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.

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981
1981 Magherafelt District Council election
May 20, 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Magherafelt District Council
8 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party SDLP DUP UUP
Seats won 5 4 2
Seat change 1 2
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Independent Republican Irish Independence UUUP
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change 2 1
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Party Republican Clubs Independent Nationalist
Seats won 0 0
Seat change 1 1

Election results
Magherafelt District Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SDLP 5 1 1 33.3 25.6 4,825 9.5
  DUP 4 1 0 1 26.7 24.0 4,534 5.3
  Independent 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 New 6.7 10.4 1,961 New
  UUUP 1 0 0 6.7 7.3 1,379 1.0
  Alliance 0 0 0 0.0 2.5 466 2.2
  Ind U 0 0 0 0.0 1.9 359 1.9
  Independent Nationalist 0 0 1 1 0.0 1.6 300 2.8
  Republican Clubs 0 0 0 0.0 1.5 288 7.0
  Independent 0 0 0 0.0 0.2 38 0.2

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

[1]

Results of the Magherafelt District Council election, 1981
by district
Ward  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
 Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
  %
Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
SDLP DUP UUP IIP UUUP Others
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[2]
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
1234567
Independent 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 U Francis Thompson* 5.65% 359 359.56 361.36        
Republican Clubs Geraldine Crilly 2.16% 137 166.88          
Independent 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[2]
    PartyCandidateFPv%Count
    123456
    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
    Independent 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[2]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      12345678910
      DUP William McCrea* 33.51% 2,248                  
      Independent 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%)

        References
        1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Magherafelt". www.ark.ac.uk.
        2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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