1981 Ballymena Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymena 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 21 councillors.

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981
1981 Ballymena Borough Council election
20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 21 seats to Ballymena Borough Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party DUP Ulster Unionist Independent
Seats won 13 5 2
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 1 Steady 0
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Party Ind. Unionist Alliance
Seats won 1 0
Seat change Decrease 2 Decrease 1

Election results
Ballymena Borough Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  DUP 13 2 0 Increase2 61.9 55.5 12,739 Increase15.4
  Ulster Unionist 6 1 0 Increase1 28.6 30.0 6,886 Decrease10.5
  Independent 2 0 0 Steady0 9.5 10.6 2,438 Decrease3.1
  Ind. Unionist 1 0 2 Decrease2 4.8 3.4 790 Decrease18.0
  UUUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.5 108 New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Ballymena Borough Council election, 1981
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
DUP UUP Others
Area A 42.8 2 37.8 1 19.4 1 4
Area B 68.0 4 32.0 2 0.0 0 6
Area C 66.6 4 31.5 1 1.9 0 5
Area D 41.9 3 21.7 1 36.4 2 6
Total 55.5 13 30.0 5 14.5 3 21

Districts results

Area A

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

Ballymena Area A - 4 seats[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1234
Ulster Unionist Desmond Armstrong 22.71% 964      
DUP John Armstrong 19.39% 823 945    
DUP Samuel Hanna 13.74% 583 842 852.32  
Independent James Woulahan* 19.42% 824 826 826.48 827.48
Ulster Unionist James McKay 15.08% 640 656 754.52 798.52
DUP James Millar* 9.66% 410      
Electorate: 5,861   Valid: 4,244 (72.41%)   Spoilt: 121   Quota: 549   Turnout: 4,365 (74.48%)  

    Area B

    1977: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP
    1981: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP
    1977-1981 Change: No change

    Ballymena Area B - 7 seats[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456789
    DUP Roy Gillespie* 19.20% 1,254                
    DUP Sandy Spence* 15.02% 981                
    DUP John Greer* 13.06% 853 1,075.3              
    Ulster Unionist Hugh Simpson* 8.22% 537 538.56 539.52 590.52 593.12 793.19 1,109.19    
    Ulster Unionist William Wright* 7.10% 464 474.14 474.78 605.56 608.91 661.68 807.62 972.07  
    DUP Tommy Nicholl 11.33% 740 763.66 771.34 793.34 824.04 831.75 844.29 848.19 860.54
    DUP Hubert Nicholl* 9.43% 616 649.02 765.82 765.82 773.67 794.06 830.53 835.08 853.93
    Ulster Unionist Robert Nelson 6.33% 413 431.2 438.88 473.88 474.73 561.18      
    Ulster Unionist Thomas Smyth 6.16% 402 409.8 410.28 435.28 436.93        
    Ulster Unionist John Sutter 4.15% 271 272.04 272.04            
    Electorate: 9,994   Valid: 6,531 (65.35%)   Spoilt: 240   Quota: 934   Turnout: 6,771 (67.75%)  

      Area C

      1977: 3 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist
      1981: 4 x DUP, 1 x UUP
      1977-1981 Change: DUP and UUP gain from Independent Unionist (two seats)

      Ballymena Area C - 5 seats[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      1234
      DUP Roy West 19.43% 1,082      
      DUP Martin Clarke 17.56% 978      
      Ulster Unionist William Brownlees 14.63% 815 953    
      DUP Edwin Maternaghan 14.81% 825 839 953.8  
      DUP John McAuley* 14.81% 825 846 870.22 915.62
      Ulster Unionist William Simpson 12.46% 694 844 851.14 852.94
      Ulster Unionist William McConnell 4.36% 243      
      UUUP Ernest Johnston 1.94% 108      
      Electorate: 9,902   Valid: 5,570 (56.25%)   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 929   Turnout: 5,713 (57.70%)  

        Area D

        1977: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist
        1981: 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist
        1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

        Ballymena Area D - 6 seats[2]
        PartyCandidateFPv%Count
        1234567
        Independent Patrick Burke* 20.12% 1,331            
        DUP Maurice Mills* 16.82% 1,113            
        Ind. Unionist Samuel Henry* 11.94% 790 972.35          
        DUP James Alexander* 13.57% 898 900.1 983.2        
        Ulster Unionist Gordon Wilson 8.27% 547 553.65 558.45 558.87 560.91 803.69 917.34
        DUP Robert Maternaghan 11.46% 758 758.7 824.55 860.25 860.31 868.8 893.26
        Ulster Unionist Kenneth Wood 7.57% 501 524.1 527.25 527.6 530.96 662.67 802.89
        Independent Samuel Barr 4.28% 283 434.2 436.9 437.18 455.9 472.22  
        Ulster Unionist James Rainey 5.97% 395 408.65 413.75 414.1 415.3    
        Electorate: 11,475   Valid: 6,616 (57.66%)   Spoilt: 139   Quota: 946   Turnout: 6,755 (58.87%)  

          References
          1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Ballymena". www.ark.ac.uk.
          2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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