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	UUP	DUP	SDLP
Seats won	9	7	5
Seat change	1	3	1

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Party	Republican Clubs	Alliance	UUUP
Seats won	2	1	1
Seat change	1	2	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.

Craigavon Borough Council Election Result 1981^[1]
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
UUP	9	0	1	1	36.0	30.8	10,045	0.6
DUP	7	3	0	3	28.0	27.1	8,836	9.8
SDLP	5	0	1	1	20.0	20.8	6,801	2.6
Republican Clubs	2	0	0	1	8.0	9.4	3,059	3.8
Alliance	1	0	2	2	4.0	4.1	1,354	7.2
UUUP	1	0	0	0	4.0	3.9	1,276	1.9
Independent Socialist	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.7	898	2.7
Ind. Nationalist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.8	250	0.8
Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.4	141	0.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Craigavon Borough Council election, 1981
by district
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
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	UUP	Herbert Whitten*	21.99%	1,785
	SDLP	Daniel Murphy*	16.54%	1,343
	DUP	Gladys McCullough*	13.88%	1,127
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
	UUP	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
	Ind. 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
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	Frederick Baird*	17.03%	1,570
	DUP	David Calvert*	12.14%	1,119	1,284.36
	UUP	Sydney Cairns*	12.49%	1,151	1,179.08
	UUP	Samuel Gardiner	12.27%	1,131	1,142.96	1,146.16	1,397.16
	UUP	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
	UUP	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%)

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

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

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire
County councils (Wales)	Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan
Metropolitan counties	Greater Manchester Merseyside South Yorkshire Tyne and Wear West Midlands West Yorkshire
Unicameral area	Greater London
District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Londonderry Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Sui generis	Isles of Scilly