1981 Armagh District Council election

← 1977

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)

1985 →

All 20 seats to Armagh District Council
11 seats needed for a majority

Elections to Armagh District 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 20 councillors.

Armagh District Council Election Result 1981^[1]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
UUP	8	0	1	1	40.0	38.7	9,267	0.1
SDLP	7	0	0	0	35.0	30.8	7,363	0.5
DUP	3	1	0	1	15.0	18.5	4,417	5.7
Ind. Nationalist	1	0	0	0	5.0	4.2	1,011	0.2
UUUP	1	0	0	0	5.0	3.6	865	0.9
Irish Independence	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.1	493	New
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	370	0.7
Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	134	0.6

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Armagh District Council election, 1981
by district
Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
UUP	SDLP	DUP	UUUP	Others
Area A	37.6	2	33.3	1	27.2	1	1.8	0	0.0	0	4
Area B	52.2	3	16.2	1	22.5	1	9.2	1	0.0	0	6
Area C	25.3	1	46.6	3	12.6	0	0.0	0	15.5	0	5
Area D	32.3	2	35.6	2	11.7	0	0.0	0	20.4	1	5
Total	38.7	8	30.8	7	18.5	3	3.6	1	8.4	1	20

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

Armagh Area A - 4 seats^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3
	UUP	Ronald Allen	22.78%	938
	DUP	Douglas Hutchinson*	21.32%	878
	UUP	Samuel Foster*	14.81%	610	844
	SDLP	Francis McIlvanna*	18.97%	781	784	804
	SDLP	Francis Kernan	14.40%	593	599	676
	DUP	Norman Kerr	5.93%	244
	UUUP	Robert Cummings	1.80%	74
Electorate: 5,833 Valid: 4,118 (70.60%) Spoilt: 178 Quota: 824 Turnout: 4,296 (73.65%)

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Armagh Area B - 6 seats^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	UUP	Jim Speers*	22.40%	1,931
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon*	16.17%	1,394
	UUP	William McClelland*	12.67%	1,092	1,264.8
	DUP	Thomas Black*	10.64%	917	955.16	959.88	963.38	1,170.16	1,843.16
	UUUP	Francis Little*	8.49%	732	768.72	808.08	819.98	867.52	895.84	1,189.84
	UUP	Robert Turner	8.61%	742	967	968.72	1,033.12	1,054.48	1,087.38	1,178.38
	UUP	Thomas Johnston	8.50%	733	891.4	902.2	970.8	994.04	1,026.44	1,143.44
	DUP	John Alexander	6.51%	561	573.96	576.4	582	787.96
	DUP	Mervyn Spratt	5.32%	459	498.96	503.96	511.66
	UUUP	Frederick Hamilton	0.68%	59	65.48
Electorate: 10,993 Valid: 8,620 (78.41%) Spoilt: 160 Quota: 1,232 Turnout: 8,780 (79.87%)

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

Armagh Area C - 5 seats^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4
	SDLP	Patrick Fegan*	17.55%	980
	UUP	Jim Nicholson*	17.23%	962
	SDLP	James McKernan*	16.71%	933
	DUP	Joseph McBride	12.63%	705	705.35	709.4	1,041.4
	SDLP	Joseph Dunleavy	12.36%	690	729.35	853.9	867.9
	Irish Independence	Patrick Agnew	8.83%	493	495.6	629.9	633.95
	UUP	Eleanor Boyd*	8.06%	450	450.35	462.35
	Independent	Peter McSorley	6.63%	370	373.9
Electorate: 7,281 Valid: 5,583 (76.68%) Spoilt: 207 Quota: 931 Turnout: 5,790 (79.52%)

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

Armagh Area D - 6 seats^[2]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	UUP	Frederick Armstrong*	20.95%	1,173
	Ind. Nationalist	Bernard McManus*	18.06%	1,011
	SDLP	Pat Brannigan*	14.41%	807	808.4	832.8	854.22	857.22	1,224.22
	SDLP	John Agnew	11.02%	617	617.4	646.6	672.59	675.59	887.39	1,174.49
	UUP	George Macartney	7.02%	393	457.8	469	469.18	820.58	822.87	823.74	855.93
	DUP	Letitia McClenaghan	11.66%	653	667.6	671.6	671.78	713.78	716.07	716.07	719.55
	SDLP	Gerald Grimley	10.14%	568	568.2	593.4	619.41	620.61
	UUP	Norman Creswell*	4.34%	243	394.4	405.4	405.58
	Independent Labour	Carson Greer	2.39%	134	134.8
Electorate: 8,699 Valid: 5,599 (64.36%) Spoilt: 228 Quota: 934 Turnout: 5,827 (66.98%)

v t e Council elections in County Armagh
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council	2014 2019 2023
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council	2014 2019 2023
Armagh City and District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Craigavon Borough Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished
Newry and Mourne District Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2011 Abolished

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