# 1981 Magherafelt District Council election

Elections to Magherafelt District 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

Magherafelt District Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| SDLP | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33.3 | 25.6 | 4,825 | 9.5 |
| DUP | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26.7 | 24.0 | 4,534 | 5.3 |
| Ind. Republican | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13.3 | 14.8 | 2,858 | 14.8 |
| UUP | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13.3 | 9.9 | 1,861 | 10.2 |
| Irish Independence | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.7 | 10.4 | 1,961 | New |
| UUUP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 1,379 | 1.0 |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 466 | 2.2 |
| Ind. Unionist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 359 | 1.9 |
| Ind. Nationalist | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 300 | 2.8 |
| Republican Clubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 288 | 7.0 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 38 | 0.2 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Magherafelt District Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | SDLP | SDLP | DUP | DUP | UUP | UUP | IIP | IIP | UUUP | UUUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 39.1 | 3 | 13.0 | 1 | 9.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 38.9 | 1 | 5 |
| Area B | 10.4 | 1 | 20.3 | 1 | 11.9 | 1 | 33.8 | 1 | 18.4 | 1 | 5.2 | 0 | 5 |
| Area C | 25.8 | 1 | 37.7 | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 4.6 | 0 | 22.9 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 25.6 | 5 | 24.0 | 4 | 9.9 | 2 | 10.4 | 1 | 7.3 | 1 | 22.8 | 2 | 15 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Republican Clubs 1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Republican 1977-1981 Change: SDLP, DUP and Independent Republican gain from UUP (two seats) and Republican Clubs
Magherafelt 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 |
| | Ind. Republican | Noel McCusker | 25.13% | 1,597 | | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Mary McSorley | 14.48% | 920 | 993.08 | 1,032.4 | 1,032.4 | 1,247.4 | | |
| | SDLP | Patrick Sweeney* | 11.10% | 705 | 960.24 | 976.64 | 984.64 | 1,012.12 | 1,090.92 | |
| | DUP | John Linton | 12.95% | 823 | 823.36 | 824.36 | 981.72 | 987.44 | 987.44 | 995.44 |
| | SDLP | Francis McKendry | 7.22% | 459 | 520.56 | 528.8 | 529.8 | 683.84 | 781.17 | 967.17 |
| | UUP | John Henning* | 8.95% | 569 | 569.36 | 573.36 | 759.36 | 760.36 | 760.36 | 773.36 |
| | Republican Clubs | Francis Donnelly* | 5.18% | 329 | 390.56 | 545.24 | 548.24 | 566.56 | 577.68 | |
| | SDLP | Patrick McBride | 6.34% | 403 | 417.76 | 436.52 | 436.52 | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Francis Thompson* | 5.65% | 359 | 359.56 | 361.36 | | | | |
| | Republican Clubs | Geraldine Crilly | 2.16% | 137 | 166.88 | | | | | |
| | Ind. Republican | Peter Merron | 0.83% | 53 | 87.2 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 7,247 Valid: 6,354 (87.68%) Spoilt: 129 Quota: 1,060 Turnout: 6,483 (89.46%) |||||||||||

### Area B

1977: 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1981: 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x IIP 1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Independent Nationalist
Magherafelt Area B - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Irish Independence | Oliver Hughes | 33.77% | 1,961 | | | | | |
| | UUUP | Robert Overend* | 18.43% | 1,070 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Henry McErlean | 4.89% | 284 | 679.66 | 679.66 | 1,075.39 | | |
| | DUP | Thomas Milligan | 11.50% | 668 | 668.55 | 705.49 | 705.58 | 1,146.58 | |
| | UUP | John Junkin | 11.88% | 690 | 695.99 | 736.79 | 736.79 | 818.03 | 991.87 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Vincent O'Neill* | 5.17% | 300 | 712.02 | 712.49 | 797.72 | 797.81 | 800.99 |
| | DUP | Alexander Montgomery | 8.82% | 512 | 513.1 | 534.72 | 534.72 | | |
| | SDLP | Francis Madden | 5.55% | 322 | 498.58 | 498.86 | | | |
| Electorate: 6,702 Valid: 5,807 (86.65%) Spoilt: 178 Quota: 968 Turnout: 5,985 (89.30%) ||||||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Republican 1977-1981 Change: Independent Republican gain from SDLP
Magherafelt Area C - 5 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 | William McCrea* | 33.51% | 2,248 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Republican | Bernard Murphy | 18.01% | 1,208 | | | | | | | | | |
| | DUP | George Miller* | 4.22% | 283 | 1,181 | | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | William Lees | 5.16% | 346 | 412 | 427.58 | 427.58 | 432.8 | 494.45 | 720.81 | 720.85 | 1,186.35 | |
| | SDLP | Roddy Gribben | 9.51% | 638 | 638 | 638 | 679.52 | 683.6 | 705 | 706 | 976.76 | 977.54 | 978.04 |
| | SDLP | William Conaghan* | 10.38% | 696 | 697 | 697.11 | 707.83 | 710.79 | 793.65 | 798.15 | 937.43 | 950.6 | 952.6 |
| | UUUP | Ernest Caldwell | 4.61% | 309 | 403 | 429.49 | 429.57 | 444.72 | 482.52 | 600.66 | 602.66 | | |
| | SDLP | Michael O'Neill* | 5.93% | 398 | 399 | 399.07 | 419.07 | 420.43 | 430.83 | 430.83 | | | |
| | UUP | James Artt | 3.82% | 256 | 298 | 312.98 | 312.98 | 325.68 | 373.01 | | | | |
| | Alliance | Wilfred Brennan | 4.29% | 288 | 301.5 | 302.61 | 303.73 | 306.59 | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Gregg | 0.57% | 38 | 44 | 46.41 | 52.17 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 7,951 Valid: 6,708 (84.37%) Spoilt: 147 Quota: 1,119 Turnout: 6,855 (86.22%) ||||||||||||||