1981 Limavady District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Limavady Borough Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Limavady Borough Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Ulster Unionist SDLP DUP Seats won 6 5 2 Seat change 0 1 0   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Irish Independence Independent Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 0

Elections to Limavady 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 15 councillors.

Election results

Limavady Borough Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	6	0	0	0	40.0	37.2	4,366	1.4
	SDLP	5	0	1	1	33.3	34.2	4,011	1.0
	DUP	2	0	0	0	13.3	16.4	1,919	2.6
	Irish Independence	1	1	0	1	6.7	5.5	643	New
	Independent	1	0	0	0	6.7	4.3	501	0.5
	Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.0	223	6.5
	Republican Clubs	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.5	63	0.7

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Limavady Borough Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		SDLP		DUP		IIP		Others
Area A	32.9	2	50.3	3	16.7	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	6
Area B	33.7	2	24.5	1	8.2	0	17.9	1	15.7	1	5
Area C	44.2	2	27.5	1	23.0	1	0.0	0	5.3	0	4
Total	37.2	6	34.2	5	16.4	2	5.5	1	6.7	1	15

Districts results

Area A

1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP
1981: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: No change

Limavady Area A - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	SDLP	Arthur Doherty*	18.60%	727
	SDLP	Roy King	17.35%	678
	DUP	Ernest Murray*	16.73%	654
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Grant*	14.41%	563
	SDLP	Thomas Mullan*	14.38%	562
	Ulster Unionist	Stanley Gault	11.11%	434	453	464
	Ulster Unionist	James Gilfillan	7.42%	290	303	317
Electorate: 5,076   Valid: 3,908 (76.99%)   Spoilt: 78   Quota: 559   Turnout: 3,986 (78.53%)

Area B

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

Limavady Area B - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Ulster Unionist	David Robinson*	24.56%	883
	SDLP	Lawrence Hegarty	15.88%	571	571.32	591.32	592.32	613.32
	Ulster Unionist	Max Gault*	9.15%	329	554.28	554.28	569.28	569.28	569.28	805.28
	Independent	Denis Farren*	13.94%	501	504.52	510.52	511.52	518.84	535.84	545.88	559.88
	Irish Independence	Sean McCloskey	8.87%	319	319.96	329.96	329.96	383.96	537.96	537.96	537.96
	SDLP	James Brolly	8.62%	310	310	319	320.64	325.64	372.64	373.64	375.64
	DUP	Alex Fulton	6.12%	220	256.8	256.8	324.32	324.32	324.32
	Irish Independence	George McCormick	5.48%	197	197	203	203	237
	Irish Independence	Andrew Murphy	3.53%	127	127.96	138.96	138.96
	DUP	John McKay	2.09%	75	87.48	87.48
	Republican Clubs	Jerry Mullan	1.75%	63	63.32
Electorate: 5,007   Valid: 3,595 (71.80%)   Spoilt: 120   Quota: 600   Turnout: 3,715 (74.20%)

Area C

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

Limavady Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	DUP	William Norris*	17.26%	729	776	938
	SDLP	Barry Doherty*	15.46%	653	654	689	689	1,222
	Ulster Unionist	William Barbour*	14.73%	622	625	679	717.34	721.34	773.34
	Ulster Unionist	William Cooke	15.39%	650	655	699	724.56	727.56	753.56
	Ulster Unionist	John Dolan	14.09%	595	598	628	655.69	659.4	680.4
	SDLP	Geraldine Kearney	12.08%	510	510	559	559.71
	Alliance	Francis Parkinson	5.28%	223	223
	DUP	George Robinson	3.15%	133	182
	DUP	Arthur Reid	2.56%	108
Electorate: 5,426   Valid: 4,223 (77.83%)   Spoilt: 64   Quota: 845   Turnout: 4,287 (79.01%)