# 1981 Limavady District Council election

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 | +/− |
| UUP | 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 |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | DUP | DUP | IIP | IIP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | SDLP | Arthur Doherty* | 18.60% | 727 | | |
| | SDLP | Roy King | 17.35% | 678 | | |
| | DUP | Ernest Murray* | 16.73% | 654 | | |
| | UUP | Robert Grant* | 14.41% | 563 | | |
| | SDLP | Thomas Mullan* | 14.38% | 562 | | |
| | UUP | Stanley Gault | 11.11% | 434 | 453 | 464 |
| | UUP | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | UUP | David Robinson* | 24.56% | 883 | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Lawrence Hegarty | 15.88% | 571 | 571.32 | 591.32 | 592.32 | 613.32 | | | |
| | UUP | 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 | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 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 | |
| | UUP | William Barbour* | 14.73% | 622 | 625 | 679 | 717.34 | 721.34 | 773.34 |
| | UUP | William Cooke | 15.39% | 650 | 655 | 699 | 724.56 | 727.56 | 753.56 |
| | UUP | 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%) ||||||||||