1981 Craigavon Borough Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 25 seats to Craigavon Borough Council
13 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Ulster Unionist DUP SDLP
Seats won 9 7 5
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 3 Decrease 1
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Republican Clubs Alliance UUUP
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 2 Steady 0

Elections to Craigavon 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 25 councillors.

Election results

Craigavon Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Ulster Unionist 9 0 1 Decrease1 36.0 30.8 10,045 Decrease0.6
  DUP 7 3 0 Increase3 28.0 27.1 8,836 Increase9.8
  SDLP 5 0 1 Decrease1 20.0 20.8 6,801 Decrease2.6
  Republican Clubs 2 0 0 Increase1 8.0 9.4 3,059 Increase3.8
  Alliance 1 0 2 Decrease2 4.0 4.1 1,354 Decrease7.2
  UUUP 1 0 0 Steady0 4.0 3.9 1,276 Decrease1.9
  Independent Socialist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.7 898 Increase2.7
  Independent Nationalist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.8 250 Increase0.8
  Ind. Unionist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.4 141 Increase0.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Craigavon Borough Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
UUP DUP SDLP RC Alliance UUUP Others
Area A 14.8 1 12.4 0 49.9 3 19.8 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 3.1 0 5
Area B 36.5 3 30.7 2 16.5 1 6.7 0 9.5 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 7
Area C 26.5 2 22.0 2 19.0 1 14.2 1 6.3 0 0.0 0 12.0 0 6
Area D 40.6 3 38.6 3 6.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 13.8 1 0.0 0 7
Total 30.8 9 27.1 7 20.8 5 9.4 2 4.1 1 3.9 1 3.9 0 25

Districts results

Area A

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x UUP
1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Craigavon Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Republican Clubs Padraig Breen 19.44% 1,200        
SDLP James McDonald* 16.18% 999 1,032.2      
SDLP Patrick Crilly* 10.56% 652 715.4 762.4 1,166.4  
SDLP Sean McCavanagh* 14.04% 867 915 973.8 1,117.8  
Ulster Unionist James Gillespie* 11.86% 732 734.4 894.2 897.2 925.2
DUP Victor Pickering 12.41% 766 766.4 786.4 786.6 795.6
SDLP Ignatius Fox 9.12% 563 580 603.8    
Independent Socialist Joseph Cunningham 3.11% 192 214.4      
Ulster Unionist William Lyness 2.96% 183 184.2      
Electorate: 8,797   Valid: 6,174 (70.18%)   Spoilt: 245   Quota: 1,030   Turnout: 6,419 (72.97%)  

Area B

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

Craigavon Area B - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Ulster Unionist Herbert Whitten* 21.99% 1,785              
SDLP Daniel Murphy* 16.54% 1,343              
DUP Gladys McCullough* 13.88% 1,127              
Ulster Unionist Alan Locke* 8.18% 664 1,138.72            
DUP James Forsythe 9.88% 802 829.95 830.21 834.83 957.03 1,019.93    
Ulster Unionist Arnold Hatch 6.38% 518 695.59 695.59 800.31 821.13 830.73 996.41 1,009.67
Alliance William Ramsay* 5.11% 415 448.11 479.05 483.56 492.39 495.19 521.11 876.6
Republican Clubs Dermot Hamill 6.66% 541 541 701.68 702.01 703.27 703.27 705.8 798.17
Alliance Sean Hagan* 4.43% 360 365.16 493.6 494.48 496.74 497.14 504.63  
DUP Frederick Richardson 4.14% 336 360.51 360.51 361.83 437.81 471.11    
DUP John Oliver 2.80% 227 244.2 244.72 246.59        
Electorate: 12,023   Valid: 8,118 (67.52%)   Spoilt: 326   Quota: 1,015   Turnout: 8,444 (70.23%)  

Area C

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

Craigavon Area C - 6 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Republican Clubs Tom French 14.19% 1,298 1,301 1,363                    
SDLP Hugh News* 11.77% 1,077 1,077 1,133 1,153.93 1,169.84 1,285.39 1,384.39            
Ulster Unionist Mary Simpson* 10.79% 987 1,015 1,015 1,015 1,015 1,015 1,132 1,134 1,194 1,200 1,552    
Ulster Unionist Cyril McLoughlin 8.47% 775 793 796 796 797 799 886 888 922 929 1,294 1,509.67  
DUP William Smith 7.10% 650 662 662 662.91 663.91 663.91 671.91 672.91 1,053.91 1,054.91 1,074.91 1,089.92 1,150.75
DUP Robert Dodds 8.20% 750 777 777 777.91 777.91 777.91 782.91 783.91 925.91 926.91 942.91 953.97 993.47
SDLP Catherine McCann 4.27% 391 391 435 448.65 468.56 636.29 708.2 763.2 763.2 973.75 973.75 975.33 977.7
Ulster Unionist Jack Mathers 7.20% 659 670 670 670 670 670 759 760 774 782      
Independent Socialist Alan Evans 4.35% 398 402 415 417.73 668.46 684.46 751.46 757.46 757.46        
DUP Ronald Williamson* 6.74% 617 631 631 631 631 631 638 638          
Alliance Brian Gee 6.33% 579 596 609 611.73 616.73 628.73              
SDLP Terence McGinnity 2.95% 270 270 313 321.19 327.19                
Independent Socialist George Forker 3.37% 308 309 313 317.55                  
Independent Nationalist Robert McEvoy* 2.73% 250 252                      
Ind. Unionist Frederick Crowe 1.54% 141                        
Electorate: 14,371   Valid: 9,150 (63.67%)   Spoilt: 318   Quota: 1,308   Turnout: 9,468 (65.88%)  

Area D

1977: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 3 x UUP, 3 x DUP, 1 x UUUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Craigavon Area D - 7 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
DUP Frederick Baird* 17.03% 1,570          
DUP David Calvert* 12.14% 1,119 1,284.36        
Ulster Unionist Sydney Cairns* 12.49% 1,151 1,179.08        
Ulster Unionist Samuel Gardiner 12.27% 1,131 1,142.96 1,146.16 1,397.16    
Ulster Unionist George Savage 11.15% 1,028 1,032.68 1,034.48 1,153.48    
DUP Ian Williams 9.46% 872 997.06 1,104.86 1,123.96 1,156.96  
UUUP Philip Black* 8.57% 790 842.26 850.26 877.22 983.22 1,439.22
SDLP Gary Kennedy 6.93% 639 639.26 639.26 639.26 640.26 648.26
UUUP Thomas Megarrell 5.27% 486 497.96 500.36 519.74 546.74  
Ulster Unionist Samuel Lutton 4.69% 432 436.94 438.94      
Electorate: 13,017   Valid: 9,218 (70.82%)   Spoilt: 237   Quota: 1,153   Turnout: 9,455 (72.64%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Craigavon". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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