1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 15 seats to Carrickfergus Borough Council
8 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party DUP Ulster Unionist Alliance
Seats won 7 3 3
Seat change Increase 4 Decrease 2 Decrease 2
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party United Loyalist Ind. Unionist Unionist Party NI
Seats won 1 1 0
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 1 Decrease 1

Elections to Carrickfergus Borough 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 15 councillors.

Election results

Carrickfergus Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  DUP 7 4 0 Increase4 46.7 36.6 4,399 Increase19.0
  Ulster Unionist 3 0 2 Decrease2 20.0 22.6 2,717 Decrease4.9
  Alliance 3 0 2 Decrease2 20.0 21.8 2,618 Decrease8.3
  United Loyalist 1 0 0 Steady0 6.7 6.8 819 Increase1.8
  Ind. Unionist 1 1 0 Increase1 6.7 4.4 526 Increase4.4
  Unionist Party NI 0 0 1 Decrease1 0.0 3.2 383 Decrease6.9
  PUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.9 353 New
  UPUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.0 122 New
  Newtownabbey Labour Party 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.7 85 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Carrickfergus Borough Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
DUP UUP Alliance Others
Area A 27.4 2 20.0 1 22.2 1 30.4 1 5
Area B 34.4 2 35.4 2 25.0 1 5.2 0 5
Area C 47.1 3 12.9 0 18.3 1 21.7 1 5
Total 36.6 7 22.6 3 21.8 3 19.0 2 15

Districts results

Area A

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

Carrickfergus Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
United Loyalist Charles Johnston* 21.11% 819            
Ulster Unionist Mary Ardill* 11.81% 458 475.4 585.69 587.92 695.92    
Alliance Joan Tomlin* 13.20% 512 541.21 542.21 634.44 646.82 847.82  
DUP William Haggan 14.41% 559 589.59 594.05 596.28 625.27 633.5 637.5
DUP Samuel Irvine 12.99% 504 550.69 551.92 554.15 576.83 590.75 598.75
Unionist Party NI Anne Dickson 9.10% 353 366.8 372.49 373.49 390.56 411.63 502.63
Alliance Stewart Dickson* 5.36% 208 213.52 216.52 257.52 263.44    
Ulster Unionist Ernest Burton 4.85% 188 203.64 217.25 220.25      
Alliance Robert Gordon 3.74% 145 145.92 145.92        
Ulster Unionist Mary Anderson 3.43% 133 142.2          
Electorate: 6,062   Valid: 3,879 (63.99%)   Spoilt: 98   Quota: 647   Turnout: 3,977 (65.61%)  

Area B

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

Carrickfergus Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
DUP William Cross 18.98% 748                
Ulster Unionist Hugh McLean* 17.79% 701                
Ulster Unionist James Brown 14.92% 588 590.64 606.18 608.24 687.24        
Alliance Patrick Conway* 11.32% 446 446.84 448.28 469.28 472.18 498.54 501.74 694.74  
DUP William Knox 9.11% 359 433.52 437.24 438.3 454.88 483.6 495.76 500.94 749.94
Alliance Charles Hilditch* 7.79% 307 308.2 312.82 340.82 347.6 368.32 374.08 433.06 439.06
DUP Steven Watters 6.32% 249 256.8 259.2 259.2 265.52 274.82 280.58 285.58  
Alliance Alice Bateman 5.86% 231 231 231.42 249.42 250.72 277.02 280.22    
UPUP Robert Wilson 3.10% 122 122.6 124.34 131.4 134.02        
Ulster Unionist Henry Cardwell 2.66% 105 106.2 117 123          
Newtownabbey Labour Richard Hopkins 2.16% 85 85 85.18            
Electorate: 6,627   Valid: 3,941 (59.47%)   Spoilt: 133   Quota: 657   Turnout: 4,074 (61.48%)  

Area C

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

Carrickfergus Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
DUP Ken McFaul* 37.41% 1,572              
DUP William McKeown 5.74% 241 816.12            
Alliance Sean Neeson* 15.78% 663 692.68 694.99 787.99        
Ind. Unionist Samuel Murphy* 12.52% 526 561.28 564.14 578.37 602.37 623.17 675.66 722.66
DUP James Strange 3.97% 167 312.04 410.05 417.5 425.5 433.85 447.77 561.86
Ulster Unionist Elizabeth Carson 5.47% 230 245.12 246.99 257.1 268.1 327.23 454.28 509.77
PUP Samuel Stewart 8.40% 353 382.12 385.86 386.86 391.86 402.88 419  
Ulster Unionist Robert Hunter* 3.78% 159 178.6 180.03 185.37 194.37 263.73    
Ulster Unionist John Haslett 3.69% 155 171.24 172.01 176.79 181.79      
Alliance Arthur McQuitty 2.52% 106 109.36 110.57          
Ind. Unionist Edwin Cummings 0.71% 30 30.56 30.89          
Electorate: 6,939   Valid: 4,202 (60.56%)   Spoilt: 165   Quota: 701   Turnout: 4,367 (62.93%)  

References

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