# 1981 Larne Borough Council election

Elections to Larne 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

Larne Borough Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 40.0 | 37.2 | 4,366 | 12.3 |
| UUP | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 26.7 | 24.2 | 2,845 | 17.4 |
| Alliance | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20.0 | 17.4 | 2,042 | 8.4 |
| Ind. Nationalist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 875 | 7.5 |
| United Loyalist | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 728 | 6.2 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 504 | 6.8 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Larne 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 | 30.8 | 1 | 27.7 | 1 | 14.5 | 1 | 27.0 | 1 | 4 |
| Area B | 44.6 | 2 | 16.7 | 1 | 8.6 | 0 | 30.1 | 1 | 4 |
| Area C | 37.2 | 3 | 26.0 | 2 | 23.4 | 2 | 13.4 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 37.2 | 6 | 24.2 | 4 | 17.4 | 3 | 21.2 | 2 | 15 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP 1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP
Larne Area A - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | UUP | Thomas Robinson* | 27.71% | 897 | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | William Cunning | 27.03% | 875 | | |
| | DUP | Rachel Rea* | 17.98% | 582 | 715.4 | |
| | Alliance | Hugh Wilson* | 14.49% | 469 | 520.91 | 745.19 |
| | DUP | Robert Campbell | 12.79% | 414 | 470.26 | 472.42 |
| Electorate: 5,107 Valid: 3,237 (63.38%) Spoilt: 74 Quota: 648 Turnout: 3,311 (64.83%) |||||||

### Area B

1977: 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Vanguard 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x United Loyalist 1977-1981 Change: DUP and United Loyalist gain from Alliance and Vanguard
Larne Area B - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | DUP | John Alexander | 23.13% | 647 | | |
| | DUP | Samuel McAllister | 21.45% | 600 | | |
| | UUP | Laurence Niblock* | 19.56% | 547 | 562.96 | |
| | United Loyalist | Roy Beggs* | 16.66% | 466 | 514.26 | 575.26 |
| | UUP | Alexander Hunter* | 10.58% | 296 | 314.81 | 429.81 |
| | Alliance | William Calwell* | 11.54% | 241 | 244.61 | |
| Electorate: 4,510 Valid: 2,797 (62.02%) Spoilt: 68 Quota: 560 Turnout: 2,865 (63.53%) |||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x Alliance, 2 x Vanguard, 2 x Independent, 1 x DUP 1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) and UUP (two seats) gain from Vanguard (two seats) and Independent (two seats)
Larne Area C - 7 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | DUP | Jack McKee* | 25.18% | 1,436 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Robinson | 13.50% | 770 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | Winston Fulton | 8.93% | 509 | 927 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Alliance | William Kelly* | 8.91% | 508 | 514.5 | 515.8 | 532.8 | 557.8 | 559.41 | 605.38 | 620.42 | 927.42 | | |
| | Alliance | Thomas Benson* | 7.50% | 428 | 428.5 | 430.06 | 442.56 | 464.56 | 467.36 | 504.62 | 518.95 | 641.52 | 847.12 | |
| | DUP | Leonard Sluman | 3.12% | 178 | 348 | 529.48 | 539.48 | 551 | 552.54 | 565.84 | 628.8 | 630.3 | 630.3 | 633.5 |
| | UUP | Rosalie Armstrong* | 6.79% | 387 | 405.5 | 413.04 | 419.54 | 439.3 | 460.02 | 498.9 | 597.22 | 598.79 | 601.99 | 629.99 |
| | UUP | Joseph Wallace | 5.70% | 325 | 348 | 354.24 | 360.24 | 393.74 | 412.57 | 459.91 | 533.55 | 541.62 | 544.82 | 564.82 |
| | Alliance | Amelia Kelly | 6.94% | 396 | 398.5 | 398.5 | 412.5 | 423.5 | 423.78 | 467.92 | 474.06 | | | |
| | United Loyalist | Samuel Martin* | 4.59% | 262 | 302.5 | 309.78 | 317.28 | 326.78 | 330.98 | 358.14 | | | | |
| | Independent | James Clements | 3.82% | 218 | 233.5 | 236.36 | 281.36 | 302.12 | 304.71 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Agnew Hamilton* | 2.74% | 156 | 160 | 161.56 | 173.56 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Patrick Todd | 1.21% | 69 | 74.5 | 75.28 | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | William Fleck | 1.07% | 61 | 65.5 | 66.02 | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,614 Valid: 5,703 (53.73%) Spoilt: 191 Quota: 713 Turnout: 5,894 (55.53%) |||||||||||||||