1981 Belfast City Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.

1981 Belfast City Council election

← 1977 20 May 1981 1985 →
All 51 seats to Belfast City Council 26 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP Ulster Unionist Alliance Seats won 15 13 7 Seat change 8 2 6   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party SDLP People's Democracy Irish Republican Socialist Seats won 6 2 2 Seat change 2 2 2   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Party PUP Ulster Democratic Unionist Party NI Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1
Lord Mayor before election John Carson Ulster Unionist Lord Mayor Grace Bannister Ulster Unionist

The DUP became the largest party, overtaking the UUP, while Grace Bannister from the UUP became the first female Lord Mayor.

Election results

Belfast Local Election Result 1981^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	15	8	0	8	29.4	25.8	33,433	12.5
	Ulster Unionist	13	1	3	2	25.5	23.7	30,685	3.1
	Alliance	7	0	6	6	13.7	13.2	17,164	5.4
	SDLP	6	0	2	2	11.8	14.1	18,227	4.5
	People's Democracy	2	2	0	2	3.9	3.7	4,734	New
	Irish Republican Socialist	2	2	0	2	3.9	2.6	3,418	New
	Ulster Democratic	1	1	0	1	0	2.3	2,989	New
	PUP	1	1	0	1	2.0	1.9	2,434	New
	Unionist Party NI	1	0	1	1	2.0	2.2	2,859	2.8
	Ind. Unionist	1	0	1	1	2.0	1.9	2,540	2.2
	Independent Socialist	1	1	0	1	2.0	1.5	1,884	1.4
	Anti H-Block	1	1	0	1	2.0	0.8	1,070	New
	Republican Clubs	0	0	3	3	0	3.9	4,993	0.8
	NI Labour	0	0	0	0	0	1.4	1,824	1.2
	Independent	0	0	1	1	0.0	0.7	933	2.5
	UPUP	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	187	New
	Independent Nationalist	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	167	0.1
	Communist	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	97	0.0

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Belfast City Council election, 1981
by district^[1]

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		UUP		Alliance		SDLP		PD		IRSP		UDP		UPNI		PUP		Others
Area A	39.3	3	33.5	3	12.1	1	9.2	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	5.9	0	7
Area B	33.5	2	26.8	2	23.0	2	1.1	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	2.0	0	11.0	1	0.0	0	2.6	0	7
Area C	21.6	2	33.6	2	28.6	2	9.4	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	3.3	0	0.0	0	3.3	0	6
Area D	0.0	0	3.3	0	5.3	0	44.8	3	17.0	1	10.9	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	18.7	1	6
Area E	35.1	2	22.1	2	5.8	0	3.5	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	6.5	0	0.0	0	11.1	0	15.9	1	6
Area F	26.4	2	18.4	1	10.0	1	20.8	1	0.0	0	15.2	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	9.3	0	6
Area G	24.8	2	17.7	1	3.1	0	7.5	0	19.6	1	0.0	0	14.3	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	13.0	0	6
Area H	21.7	2	27.4	2	11.5	1	19.6	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	2.5	0	17.3	1	7
Total	25.8	15	23.7	13	13.2	7	14.1	6	3.7	2	2.6	2	2.3	1	2.2	1	1.9	1	10.5	3	51

District results

Area A

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

Area A - 7 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
	DUP	John Foster	18.32%	3,333
	Ulster Unionist	Jeremy Burchill	14.23%	2,589
	DUP	Raymond McCrea*	12.87%	2,342
	DUP	Sammy Wilson	8.13%	1,479	2,431.64
	Ulster Unionist	Grace Bannister*	11.29%	2,055	2,081.88	2,202	2,265	2,285.64
	Alliance	Donnell Deeny	7.91%	1,439	1,440.92	1,447.52	1,449.41	1,450.05	1,460.09	1,464.57	1,477.81	1,553.17	1,560.49	1,645.85	1,657.44	2,463.44
	Ulster Unionist	William Blair*	4.95%	900	918.56	1,024.64	1,054.7	1,067.14	1,072.27	1,101.76	1,211.3	1,250.36	1,250.36	1,258.63	1,742.86	1,793.34	1,936.94	1,944.62
	SDLP	Alasdair McDonnell*	6.94%	1,262	1,263.6	1,263.84	1,264.02	1,264.34	1,272.66	1,272.66	1,273.66	1,291.66	1,660.75	1,856.1	1,856.27	1,889.76	1,932.16	1,932.16
	Alliance	Mervyn Jones	4.21%	766	771.44	770.16	779.69	781.21	787.21	791.6	808.62	907.05	913.05	964.37	984.13
	Ulster Unionist	Tony Wilkins	2.99%	544	569.28	611.76	634.26	645.94	650.19	669.27	721.95	733.24	734.24	736.33
	Republican Clubs	Francis Cullen	2.30%	418	419.28	419.52	419.88	419.88	445.01	446.33	446.76	467.3	483.3
	SDLP	Patrick McGourty	2.25%	410	410.64	410.76	410.85	410.89	412.89	412.89	412.89	419.98
	NI Labour	Derek Peters	1.52%	276	278.24	278.72	279.44	279.8	297.89	306.35	310.55
	UPUP	Benjamin Horan	1.03%	187	196.28	206.12	223.31	228.67	230.67	239.44
	Independent	John McKeague	0.54%	99	103.8	107.88	116.34	120.94	126.26
	Communist	James Stewart	0.25%	97	98.92	99.52	100.15	100.51
Electorate: 31,215   Valid: 18,196 (58.29%)   Spoilt: 937   Quota: 2,275   Turnout: 19,133 (61.29%)

Area B

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

Area B - 7 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Alliance	Oliver Napier*	12.41%	2,631	2,719
	Alliance	Michael Brown*	7.55%	1,602	1,653	1,671	1,706.2	1,923	1,929	2,641.4
	DUP	Henry Evans*	11.85%	2,513	2,513	2,546	2,546	2,554	2,571	2,574	3,090
	DUP	Bill Morrison	10.15%	2,152	2,152	2,201	2,201	2,214	2,243	2,243	2,481	2,765.8
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Patton*	9.81%	2,081	2,081	2,195	2,195.8	2,264.8	2,411.8	2,418.8	2,443.8	2,450.92	2,839.92
	Unionist Party NI	Joshua Cardwell*	10.97%	2,327	2,336	2,363	2,363.8	2,428.4	2,472.4	2,487.2	2,519.2	2,529.88	2,710.88
	Ulster Unionist	William Corry	8.17%	1,733	1,733	1,737	1,737	1,744	1,919	1,930	1,938	1,944.23	2,703.23
	DUP	Samuel Foster	6.90%	1,464	1,465	1,521	1,521	1,525	1,535	1,537	1,695	1,808.92	1,865.92
	Ulster Unionist	Dorothy Dunlop*	5.88%	1,248	1,249	1,261	1,261	1,278	1,452	1,459	1,478	1,490.46
	DUP	Albert Greer	4.62%	979	979	1,009	1,009	1,018	1,026	1,026
	Alliance	Samuel Coulson	3.05%	647	660	663	683	784.6	792.6
	Ulster Unionist	John Kennedy	2.89%	613	614	620	620	628
	NI Labour	David McKee	2.58%	548	587	602	611.6
	Ulster Democratic	Louis Scott	2.05%	434	439
	SDLP	Peter Prendiville	1.11%	236
Electorate: 35,901   Valid: 21,208 (59.07%)   Spoilt: 630   Quota: 2,652   Turnout: 21,838 (60.83%)

Area C

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

Area C - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Alliance	David Cook*	15.65%	2,493
	Alliance	Muriel Pritchard*	7.27%	1,158	1,217.52	1,280.08	1,347.72	1,362.88	2,376.96
	Ulster Unionist	Andrew Cairns*	12.13%	1,933	1,937.32	1,942.32	2,166.88	2,187.88	2,202.84	2,835.84
	Ulster Unionist	Mary Crooks*	13.18%	2,099	2,104.2	2,111.1	2,191.6	2,216.76	2,260.24	2,828.24
	DUP	Brian Gibson	9.43%	1,503	1,504.04	1,505.12	1,529.12	1,720.12	1,727.12	1,805.48	2,040.48	2,229.48
	DUP	William Stevenson	7.62%	1,214	1,214.32	1,214.32	1,222.32	1,687.56	1,694.8	1,753.28	1,872.28	1,971.28
	SDLP	Ben Caraher	9.42%	1,501	1,508.6	1,792.12	1,795.12	1,795.12	1,828.96	1,843.44	1,845.44	1,850.44
	Ulster Unionist	John Gilmore	8.32%	1,326	1,330.72	1,336.88	1,396.04	1,411.12	1,421
	Alliance	William Jeffrey*	5.73%	913	1,021	1,108.48	1,150.2	1,156.44
	DUP	Thomas McIntyre	4.58%	729	729.8	730.8	744.88
	Unionist Party NI	Victor Brennan*	3.34%	532	534.72	536.72
	Republican Clubs	Gerard Carr	3.33%	530	532.96
Electorate: 28,354   Valid: 15,931 (56.19%)   Spoilt: 529   Quota: 2,276   Turnout: 16,460 (58.05%)

Area D

1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance
1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x People's Democracy, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Independent Socialist
1977-1981 Change: People's Democracy and IRSP gain from Republican Clubs and Alliance, Independent Socialist leaves SDLP

Area D - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SDLP	Joe Hendron	26.20%	4,291
	People's Democracy	John McAnulty	16.98%	2,781
	SDLP	Cormac Boomer*	12.64%	2,070	2,919.16
	SDLP	Mary Muldoon*	3.88%	636	987.44	1,143.37	1,148.3	1,166.98	1,187.34	1,191.34	1,917.48	1,937.84	2,262.01
	Irish Republican Socialist	Gerry Kelly	5.84%	957	1,015.88	1,020.22	1,238.16	1,276.77	1,284.95	1,285.95	1,302.89	2,185.21	2,197.01
	Independent Socialist	Paddy Devlin*	8.20%	1,343	1,515.1	1,560.45	1,573.88	1,616	1,659.4	1,668.4	1,741.36	1,787.23	2,058.99
	Republican Clubs	Mary McMahon	6.87%	1,125	1,176.52	1,185.2	1,193.87	1,211.85	1,546.39	1,547.39	1,604.52	1,628.3	1,738.82
	Alliance	Dan McGuinness*	4.43%	725	781.12	795.69	797.22	883.01	895.93	1,064.93	1,108.6	1,116.83
	Irish Republican Socialist	William Browning	5.02%	822	846.84	854.9	1,012.49	1,041.67	1,046.52	1,049.52	1,066.12
	SDLP	Anne McElroy	2.11%	346	642.7	962.93	974.49	1,008.88	1,034.96	1,040.27
	Ulster Unionist	John Hand	2.92%	538	538	538.31	538.48	555.48	558.48
	Republican Clubs	Kevin Smyth	2.67%	438	467.9	471.93	476.01	488.35
	Independent Nationalist	Liam Hunter*	1.02%	167	189.54	192.95	200.77
	Alliance	Robert Turkington	0.84%	137	146.2	146.51	147.36
Electorate: 35,812   Valid: 16,376 (45.73%)   Spoilt: 1,060   Quota: 2,340   Turnout: 17,436 (48.69%)

Area E

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Anti H-Block
1977-1981 Change: DUP and Anti H-Block gain from Alliance and Independent, Independent Unionist joins PUP

Area E - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	DUP	George Haffey	23.73%	4,142
	Ulster Unionist	Billy Bell*	17.79%	3,105
	DUP	George Seawright	11.39%	1,989	3,442.6
	PUP	Hugh Smyth*	11.06%	1,931	1,957	2,177.72	2,204.72	2,220.72	2,229.72	2,231.92	2,234.12	2,311.85	2,316.36	2,548.36
	Ulster Unionist	Alfie Ferguson*	2.10%	367	395.4	625.42	989.62	990.24	1,016.79	1,017.3	1,019.1	1,375.09	1,380.69	1,789.06	2,200.15
	Anti H-Block	Laurence Kennedy	6.13%	1,070	1,070	1,070	1,070	1,092	1,100.2	1,184.2	1,510	1,510	1,890	1,892.86	1,904.97
	Alliance	Samuel Egerton*	5.79%	1,011	1,017.8	1,033.92	1,062.72	1,090.92	1,165.83	1,169.83	1,186.83	1,207.67	1,500.67	1,569.39	1,706.56
	Ulster Democratic	Samuel Doyle	6.50%	1,135	1,164.2	1,257.82	1,293.42	1,294.42	1,312.53	1,316.24	1,318.44	1,359.66	1,367.28	1,481.88
	Ind. Unionist	Fred Proctor*	3.96%	692	754.4	982.56	1,032.36	1,032.36	1,046.89	1,050.29	1,053.2	1,129.37	1,130.88
	SDLP	Alphonsus Maginness	3.54%	618	618	618.62	619.42	663.42	678.42	719.42	863.82	864.44
	Ulster Unionist	James Sands	2.21%	386	413.2	546.81	639.61	640.61	655.16	656.16	657.16
	Independent	Patrick Hunter	1.84%	321	324.2	324.82	325.62	332.62	345.13	524.13
	Independent	James Weir*	1.78%	311	311.8	313.35	313.95	322.95	329.95
	Independent	Peter Emerson	1.16%	202	203.6	214.45	220.45	232.76
	Republican Clubs	Margaret McNulty	1.01%	177	177	178.86	179.06
Electorate: 28,598   Valid: 17,457 (61.04%)   Spoilt: 624   Quota: 2,494   Turnout: 18,081 (63.22%)

Area F

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Alliance
1977-1981 Change: DUP and IRSP gain from UUP and Republican Clubs

Area F - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	William Dickson*	17.80%	1,913
	Irish Republican Socialist	Sean Flynn	15.25%	1,639
	SDLP	Owen Allen*	8.36%	898	898.4	923.88	938.01	1,045.03	1,242.88	1,244.88	1,784.88
	Alliance	Will Glendinning*	7.85%	844	852	865	1,036.69	1,060.21	1,102.06	1,176.59	1,350.01	1,498.97	1,603.97
	DUP	Eric Smyth	8.60%	924	1,203.2	1,203.98	1,204.44	1,207.57	1,211.97	1,304.57	1,308.57	1,317.39	1,512.99
	Ulster Unionist	James Stewart*	6.69%	719	742.6	742.86	742.86	742.86	753.99	969.39	969.59	970.57	1,460.35
	Republican Clubs	Jim Sullivan*	9.32%	1,002	1,002	1,013.7	1,024.96	1,048.74	1,093.43	1,095.43	1,147.29	1,232.55	1,235.53
	Ulster Unionist	Linda Cust	5.94%	638	663.2	663.33	667.33	667.33	674.93	920.13	921.13	925.05
	SDLP	Maurice Fitzmaurice	6.69%	719	719.4	737.21	739.6	764.29	868.06	869.06
	Ulster Unionist	Harry Fletcher*	5.78%	621	651	651.13	652.33	652.33	661.73
	SDLP	Mary Smyth	3.62%	389	395.2	406.64	410.16	458.8
	SDLP	Thomas Lappin	2.11%	227	227	243.64	245.9
	Alliance	Paul Maguire	2.00%	215	215.4	219.56
Electorate: 18,575   Valid: 10,748 (57.86%)   Spoilt: 680   Quota: 1,536   Turnout: 11,428 (61.52%)

Area G

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x UDP
1977-1981 Change: DUP, PD and UDP gain from UUP, Republican Clubs and Alliance

Area G - 6 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	DUP	Frederick Ashby*	20.84%	2,076
	People's Democracy	Fergus O'Hare	19.60%	1,953
	Ulster Democratic	Samuel Millar	14.25%	1,420	1,437.36
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Walker*	11.77%	1,173	1,186.33	1,188.09	1,233.71	1,642.71
	SDLP	Brian Feeney	7.52%	749	749.31	1,033.55	1,102.63	1,108.94	1,110.6	1,419.23
	DUP	Joseph Coggle	3.93%	392	979.76	980.64	1,000.88	1,143.04	1,323.15	1,375.7
	Republican Clubs	Seamus Lynch*	7.53%	750	750.31	899.03	941.95	944.95	946.61	1,209.77
	Independent Socialist	Gerry Fitt*	5.43%	541	542.24	602.08	696.79	729.03	762.23
	Ulster Unionist	Herbert Ditty*	5.97%	595	610.19	610.19	642.19
	Alliance	Philip McGarry	3.14%	313	315.48	348.04
Electorate: 17,207   Valid: 9,962 (57.90%)   Spoilt: 374   Quota: 1,424   Turnout: 10,336 (60.07%)

Area H

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

Area H - 7 seats^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Ulster Unionist	John Carson*	25.37%	5,014
	SDLP	Paschal O'Hare*	15.47%	3,057
	DUP	William Annon*	15.23%	3,010
	Ind. Unionist	Frank Millar*	9.35%	1,848	2,438.07	2,438.64	2,464.2	2,581.2
	Alliance	John Cushnahan*	8.80%	1,739	1,881.8	1,918.09	1,923.85	1,928.54	1,928.54	2,046.59	2,500.59
	Ulster Unionist	Raymond Trimble	2.06%	408	1,729.92	1,729.92	1,736.58	1,770.19	1,782.19	1,786.19	1,978.92	2,295.92
	DUP	William Gault	4.11%	813	990.48	990.48	1,423.38	1,506	1,530	1,532.87	1,993.65	2,239.65
	SDLP	Alban Maginness	4.14%	818	829.22	1,336.52	1,336.52	1,336.52	1,336.52	1,593.23	1,613.71	1,723.71
	NI Labour	Alan Carr	5.06%	1,000	1,091.8	1,095.6	1,110.54	1,231.25	1,246.25	1,334.79	1,397.21
	Alliance	Robert Jamison*	2.69%	531	646.26	651.58	653.2	655.2	659.2	676.84
	DUP	Pauline Strong	2.36%	466	510.37	510.37	555.01	611.88	630.88	630.88
	Republican Clubs	Liam Clarke	2.80%	553	560.14	579.52	580.42	580.42	580.42
	PUP	David Overend	2.55%	503	520.85	521.04	524.1
Electorate: 33,505   Valid: 19,760 (58.98%)   Spoilt: 720   Quota: 2,471   Turnout: 20,480 (61.13%)

References

1. "Belfast Council results". 27 July 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.