1981 Ballymena Borough Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 21 seats to Ballymena Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party DUP Ulster Unionist Independent
Seats won 13 5 2
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 1 Steady 0
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Ind. Unionist Alliance
Seats won 1 0
Seat change Decrease 2 Decrease 1

Elections to Ballymena Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 21 councillors.

Election results

Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  DUP 13 2 0 Increase2 61.9 55.5 12,739 Increase15.4
  Ulster Unionist 5 1 0 Increase1 28.6 30.0 6,886 Decrease10.5
  Independent 2 0 0 Steady0 9.5 10.6 2,438 Decrease3.1
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 2 Decrease2 4.8 3.4 790 Decrease18.0
  UUUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.5 108 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
DUP UUP Others
Area A 42.8 2 37.8 1 19.4 1 4
Area B 68.0 4 32.0 2 0.0 0 6
Area C 66.6 4 31.5 1 1.9 0 5
Area D 41.9 3 21.7 1 36.4 2 6
Total 55.5 13 30.0 5 14.5 3 21

Districts results

Area A

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

Ballymena Area A - 4 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Ulster Unionist Desmond Armstrong 22.71% 964      
DUP John Armstrong 19.39% 823 945    
DUP Samuel Hanna 13.74% 583 842 852.32  
Independent James Woulahan* 19.42% 824 826 826.48 827.48
Ulster Unionist James McKay 15.08% 640 656 754.52 798.52
DUP James Millar* 9.66% 410      
Electorate: 5,861   Valid: 4,244 (72.41%)   Spoilt: 121   Quota: 549   Turnout: 4,365 (74.48%)  

Area B

1977: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP
1981: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Ballymena Area B - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
DUP Roy Gillespie* 19.20% 1,254                
DUP Sandy Spence* 15.02% 981                
DUP John Greer* 13.06% 853 1,075.3              
Ulster Unionist Hugh Simpson* 8.22% 537 538.56 539.52 590.52 593.12 793.19 1,109.19    
Ulster Unionist William Wright* 7.10% 464 474.14 474.78 605.56 608.91 661.68 807.62 972.07  
DUP Tommy Nicholl 11.33% 740 763.66 771.34 793.34 824.04 831.75 844.29 848.19 860.54
DUP Hubert Nicholl* 9.43% 616 649.02 765.82 765.82 773.67 794.06 830.53 835.08 853.93
Ulster Unionist Robert Nelson 6.33% 413 431.2 438.88 473.88 474.73 561.18      
Ulster Unionist Thomas Smyth 6.16% 402 409.8 410.28 435.28 436.93        
Ulster Unionist John Sutter 4.15% 271 272.04 272.04            
Electorate: 9,994   Valid: 6,531 (65.35%)   Spoilt: 240   Quota: 934   Turnout: 6,771 (67.75%)  

Area C

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

Ballymena Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
DUP Roy West 19.43% 1,082      
DUP Martin Clarke 17.56% 978      
Ulster Unionist William Brownlees 14.63% 815 953    
DUP Edwin Maternaghan 14.81% 825 839 953.8  
DUP John McAuley* 14.81% 825 846 870.22 915.62
Ulster Unionist William Simpson 12.46% 694 844 851.14 852.94
Ulster Unionist William McConnell 4.36% 243      
UUUP Ernest Johnston 1.94% 108      
Electorate: 9,902   Valid: 5,570 (56.25%)   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 929   Turnout: 5,713 (57.70%)  

Area D

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

Ballymena Area D - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Independent Patrick Burke* 20.12% 1,331            
DUP Maurice Mills* 16.82% 1,113            
Ind. Unionist Samuel Henry* 11.94% 790 972.35          
DUP James Alexander* 13.57% 898 900.1 983.2        
Ulster Unionist Gordon Wilson 8.27% 547 553.65 558.45 558.87 560.91 803.69 917.34
DUP Robert Maternaghan 11.46% 758 758.7 824.55 860.25 860.31 868.8 893.26
Ulster Unionist Kenneth Wood 7.57% 501 524.1 527.25 527.6 530.96 662.67 802.89
Independent Samuel Barr 4.28% 283 434.2 436.9 437.18 455.9 472.22  
Ulster Unionist James Rainey 5.97% 395 408.65 413.75 414.1 415.3    
Electorate: 11,475   Valid: 6,616 (57.66%)   Spoilt: 139   Quota: 946   Turnout: 6,755 (58.87%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Ballymena". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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