1981 Magherafelt District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

Elections to Magherafelt District 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.

1981 Magherafelt District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Magherafelt District Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP DUP Ulster Unionist Seats won 5 4 2 Seat change 0 1 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Independent Republican Irish Independence UUUP Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 2 1 0   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Republican Clubs Independent Nationalist Seats won 0 0 Seat change 1 1

Election results

Magherafelt District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	5	1	1	0	33.3	25.6	4,825	9.5
	DUP	4	1	0	1	26.7	24.0	4,534	5.3
	Independent Republican	2	2	0	2	13.3	14.8	2,858	14.8
	Ulster Unionist	2	0	2	2	13.3	9.9	1,861	10.2
	Irish Independence	1	1	0	1	6.7	10.4	1,961	New
	UUUP	1	0	0	0	6.7	7.3	1,379	1.0
	Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.5	466	2.2
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.9	359	1.9
	Independent Nationalist	0	0	1	1	0.0	1.6	300	2.8
	Republican Clubs	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	288	7.0
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	38	0.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Magherafelt District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		DUP		UUP		IIP		UUUP		Others
Area A	39.1	3	13.0	1	9.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	38.9	1	5
Area B	10.4	1	20.3	1	11.9	1	33.8	1	18.4	1	5.2	0	5
Area C	25.8	1	37.7	2	9.0	1	0.0	0	4.6	0	22.9	1	5
Total	25.6	5	24.0	4	9.9	2	10.4	1	7.3	1	22.8	2	15

Districts results

Area A

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

Magherafelt Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent Republican	Noel McCusker	25.13%	1,597
	SDLP	Mary McSorley	14.48%	920	993.08	1,032.4	1,032.4	1,247.4
	SDLP	Patrick Sweeney*	11.10%	705	960.24	976.64	984.64	1,012.12	1,090.92
	DUP	John Linton	12.95%	823	823.36	824.36	981.72	987.44	987.44	995.44
	SDLP	Francis McKendry	7.22%	459	520.56	528.8	529.8	683.84	781.17	967.17
	Ulster Unionist	John Henning*	8.95%	569	569.36	573.36	759.36	760.36	760.36	773.36
	Republican Clubs	Francis Donnelly*	5.18%	329	390.56	545.24	548.24	566.56	577.68
	SDLP	Patrick McBride	6.34%	403	417.76	436.52	436.52
	Ind. Unionist	Francis Thompson*	5.65%	359	359.56	361.36
	Republican Clubs	Geraldine Crilly	2.16%	137	166.88
	Independent Republican	Peter Merron	0.83%	53	87.2
Electorate: 7,247   Valid: 6,354 (87.68%)   Spoilt: 129   Quota: 1,060   Turnout: 6,483 (89.46%)

Area B

1977: 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x IIP
1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Independent Nationalist

Magherafelt Area B - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Irish Independence	Oliver Hughes	33.77%	1,961
	UUUP	Robert Overend*	18.43%	1,070
	SDLP	Henry McErlean	4.89%	284	679.66	679.66	1,075.39
	DUP	Thomas Milligan	11.50%	668	668.55	705.49	705.58	1,146.58
	Ulster Unionist	John Junkin	11.88%	690	695.99	736.79	736.79	818.03	991.87
	Independent Nationalist	Vincent O'Neill*	5.17%	300	712.02	712.49	797.72	797.81	800.99
	DUP	Alexander Montgomery	8.82%	512	513.1	534.72	534.72
	SDLP	Francis Madden	5.55%	322	498.58	498.86
Electorate: 6,702   Valid: 5,807 (86.65%)   Spoilt: 178   Quota: 968   Turnout: 5,985 (89.30%)

Area C

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

Magherafelt Area C - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	William McCrea*	33.51%	2,248
	Independent Republican	Bernard Murphy	18.01%	1,208
	DUP	George Miller*	4.22%	283	1,181
	Ulster Unionist	William Lees	5.16%	346	412	427.58	427.58	432.8	494.45	720.81	720.85	1,186.35
	SDLP	Roddy Gribben	9.51%	638	638	638	679.52	683.6	705	706	976.76	977.54	978.04
	SDLP	William Conaghan*	10.38%	696	697	697.11	707.83	710.79	793.65	798.15	937.43	950.6	952.6
	UUUP	Ernest Caldwell	4.61%	309	403	429.49	429.57	444.72	482.52	600.66	602.66
	SDLP	Michael O'Neill*	5.93%	398	399	399.07	419.07	420.43	430.83	430.83
	Ulster Unionist	James Artt	3.82%	256	298	312.98	312.98	325.68	373.01
	Alliance	Wilfred Brennan	4.29%	288	301.5	302.61	303.73	306.59
	Independent	John Gregg	0.57%	38	44	46.41	52.17
Electorate: 7,951   Valid: 6,708 (84.37%)   Spoilt: 147   Quota: 1,119   Turnout: 6,855 (86.22%)