# 1981 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymoney 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 16 councillors.

## Election results

Ballymoney Borough Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| DUP | 7 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 43.8 | 40.3 | 4,310 | 21.1 |
| UUP | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18.8 | 24.0 | 2,563 | 5.4 |
| Independent | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.8 | 17.8 | 1,899 | 7.0 |
| SDLP | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12.5 | 9.9 | 1,054 | 5.2 |
| Alliance | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.3 | 8.1 | 868 | 0.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Ballymoney Borough Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | SDLP | SDLP | Alliance | Alliance | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 53.8 | 2 | 27.2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 19.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Area B | 31.6 | 3 | 30.3 | 2 | 21.3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 16.8 | 1 | 8 |
| Area C | 42.3 | 2 | 10.8 | 0 | 11.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 35.3 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 40.3 | 7 | 24.0 | 3 | 9.9 | 2 | 8.1 | 1 | 17.7 | 3 | 16 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: Alliance gain from UUP
Ballymoney Area A - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | DUP | Robert Halliday* | 21.17% | 575 | | |
| | UUP | Kenneth Bamford* | 14.87% | 404 | 666 | |
| | Alliance | Hugh McFarland | 19.00% | 516 | 525 | 567 |
| | DUP | James Patterson | 17.82% | 484 | 512 | 544 |
| | DUP | Robert Wilson | 14.84% | 403 | 423 | 441 |
| | UUP | Adam Taylor* | 6.92% | 188 | | |
| | DUP | Olive Craig | 5.38% | 146 | | |
| Electorate: 3,877 Valid: 2,716 (70.05%) Spoilt: 41 Quota: 544 Turnout: 2,757 (71.11%) |||||||

### Area B

1977: 3 x UUP, 3 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent 1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Independent 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and SDLP
Ballymoney Area B - 8 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | DUP | Charles Steele* | 16.01% | 791 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Hugh Boyle* | 12.45% | 615 | | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Joe Gaston* | 12.06% | 596 | | | | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Harry Connolly* | 6.78% | 335 | 335 | 345.67 | 350.19 | 485.17 | 485.17 | 495.17 | 784.17 | | |
| | SDLP | Edward McClements | 7.10% | 351 | 351.62 | 376.59 | 477.94 | 502.04 | 502.11 | 506.11 | 529.17 | 735.17 | |
| | DUP | William Gracey | 9.59% | 474 | 511.2 | 511.42 | 511.42 | 511.42 | 512.75 | 529.41 | 531.41 | 531.41 | 532.41 |
| | UUP | William Logan* | 7.33% | 362 | 382.77 | 384.75 | 384.86 | 386.3 | 413.18 | 501.02 | 502.55 | 503.55 | 516.55 |
| | DUP | Bertie McIlhatton | 6.03% | 298 | 457.34 | 457.56 | 457.56 | 457.56 | 460.64 | 483.12 | 485.43 | 485.43 | 487.43 |
| | UUP | Patricia Ellis* | 5.63% | 278 | 284.2 | 285.08 | 285.08 | 285.19 | 290.44 | 399.22 | 399.33 | 400.33 | 411.33 |
| | SDLP | John Mulholland* | 5.48% | 271 | 271.93 | 276.88 | 279.31 | 325.18 | 325.18 | 326.6 | | | |
| | UUP | Samuel Barlett | 5.28% | 261 | 274.33 | 275.32 | 275.32 | 276.43 | 281.05 | | | | |
| | Independent | Margaret Donnelly | 4.29% | 212 | 212 | 217.94 | 218.16 | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Malachy McCamphill | 1.96% | 97 | 97.31 | 109.85 | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 6,904 Valid: 4,941 (71.57%) Spoilt: 122 Quota: 550 Turnout: 5,063 (73.33%) ||||||||||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x Independent, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from Alliance and Independent Unionist
Ballymoney Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | DUP | Cecil Cousley | 24.60% | 747 | | | | |
| | DUP | Ralph Stronge | 17.71% | 538 | 540 | 648.54 | | |
| | Independent | Mary Holmes* | 18.67% | 567 | 589 | 600.52 | 753.52 | |
| | Independent | Robert McComb* | 11.62% | 353 | 379 | 386.56 | 511.98 | 617.98 |
| | Alliance | Brendan Smyth* | 11.59% | 352 | 435 | 435.36 | 462.54 | 476.54 |
| | UUP | James Simpson | 10.80% | 328 | 337 | 342.04 | | |
| | Independent | Thomas McKenna | 5.00% | 152 | | | | |
| Electorate: 4,923 Valid: 3,037 (61.69%) Spoilt: 65 Quota: 608 Turnout: 3,102 (63.01%) |||||||||