliance	John Alderdice	10.64%	623	625.97	639.57	701.5	741.55	828.55
	Ulster Unionist	Joseph McCullough	7.63%	447	479.34	509.54	582.25
	Independent	William Johnston	5.99%	351	364.2	370.4
Electorate: 9,350  Valid: 5,856 (62.63%)  Spoilt: 121  Quota: 977  Turnout: 5,977 (63.93%)

Area C

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

Lisburn Area C - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	William Belshaw*	35.49%	2,412
	DUP	Denis McCarroll	12.60%	856	1,290.6
	DUP	Robert Dunsmore	6.22%	423	979.5	989.56	1,110.4	1,189.4
	Ulster Unionist	William Gardiner-Watson*	11.95%	812	884.61	889.67	895.75	1,011.89	1,221.89
	Alliance	Seamus Close *	11.93%	811	826.37	890.55	891.69	979	1,002.28	1,007.88
	Ulster Unionist	Wilfred McClung*	8.61%	585	632.17	634.23	641.07	683.74	863.24	945.56
	UUUP	George Morrison*	5.90%	401	488.45	494.51	509.33	581.25
	Independent	William Whitley	5.72%	389	430.34	446.87	451.43
	NI Labour	Robert Clarke	1.57%	107	115.48
Electorate: 11,569  Valid: 6,796 (58.74%)  Spoilt: 196  Quota: 1,133  Turnout: 6,992 (60.44%)

Area D

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

Lisburn Area D - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Ivan Davis *	44.02%	3,720
	DUP	Robert McNeice	5.56%	470	2,105.84
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Semple*	12.65%	1,069	1,313.48	1,630.28
	Ulster Unionist	Maureen McKinney*	9.32%	788	963.36	1,090.56	1,156.81	1,264.48	1,437.38
	Alliance	George Boyd*	12.85%	1,086	1,125.68	1,138.58	1,140.33	1,178.5	1,204.89	1,665.89
	Ulster Unionist	David Trimble	5.37%	454	494.96	565.16	683.41	764.25	903.76	903.76
	Alliance	James Mulholland	5.67%	479	498.84	503.94	504.94	520.36	535.35
	UUUP	John Curry	1.81%	153	246.44	373.04	393.29	455.76
	Unionist Party NI	David Gordon	2.75%	232	291.52	327.22	334.47
Electorate: 14,016  Valid: 8,451 (60.30%)  Spoilt: 158  Quota: 1,409  Turnout: 8,639 (61.64%)

Area E

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

Lisburn Area E - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	William Beattie *	29.98%	1,909
	Ulster Unionist	William McAllister*	28.74%	1,830
	SDLP	William McDonnell*	15.91%	1,013	1,013.74	1,014.73	1,036.73	1,197.1	1,220.47
	UUUP	James Davis	1.65%	105	674.43	1,096.17	1,099.31	1,100.64	1,158.97
	Alliance	John Cousins*	8.51%	542	566.42	611.3	619.74	691.4	1,100.58
	Alliance	Brian Fitzsimons	6.83%	435	463.49	534.77	537.1	552.13
	Republican Clubs	Gerard Dunlop	7.26%	462	464.22	468.18	487.18
	Communist Party	Terry Bruton	1.13%	72	76.07	77.72
Electorate: 12,242  Valid: 6,368 (52.02%)  Spoilt: 463  Quota: 1,274  Turnout: 6,831 (55.80%)

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Lisburn". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.