1981 Craigavon Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

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.

1981 Craigavon Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
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 1 3 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Republican Clubs Alliance UUUP Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 1 2 0

Election results

Craigavon Borough Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Independent 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

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

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

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

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%)