1981 Armagh District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Armagh District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 20 seats to Armagh District Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Ulster Unionist SDLP DUP Seats won 8 7 3 Seat change 1 0 1   Fourth party Fifth party   Party UUUP Independent Nationalist Seats won 1 1 Seat change 0 0

Elections to Armagh District 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

Armagh District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	8	0	1	1	40.0	38.7	9,267	0.1
	SDLP	7	0	0	0	35.0	30.8	7,363	0.5
	DUP	3	1	0	1	15.0	18.5	4,417	5.7
	Independent Nationalist	1	0	0	0	5.0	4.2	1,011	0.2
	UUUP	1	0	0	0	5.0	3.6	865	0.9
	Irish Independence	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.1	493	New
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.5	370	0.7
	Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.6	134	0.6

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Armagh District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		SDLP		DUP		UUUP		Others
Area A	37.6	2	33.3	1	27.2	1	1.8	0	0.0	0	4
Area B	52.2	3	16.2	1	22.5	1	9.2	1	0.0	0	6
Area C	25.3	1	46.6	3	12.6	0	0.0	0	15.5	0	5
Area D	32.3	2	35.6	2	11.7	0	0.0	0	20.4	1	5
Total	38.7	8	30.8	7	18.5	3	3.6	1	8.4	1	20

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Armagh Area A - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Ulster Unionist	Ronald Allen	22.78%	938
	DUP	Douglas Hutchinson*	21.32%	878
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Foster*	14.81%	610	844
	SDLP	Francis McIlvanna*	18.97%	781	784	804
	SDLP	Francis Kernan	14.40%	593	599	676
	DUP	Norman Kerr	5.93%	244
	UUUP	Robert Cummings	1.80%	74
Electorate: 5,833   Valid: 4,118 (70.60%)   Spoilt: 178   Quota: 824   Turnout: 4,296 (73.65%)

Area B

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Armagh Area B - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Ulster Unionist	Jim Speers*	22.40%	1,931
	SDLP	Seamus Mallon*	16.17%	1,394
	Ulster Unionist	William McClelland*	12.67%	1,092	1,264.8
	DUP	Thomas Black*	10.64%	917	955.16	959.88	963.38	1,170.16	1,843.16
	UUUP	Francis Little*	8.49%	732	768.72	808.08	819.98	867.52	895.84	1,189.84
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Turner	8.61%	742	967	968.72	1,033.12	1,054.48	1,087.38	1,178.38
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Johnston	8.50%	733	891.4	902.2	970.8	994.04	1,026.44	1,143.44
	DUP	John Alexander	6.51%	561	573.96	576.4	582	787.96
	DUP	Mervyn Spratt	5.32%	459	498.96	503.96	511.66
	UUUP	Frederick Hamilton	0.68%	59	65.48
Electorate: 10,993   Valid: 8,620 (78.41%)   Spoilt: 160   Quota: 1,232   Turnout: 8,780 (79.87%)

Area C

1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP
1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Armagh Area C - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SDLP	Patrick Fegan*	17.55%	980
	Ulster Unionist	Jim Nicholson*	17.23%	962
	SDLP	James McKernan*	16.71%	933
	DUP	Joseph McBride	12.63%	705	705.35	709.4	1,041.4
	SDLP	Joseph Dunleavy	12.36%	690	729.35	853.9	867.9
	Irish Independence	Patrick Agnew	8.83%	493	495.6	629.9	633.95
	Ulster Unionist	Eleanor Boyd*	8.06%	450	450.35	462.35
	Independent	Peter McSorley	6.63%	370	373.9
Electorate: 7,281   Valid: 5,583 (76.68%)   Spoilt: 207   Quota: 931   Turnout: 5,790 (79.52%)

Area D

1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: No change

Armagh Area D - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Ulster Unionist	Frederick Armstrong*	20.95%	1,173
	Independent Nationalist	Bernard McManus*	18.06%	1,011
	SDLP	Pat Brannigan*	14.41%	807	808.4	832.8	854.22	857.22	1,224.22
	SDLP	John Agnew	11.02%	617	617.4	646.6	672.59	675.59	887.39	1,174.49
	Ulster Unionist	George Macartney	7.02%	393	457.8	469	469.18	820.58	822.87	823.74	855.93
	DUP	Letitia McClenaghan	11.66%	653	667.6	671.6	671.78	713.78	716.07	716.07	719.55
	SDLP	Gerald Grimley	10.14%	568	568.2	593.4	619.41	620.61
	Ulster Unionist	Norman Creswell*	4.34%	243	394.4	405.4	405.58
	Independent Labour	Carson Greer	2.39%	134	134.8
Electorate: 8,699   Valid: 5,599 (64.36%)   Spoilt: 228   Quota: 934   Turnout: 5,827 (66.98%)