1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election explained

See main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981.

Election Name:	1981 Carrickfergus Borough Council election
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1977 Carrickfergus Borough Council election
Previous Year:	1977
Next Election:	1985 Carrickfergus Borough Council election
Next Year:	1985
Seats For Election:	All 15 seats to Carrickfergus Borough Council
Majority Seats:	8
Party1:	Democratic Unionist Party
Seats1:	7
Seat Change1:	4
Party2:	Ulster Unionist Party
Seats2:	3
Seat Change2:	2
Party3:	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Seats3:	3
Seat Change3:	2
Party4:	United Loyalist
Seats4:	1
Seat Change4:	0
Party5:	Independent Unionist
Seats5:	1
Seat Change5:	1
Party6:	Unionist Party of Northern Ireland
Seats6:	0
Seat Change6:	1

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

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Others|-|align="left"|Area A|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|27.4|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2|20.0|1|22.2|1|30.4|1|5|-|align="left"|Area B|34.4|2|bgcolor="40BFF5"|35.4|bgcolor="40BFF5"|2|25.0|1|5.2|0|5|-|align="left"|Area C|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|47.1|bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3|12.9|0|18.3|1|21.7|1|5|-|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"|align="left"| 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

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

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