1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 23 seats to Lisburn Borough Council 12 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP UUP 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

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	10	4	0	4	43.5	42.7	13,867	16.1
	UUP	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	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	72	0.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	UUP	Ronald Campbell*	25.81%	1,299
	DUP	Jim Wells	19.95%	1,004
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Charles Poots*	25.09%	1,469
	UUP	William Bleakes*	20.87%	1,222
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

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
	UUP	Samuel Semple*	12.65%	1,069	1,313.48	1,630.28
	UUP	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
	UUP	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	William Beattie*	29.98%	1,909
	UUP	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	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%)