# 1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election

Elections to Carrickfergus 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

Carrickfergus Borough Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 46.7 | 36.6 | 4,399 | 19.0 |
| UUP | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 20.0 | 22.6 | 2,717 | 4.9 |
| Alliance | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 20.0 | 21.8 | 2,618 | 8.3 |
| United Loyalist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 819 | 1.8 |
| Ind. Unionist | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 526 | 4.4 |
| Unionist Party NI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 383 | 6.9 |
| PUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 353 | New |
| UPUP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 122 | New |
| Newtownabbey Labour Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 85 | New |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Carrickfergus Borough Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 27.4 | 2 | 20.0 | 1 | 22.2 | 1 | 30.4 | 1 | 5 |
| Area B | 34.4 | 2 | 35.4 | 2 | 25.0 | 1 | 5.2 | 0 | 5 |
| Area C | 47.1 | 3 | 12.9 | 0 | 18.3 | 1 | 21.7 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 36.6 | 7 | 22.6 | 3 | 21.8 | 3 | 19.0 | 2 | 15 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x United Loyalist 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x United Loyalist 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from Alliance and UUP
Carrickfergus Area A - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | United Loyalist | Charles Johnston* | 21.11% | 819 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Mary Ardill* | 11.81% | 458 | 475.4 | 585.69 | 587.92 | 695.92 | | |
| | Alliance | Joan Tomlin* | 13.20% | 512 | 541.21 | 542.21 | 634.44 | 646.82 | 847.82 | |
| | DUP | William Haggan | 14.41% | 559 | 589.59 | 594.05 | 596.28 | 625.27 | 633.5 | 637.5 |
| | DUP | Samuel Irvine | 12.99% | 504 | 550.69 | 551.92 | 554.15 | 576.83 | 590.75 | 598.75 |
| | Unionist Party NI | Anne Dickson | 9.10% | 353 | 366.8 | 372.49 | 373.49 | 390.56 | 411.63 | 502.63 |
| | Alliance | Stewart Dickson* | 5.36% | 208 | 213.52 | 216.52 | 257.52 | 263.44 | | |
| | UUP | Ernest Burton | 4.85% | 188 | 203.64 | 217.25 | 220.25 | | | |
| | Alliance | Robert Gordon | 3.74% | 145 | 145.92 | 145.92 | | | | |
| | UUP | Mary Anderson | 3.43% | 133 | 142.2 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 6,062 Valid: 3,879 (63.99%) Spoilt: 98 Quota: 647 Turnout: 3,977 (65.61%) |||||||||||

### Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP 1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance
Carrickfergus Area B - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | DUP | William Cross | 18.98% | 748 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Hugh McLean* | 17.79% | 701 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | James Brown | 14.92% | 588 | 590.64 | 606.18 | 608.24 | 687.24 | | | | |
| | Alliance | Patrick Conway* | 11.32% | 446 | 446.84 | 448.28 | 469.28 | 472.18 | 498.54 | 501.74 | 694.74 | |
| | DUP | William Knox | 9.11% | 359 | 433.52 | 437.24 | 438.3 | 454.88 | 483.6 | 495.76 | 500.94 | 749.94 |
| | Alliance | Charles Hilditch* | 7.79% | 307 | 308.2 | 312.82 | 340.82 | 347.6 | 368.32 | 374.08 | 433.06 | 439.06 |
| | DUP | Steven Watters | 6.32% | 249 | 256.8 | 259.2 | 259.2 | 265.52 | 274.82 | 280.58 | 285.58 | |
| | Alliance | Alice Bateman | 5.86% | 231 | 231 | 231.42 | 249.42 | 250.72 | 277.02 | 280.22 | | |
| | UPUP | Robert Wilson | 3.10% | 122 | 122.6 | 124.34 | 131.4 | 134.02 | | | | |
| | UUP | Henry Cardwell | 2.66% | 105 | 106.2 | 117 | 123 | | | | | |
| | Newtownabbey Labour | Richard Hopkins | 2.16% | 85 | 85 | 85.18 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 6,627 Valid: 3,941 (59.47%) Spoilt: 133 Quota: 657 Turnout: 4,074 (61.48%) |||||||||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPNI, 1 x UUP 1981: 3 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP, Independent Unionist leaves UPNI
Carrickfergus Area C - 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 |
| | DUP | Ken McFaul* | 37.41% | 1,572 | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | William McKeown | 5.74% | 241 | 816.12 | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | Sean Neeson* | 15.78% | 663 | 692.68 | 694.99 | 787.99 | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Samuel Murphy* | 12.52% | 526 | 561.28 | 564.14 | 578.37 | 602.37 | 623.17 | 675.66 | 722.66 |
| | DUP | James Strange | 3.97% | 167 | 312.04 | 410.05 | 417.5 | 425.5 | 433.85 | 447.77 | 561.86 |
| | UUP | Elizabeth Carson | 5.47% | 230 | 245.12 | 246.99 | 257.1 | 268.1 | 327.23 | 454.28 | 509.77 |
| | PUP | Samuel Stewart | 8.40% | 353 | 382.12 | 385.86 | 386.86 | 391.86 | 402.88 | 419 | |
| | UUP | Robert Hunter* | 3.78% | 159 | 178.6 | 180.03 | 185.37 | 194.37 | 263.73 | | |
| | UUP | John Haslett | 3.69% | 155 | 171.24 | 172.01 | 176.79 | 181.79 | | | |
| | Alliance | Arthur McQuitty | 2.52% | 106 | 109.36 | 110.57 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Edwin Cummings | 0.71% | 30 | 30.56 | 30.89 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 6,939 Valid: 4,202 (60.56%) Spoilt: 165 Quota: 701 Turnout: 4,367 (62.93%) ||||||||||||