1981 Antrim Borough Council election explained

See main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981.

Election Name:	1981 Antrim Borough Council election
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1977 Antrim Borough Council election
Previous Year:	1977
Next Election:	1985 Antrim Borough Council election
Next Year:	1985
Seats For Election:	All 15 seats to Antrim Borough Council
Majority Seats:	8
Party1:	Ulster Unionist Party
Seats1:	7
Seat Change1:	1
Party2:	Democratic Unionist Party
Seats2:	4
Seat Change2:	1
Party3:	Social Democratic and Labour Party
Seats3:	2
Seat Change3:	2
Party4:	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Seats4:	1
Seat Change4:	1
Party5:	Irish Independence Party
Seats5:	1
Seat Change5:	1
Party6:	Independent (politician)
Seats6:	0
Seat Change6:	2

Elections to Antrim 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

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Others|-|align="left"|Area A|bgcolor="40BFF5"|33.1|bgcolor="40BFF5"|2|19.2|1|21.7|1|2.4|0|21.8|1|1.8|0|5|-|align="left"|Area B|bgcolor="40BFF5"|49.0|bgcolor="40BFF5"|3|27.6|1|15.4|1|8.0|0|0.0|0|0.0|0|5|-|align="left"|Area C|bgcolor="40BFF5"|34.8|bgcolor="40BFF5"|2|34.6|2|0.0|0|18.7|1|0.0|0|11.9|0|5|-|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| Total|38.0|7|28.1|4|10.7|2|10.9|1|6.6|1|5.7|0|15|-|}

Districts results

Area A

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

Area B

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

Area C

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