1981 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Ballymoney Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 16 seats to Ballymoney Borough Council 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Democratic Unionist Ulster Unionist Independent Seats won 7 3 3 Seat change 4 2 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Social Democratic and Labour Alliance Ind. Unionist Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change 1 0 1

Elections to Ballymoney Borough 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 16 councillors.

Election results

Ballymoney Borough Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Democratic Unionist	7	4	0	4	43.8	40.3	4,310	21.1
	Ulster Unionist	3	0	2	2	18.8	24.0	2,563	5.4
	Independent	3	0	0	0	18.8	17.8	1,899	7.0
	Social Democratic and Labour	2	0	1	1	12.5	9.9	1,054	5.2
	Alliance	1	1	1	0	6.3	8.1	868	0.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Ballymoney Borough Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		UUP		SDLP		Alliance		Others
Area A	53.8	2	27.2	1	0.0	0	19.0	1	0.0	0	4
Area B	31.6	3	30.3	2	21.3	2	0.0	0	16.8	1	8
Area C	42.3	2	10.8	0	11.6	0	0.0	0	35.3	2	4
Total	40.3	7	24.0	3	9.9	2	8.1	1	17.7	3	16

Districts results

Area A

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

Ballymoney Area A - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Democratic Unionist	Robert Halliday*	21.17%	575
	Ulster Unionist	Kenneth Bamford*	14.87%	404	666
	Alliance	Hugh McFarland	19.00%	516	525	567
	Democratic Unionist	James Patterson	17.82%	484	512	544
	Democratic Unionist	Robert Wilson	14.84%	403	423	441
	Ulster Unionist	Adam Taylor*	6.92%	188
	Democratic Unionist	Olive Craig	5.38%	146
Electorate: 3,877   Valid: 2,716 (70.05%)   Spoilt: 41   Quota: 544   Turnout: 2,757 (71.11%)

Area B

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

Ballymoney Area B - 8 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Democratic Unionist	Charles Steele*	16.01%	791
	Independent	Hugh Boyle*	12.45%	615
	Ulster Unionist	Joe Gaston*	12.06%	596
	Social Democratic and Labour	Harry Connolly*	6.78%	335	335	345.67	350.19	485.17	485.17	495.17	784.17
	Social Democratic and Labour	Edward McClements	7.10%	351	351.62	376.59	477.94	502.04	502.11	506.11	529.17	735.17
	Democratic Unionist	William Gracey	9.59%	474	511.2	511.42	511.42	511.42	512.75	529.41	531.41	531.41	532.41
	Ulster Unionist	William Logan*	7.33%	362	382.77	384.75	384.86	386.3	413.18	501.02	502.55	503.55	516.55
	Democratic Unionist	Bertie McIlhatton	6.03%	298	457.34	457.56	457.56	457.56	460.64	483.12	485.43	485.43	487.43
	Ulster Unionist	Patricia Ellis*	5.63%	278	284.2	285.08	285.08	285.19	290.44	399.22	399.33	400.33	411.33
	Social Democratic and Labour	John Mulholland*	5.48%	271	271.93	276.88	279.31	325.18	325.18	326.6
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Barlett	5.28%	261	274.33	275.32	275.32	276.43	281.05
	Independent	Margaret Donnelly	4.29%	212	212	217.94	218.16
	Social Democratic and Labour	Malachy McCamphill	1.96%	97	97.31	109.85
Electorate: 6,904   Valid: 4,941 (71.57%)   Spoilt: 122   Quota: 550   Turnout: 5,063 (73.33%)

Area C

1977: 2 x Independent, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist
1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent
1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from Alliance and Independent Unionist

Ballymoney Area C - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Democratic Unionist	Cecil Cousley	24.60%	747
	Democratic Unionist	Ralph Stronge	17.71%	538	540	648.54
	Independent	Mary Holmes*	18.67%	567	589	600.52	753.52
	Independent	Robert McComb*	11.62%	353	379	386.56	511.98	617.98
	Alliance	Brendan Smyth*	11.59%	352	435	435.36	462.54	476.54
	Ulster Unionist	James Simpson	10.80%	328	337	342.04
	Independent	Thomas McKenna	5.00%	152
Electorate: 4,923   Valid: 3,037 (61.69%)   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 608   Turnout: 3,102 (63.01%)