1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
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 4 2 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party United Loyalist Ind. Unionist Unionist Party NI Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 0 1 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

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	7	4	0	4	46.7	36.6	4,399	19.0
	Ulster Unionist	3	0	2	2	20.0	22.6	2,717	4.9
	Alliance	3	0	2	2	20.0	21.8	2,618	8.3
	United Loyalist	1	0	0	0	6.7	6.8	819	1.8
	Ind. Unionist	1	1	0	1	6.7	4.4	526	4.4
	Unionist Party NI	0	0	1	1	0.0	3.2	383	6.9
	PUP	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.9	353	New
	UPUP	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.0	122	New
	Newtownabbey Labour Party	0	0	0	0	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

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

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

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

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%)