1981 Larne Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Larne Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Larne Borough Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party DUP Ulster Unionist Alliance Seats won 6 4 3 Seat change 3 2 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party United Loyalist Independent Nationalist Vanguard Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 1 1 3   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Independent SDLP Seats won 0 0 Seat change 2 1

Elections to Larne 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

Larne Borough Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	DUP	6	3	0	3	40.0	37.2	4,366	12.3
	Ulster Unionist	4	2	0	2	26.7	24.2	2,845	17.4
	Alliance	3	0	1	1	20.0	17.4	2,042	8.4
	Independent Nationalist	1	0	0	1	6.7	7.5	875	7.5
	United Loyalist	1	1	0	1	6.7	6.2	728	6.2
	Independent	0	0	2	2	0.0	4.3	504	6.8

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Larne Borough Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		UUP		Alliance		Others
Area A	30.8	1	27.7	1	14.5	1	27.0	1	4
Area B	44.6	2	16.7	1	8.6	0	30.1	1	4
Area C	37.2	3	26.0	2	23.4	2	13.4	0	7
Total	37.2	6	24.2	4	17.4	3	21.2	2	15

Districts results

Area A

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

Larne Area A - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Robinson*	27.71%	897
	Independent Nationalist	William Cunning	27.03%	875
	DUP	Rachel Rea*	17.98%	582	715.4
	Alliance	Hugh Wilson*	14.49%	469	520.91	745.19
	DUP	Robert Campbell	12.79%	414	470.26	472.42
Electorate: 5,107   Valid: 3,237 (63.38%)   Spoilt: 74   Quota: 648   Turnout: 3,311 (64.83%)

Area B

1977: 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Vanguard
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x United Loyalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP and United Loyalist gain from Alliance and Vanguard

Larne Area B - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	DUP	John Alexander	23.13%	647
	DUP	Samuel McAllister	21.45%	600
	Ulster Unionist	Laurence Niblock*	19.56%	547	562.96
	United Loyalist	Roy Beggs*	16.66%	466	514.26	575.26
	Ulster Unionist	Alexander Hunter*	10.58%	296	314.81	429.81
	Alliance	William Calwell*	11.54%	241	244.61
Electorate: 4,510   Valid: 2,797 (62.02%)   Spoilt: 68   Quota: 560   Turnout: 2,865 (63.53%)

Area C

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

Larne Area C - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	DUP	Jack McKee*	25.18%	1,436
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Robinson	13.50%	770
	DUP	Winston Fulton	8.93%	509	927
	Alliance	William Kelly*	8.91%	508	514.5	515.8	532.8	557.8	559.41	605.38	620.42	927.42
	Alliance	Thomas Benson*	7.50%	428	428.5	430.06	442.56	464.56	467.36	504.62	518.95	641.52	847.12
	DUP	Leonard Sluman	3.12%	178	348	529.48	539.48	551	552.54	565.84	628.8	630.3	630.3	633.5
	Ulster Unionist	Rosalie Armstrong*	6.79%	387	405.5	413.04	419.54	439.3	460.02	498.9	597.22	598.79	601.99	629.99
	Ulster Unionist	Joseph Wallace	5.70%	325	348	354.24	360.24	393.74	412.57	459.91	533.55	541.62	544.82	564.82
	Alliance	Amelia Kelly	6.94%	396	398.5	398.5	412.5	423.5	423.78	467.92	474.06
	United Loyalist	Samuel Martin*	4.59%	262	302.5	309.78	317.28	326.78	330.98	358.14
	Independent	James Clements	3.82%	218	233.5	236.36	281.36	302.12	304.71
	Independent	Agnew Hamilton*	2.74%	156	160	161.56	173.56
	Independent	Patrick Todd	1.21%	69	74.5	75.28
	Independent	William Fleck	1.07%	61	65.5	66.02
Electorate: 10,614   Valid: 5,703 (53.73%)   Spoilt: 191   Quota: 713   Turnout: 5,894 (55.53%)