# 1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

Elections to Lisburn Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

## Election results

Lisburn Borough Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 43.5 | 42.7 | 13,867 | 16.1 |
| UUP | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 34.8 | 32.2 | 10,471 | 2.2 |
| Alliance | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.7 | 12.2 | 3,976 | 8.2 |
| SDLP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.7 | 5.9 | 1,918 | 0.3 |
| UUUP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 659 | 3.9 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 740 | 1.5 |
| Republican Clubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 462 | 0.2 |
| Unionist Party NI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 232 | 5.2 |
| NI Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 107 | 0.3 |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 72 | 0.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Lisburn Borough Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | SDLP | SDLP | UUUP | UUUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 30.2 | 1 | 51.8 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 18.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Area B | 43.7 | 3 | 39.7 | 2 | 10.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 6.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Area C | 54.3 | 3 | 20.6 | 1 | 11.9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 5.9 | 0 | 7.3 | 0 | 5 |
| Area D | 49.6 | 2 | 27.3 | 2 | 18.5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1.8 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 | 5 |
| Area E | 30.0 | 1 | 28.7 | 1 | 15.3 | 0 | 15.9 | 1 | 1.6 | 1 | 8.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 42.7 | 10 | 32.2 | 8 | 12.2 | 2 | 5.9 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | 23 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1977-1981 Change: No change
Lisburn Area A - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | UUP | Ronald Campbell* | 25.81% | 1,299 | | | | |
| | DUP | Jim Wells | 19.95% | 1,004 | | | | |
| | UUP | Jim Dillon* | 18.20% | 916 | 1,129.21 | | | |
| | SDLP | John Clenaghan* | 17.98% | 905 | 913.97 | 915.65 | 915.86 | 932.28 |
| | DUP | Charles Woodburne* | 10.23% | 515 | 527.19 | 537.55 | 548.68 | 842.47 |
| | UUP | Henry Stewart | 7.83% | 394 | 429.65 | 539.13 | 545.01 | |
| Electorate: 7,983 Valid: 5,033 (63.05%) Spoilt: 109 Quota: 1,007 Turnout: 5,142 (64.41%) |||||||||

### Area B

1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP 1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Lisburn Area B - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | DUP | Charles Poots* | 25.09% | 1,469 | | | | | |
| | UUP | William Bleakes* | 20.87% | 1,222 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Thomas Lilburn* | 11.19% | 655 | 697.57 | 843.77 | 965.88 | 1,356.88 | |
| | DUP | Samuel Dorman* | 10.59% | 620 | 789.62 | 825.22 | 850.59 | 891.39 | 956.39 |
| | DUP | James McCann | 8.01% | 469 | 688.45 | 697.05 | 760.62 | 827.96 | 891.96 |
| | Alliance | John Alderdice | 10.64% | 623 | 625.97 | 639.57 | 701.5 | 741.55 | 828.55 |
| | UUP | Joseph McCullough | 7.63% | 447 | 479.34 | 509.54 | 582.25 | | |
| | Independent | William Johnston | 5.99% | 351 | 364.2 | 370.4 | | | |
| Electorate: 9,350 Valid: 5,856 (62.63%) Spoilt: 121 Quota: 977 Turnout: 5,977 (63.93%) ||||||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUUP 1981: 3 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and UUUP
Lisburn Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | William Belshaw* | 35.49% | 2,412 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Denis McCarroll | 12.60% | 856 | 1,290.6 | | | | | |
| | DUP | Robert Dunsmore | 6.22% | 423 | 979.5 | 989.56 | 1,110.4 | 1,189.4 | | |
| | UUP | William Gardiner-Watson* | 11.95% | 812 | 884.61 | 889.67 | 895.75 | 1,011.89 | 1,221.89 | |
| | Alliance | Seamus Close* | 11.93% | 811 | 826.37 | 890.55 | 891.69 | 979 | 1,002.28 | 1,007.88 |
| | UUP | Wilfred McClung* | 8.61% | 585 | 632.17 | 634.23 | 641.07 | 683.74 | 863.24 | 945.56 |
| | UUUP | George Morrison* | 5.90% | 401 | 488.45 | 494.51 | 509.33 | 581.25 | | |
| | Independent | William Whitley | 5.72% | 389 | 430.34 | 446.87 | 451.43 | | | |
| | NI Labour | Robert Clarke | 1.57% | 107 | 115.48 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,569 Valid: 6,796 (58.74%) Spoilt: 196 Quota: 1,133 Turnout: 6,992 (60.44%) |||||||||||

### Area D

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPNI 1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UPNI
Lisburn Area D - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | DUP | Ivan Davis* | 44.02% | 3,720 | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Robert McNeice | 5.56% | 470 | 2,105.84 | | | | | |
| | UUP | Samuel Semple* | 12.65% | 1,069 | 1,313.48 | 1,630.28 | | | | |
| | UUP | Maureen McKinney* | 9.32% | 788 | 963.36 | 1,090.56 | 1,156.81 | 1,264.48 | 1,437.38 | |
| | Alliance | George Boyd* | 12.85% | 1,086 | 1,125.68 | 1,138.58 | 1,140.33 | 1,178.5 | 1,204.89 | 1,665.89 |
| | UUP | David Trimble | 5.37% | 454 | 494.96 | 565.16 | 683.41 | 764.25 | 903.76 | 903.76 |
| | Alliance | James Mulholland | 5.67% | 479 | 498.84 | 503.94 | 504.94 | 520.36 | 535.35 | |
| | UUUP | John Curry | 1.81% | 153 | 246.44 | 373.04 | 393.29 | 455.76 | | |
| | Unionist Party NI | David Gordon | 2.75% | 232 | 291.52 | 327.22 | 334.47 | | | |
| Electorate: 14,016 Valid: 8,451 (60.30%) Spoilt: 158 Quota: 1,409 Turnout: 8,639 (61.64%) |||||||||||

### Area E

1977: 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP 1981: 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUUP 1977-1981 Change: UUUP gain from Alliance
Lisburn Area E - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | DUP | William Beattie* | 29.98% | 1,909 | | | | | |
| | UUP | William McAllister* | 28.74% | 1,830 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | William McDonnell* | 15.91% | 1,013 | 1,013.74 | 1,014.73 | 1,036.73 | 1,197.1 | 1,220.47 |
| | UUUP | James Davis | 1.65% | 105 | 674.43 | 1,096.17 | 1,099.31 | 1,100.64 | 1,158.97 |
| | Alliance | John Cousins* | 8.51% | 542 | 566.42 | 611.3 | 619.74 | 691.4 | 1,100.58 |
| | Alliance | Brian Fitzsimons | 6.83% | 435 | 463.49 | 534.77 | 537.1 | 552.13 | |
| | Republican Clubs | Gerard Dunlop | 7.26% | 462 | 464.22 | 468.18 | 487.18 | | |
| | Communist | Terry Bruton | 1.13% | 72 | 76.07 | 77.72 | | | |
| Electorate: 12,242 Valid: 6,368 (52.02%) Spoilt: 463 Quota: 1,274 Turnout: 6,831 (55.80%) ||||||||||