1981 North Down Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981
1981 North Down Borough Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 20 seats to North Down Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Alliance DUP UUP
Seats won 6 5 4
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 4 Decrease 3
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party UPUP Unionist Party NI Ind. Unionist
Seats won 3 1 1
Seat change Increase 3 Steady 0 Steady 0
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Party Vanguard UUUP
Seats won 0 0
Seat change Decrease 2 Decrease 1

Elections to North Down 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 20 councillors.

Election results

North Down Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Alliance 6 0 1 Decrease1 30.0 25.2 6,132 Decrease13.3
  DUP 5 4 0 Increase4 25.0 23.7 5,766 Increase15.4
  UUP 4 0 3 Decrease3 20.0 22.6 5,477 Decrease4.7
  UPUP 3 3 0 Increase3 15.0 17.6 4,272 New
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 0 Steady0 5.0 6.1 1,477 Increase1.7
  Unionist Party NI 1 0 0 Steady0 5.0 3.8 892 Decrease5.4
  PUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 1.1 270 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the North Down Borough Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
Alliance DUP UUP UPUP UPNI Others
Area A 26.4 1 19.3 1 18.7 1 7.6 0 10.3 1 17.7 1 5
Area B 15.0 1 36.7 2 11.3 0 29.1 2 0.0 0 7.9 0 5
Area C 31.7 2 21.3 1 23.8 1 23.2 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 5
Area D 30.1 2 15.3 1 41.1 2 9.9 0 3.5 0 0.0 0 5
Total 25.2 6 23.7 5 22.6 4 17.6 3 3.8 1 7.1 1 20

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x UPNI, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x UPNI, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

North Down Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ind. Unionist Edmund Mills* 17.64% 1,216                  
DUP Raymond Trousdale 10.74% 740 742 744.8 752.9 753.9 794.55 1,356.55      
UUP Bruce Mulligan* 10.05% 693 696 701.1 715.35 720.4 784.45 826.3 900.78 1,391.78  
Unionist Party NI William Bailie* 9.50% 655 680 691.2 700.55 707.65 796.95 812.35 860.51 1,036.64 1,218.14
Alliance Donald Hayes 11.78% 812 821 825.95 834.05 984.35 1,023.6 1,024.65 1,034.17 1,053.48 1,092.48
Alliance Jane Copeland 10.30% 710 713 716.15 726.2 856.5 880 888.05 893.65 910.32 932.07
UUP George Allport 8.78% 605 609 618.25 631.6 632.75 703.75 728.75 798.19    
DUP Elizabeth Loan 8.59% 592 592 594.6 612.75 612.85 672.45        
UPUP Valerie Kinghan 4.05% 279 284 288.3 448.2 450.25          
Alliance Julian Hamilton 4.32% 298 300 301.1 302.1            
UPUP Margaret McGimpsey 3.58% 247 250 253.4              
Unionist Party NI Dorothy Smith 0.81% 56                  
Electorate: 12,648   Valid: 6,893 (54.50%)   Spoilt: 176   Quota: 1,149   Turnout: 7,067 (55.87%)  

Area B

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

North Down Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
UPUP George Green* 17.95% 1,200                      
DUP Wesley Graham 14.54% 972 975 978.99 986.41 1,005.11 1,026.18 1,029.18 1,052.6 1,082.74 1,406.79    
DUP John McCormick 12.28% 821 823 828.18 835.39 857.02 893.23 895.37 909.07 927.49 1,273.82    
Alliance James Magee* 10.96% 733 733 737.76 739.32 761.51 766.51 1,006.58 1,031.91 1,060.17 1,064.31 1,075.31 1,090.78
UPUP Cecil Braniff 4.58% 306 313 324.03 473.79 488.93 561.54 566.68 749.1 782.57 805.92 891.92 980.19
UUP Chalmers Quee 5.77% 386 387 393.72 397.42 443.26 455.47 463.89 495.15 771.25 792.67 851.67 906.27
DUP George McMurtry 9.91% 663 667 669.8 674.35 693.71 719.78 721.92 734.34 746.69      
UUP Phyllis Brown 5.53% 370 373 376.92 388.69 417.25 429.39 441.46 454.65        
UPUP William Elliott 3.50% 234 236 251.19 273.93 305.42 319.63 325.63          
Alliance Anne Wilson 4.01% 268 268 268.7 269.84 286.26 288.26            
PUP Thomas O'Brien 4.04% 270 272 273.4 276.54 285.75              
Ind. Unionist John Shields* 3.48% 233 235 241.44 246.28                
UPUP James Boyle* 3.04% 203 205 224.39                  
Ind. Unionist William Johnston 0.42% 28                      
Electorate: 14,099   Valid: 6,687 (47.43%)   Spoilt: 201   Quota: 1,115   Turnout: 6,888 (48.85%)  

Area C

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

North Down Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UPUP Mary O'Fee* 18.28% 1,021              
Alliance William Morrow* 17.17% 959              
DUP Alan Graham 16.24% 929 932.92            
UUP Hazel Bradford* 16.24% 907 916.36 976.84          
Alliance Brian Wilson 7.95% 444 447.6 454.68 464.68 459.94 460.02 776.08 834.24
UUP Terence McKeag 7.56% 422 428.55 471.72 512.72 513.32 514.16 551.04 765.48
UPUP Maisie McMullan* 4.89% 273 324.44 390 392 392.62 393.38 415.78  
Alliance Thomas Rollins* 6.57% 367 370.84 378.84 378.84 391.18 391.18    
DUP George McKinnie 4.71% 263 264.75            
Electorate: 10,215   Valid: 5,585 (54.67%)   Spoilt: 135   Quota: 931   Turnout: 5,720 (56.00%)  

Area D

1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUUP

North Down Area D - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
UUP Ellie McKay 21.01% 1,076                
UUP John Auld* 15.68% 803 887.84              
DUP Gordon Dunne 9.94% 509 524.54 534.96 542.59 804.16 882.16      
Alliance Susan O'Brien 14.20% 727 738.97 741.39 751.81 752.23 764.38 767.89 769.13 841.13
Alliance Michael Clarke 8.26% 423 426.15 429.36 439.2 440.2 457.77 470.11 470.11 799.11
UPUP Frederick White* 7.30% 374 389.75 497.43 552.48 566.11 667.53 686.9 710.46 722.46
Alliance Irene Cave 7.64% 391 396.46 398.46 418.3 419.3 449.29 455.66 458.76  
UUP Thomas Bussell* 4.39% 225 288.42 293.68 358.2 369.3        
DUP Edith Cole 5.41% 277 283.72 287.93 297.35          
Unionist Party NI Trevor Boyd 3.53% 181 187.51 191.93            
UPUP Eric Griffith 2.64% 135 139.83              
Electorate: 9,205   Valid: 5,121 (55.63%)   Spoilt: 125   Quota: 854   Turnout: 5,246 (56.99%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973 - 1981: North Down". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.